What is Knee Arthritis?
Injuries of the knees or wear and tear from activities and/or aging can lead to the thinning of the cartilage of the knee joint and ultimately Knee Arthritis.
There are three types of Knee Arthritis:
- Osteoarthritis, a degenerative disease that occurs as you age. This is the most common form
- Rheumatoid Arthritis, an autoimmune disease in which your body’s immune system attacks the joint
- Post-Trauma Arthritis, caused by direct trauma to the knee that damages the cartilage and changes the joint mechanics
There are a variety of causes for Knee Arthritis which include:
- Being overweight
- Excessive wear and tear of knee joints from high-impact activities
- Increasing age
- Previous knee injuries
- Tight lower limb muscles
- Weak lower limb muscles
Signs and symptoms of Knee Arthritis include:
- Bumps or ‘nodes’ around the knee
- Cracking or grinding (crepitus) when moving your knee
- Joint instability — The knee ‘giving way’
- Knee pain that develops gradually, and worsens with prolonged walking or standing
- Morning stiffness and/or swelling
A wide variety of treatment options are available depending on the severity of the condition. These options include:
- Exercise to help maintain the strength of your muscles and ligaments to stabilise your joints
- Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs for rheumatoid arthritis
- Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce pain, swelling, and stiffness in osteoarthritis
- Steroids which can occasionally be injected directly into the joint to relieve pain and swelling
- Surgery to correct joint deformity or to replace a badly damaged joint
