Dr L.E.McGuigan

Osteoarthritis, also known as degenerative joint disease, is the commonest form of arthritis and most if not all individuals will develop some osteoarthritis if they live to advanced age. Unlike inflammatory arthritis the main pathology in this condition is not inflammation but simple relentlessly progressive loss of the cartilage in the joint. The cartilage is firm but elastic tissue that cushions the joints so that when it is gone there is bone rubbing on bone with resultant pain, stiffness and deformity. The small joints of the hand, the base of the thumb, the neck, the low back, the knees, the middle part of the foot and the big toe are the common joints involved although any joint can be. There is no cure for osteoarthritis but it is fair to say that in most patients symptoms and deformity can be managed by medication, injections and possibly surgery.