Osteoarthritis (OA)
What treatments are available for OA?
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common chronic (long-lasting) joint condition.
A joint is where two bones come together. The ends of these bones are covered with protective tissue called cartilage. With OA, this cartilage breaks down, causing the bones within the joint to rub together. This can cause pain, stiffness, and other symptoms.
OA occurs most often in older people, although it can occur in adults of any age. OA is also called degenerative joint disease, degenerative arthritis, and wear-and-tear arthritis.
Post-Traumatic Arthritis (PTA)
What is post-traumatic arthritis?
"Arthritis" is defined as inflammation of a joint. The most common cause is wearing out of joint surface cartilage (osteoarthritis). Post-traumatic arthritis is a common form of osteoarthritis and occurs due to a physical injury of any kind to a joint.
What are the symptoms of post-traumatic arthritis?
The symptoms of post-traumatic arthritis include:
Joint pain
Swelling
Fluid accumulation in the joint
Decreased tolerance for walking, sports, stairs, and other activities that stress the joint.
Ankylosing Spondylitis
Ankylosing spondylitis is a form of chronic inflammation of the spine and the sacroiliac joints. The sacroiliac joints are located at the base of the low back where the sacrum (the bone directly above the tailbone) meets the iliac bones (bones on either side of the upper buttocks) of the pelvis. Chronic inflammation in these areas causes pain and stiffness in and around the spine, including the neck, middle back, lower back, and buttocks. Over time, chronic inflammation of the spine (spondylitis) can lead to a complete cementing together (fusion) of the vertebrae, a process referred to as ankylosis. Ankylosis causes loss of mobility of the spine.
Ankylosing spondylitis is also a systemic disease, meaning it can affect tissues throughout the body, not just the spine. Accordingly, it can cause inflammation in and injury to other joints away from the spine manifest as arthritis, as well as to other organs, such as the eyes, heart, lungs, and kidneys. Ankylosing spondylitis shares many features with several other arthritis conditions, such as psoriatic arthritis, reactive arthritis (formerly called Reiter's disease), and arthritis associated with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Each of these arthritic conditions can cause disease and inflammation in the spine, other joints, eyes, skin, mouth, and various organs. In view of their similarities and tendency to cause inflammation of the spine, these medical conditions are collectively referred to as "spondyloarthropathies." Ankylosing spondylitis is considered one of the many rheumatic diseases because it can cause symptoms involving muscles and joints.
Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Tear
One of the most common knee injuries is an anterior cruciate ligament sprain or tear.
Athletes who participate in high demand sports like soccer, football, and basketball are more likely to injure their anterior cruciate ligaments.
If you have injured your anterior cruciate ligament, you may require surgery to regain full function of your knee. This will depend on several factors, such as the severity of your injury and your activity level.
Meniscus Cartilage Tear
Like a lot of knee injuries, a meniscus tear can be painful and debilitating. Unfortunately, it's quite common. In fact, a meniscal tear is one of the most frequently occurring cartilage injuries of the knee.
So what is the meniscus? It's a piece of cartilage in your knee that cushions and stabilizes the joint. It protects the bones from wear and tear. But all it takes is a good twist of the knee to tear the meniscus. In some cases, a piece of the shredded cartilage breaks loose and catches in the knee joint, causing it to lock up.
Meniscus tears are common in contact sports like football as well as noncontact sports requiring jumping and cutting such as volleyball and soccer. They can happen when a person changes direction suddenly while running, and often occur at the same time as other knee injuries, like an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. Meniscus tears are a special risk for older athletes since the meniscus weakens with age. More than 40% of people 65 or older have them.