What is Osteoarthritis? Our Jacksonville Chiropractor Explains its Symptoms and Treatment

Osteoarthritis, a degenerative joint disease, is the result of wear and tear on the joints. It primarily affects the joints that are, such as your knees, hips, spine and ankles as well as the joints in your hands. Osteoarthritis can affect both women and men of any age, but it is generally more common as you age. At Amazing Spine Care in Jacksonville, FL, our chiropractor, Dr. Khiger, can help you find natural, drug-free relief from osteoarthritis.

How Osteoarthritis Affects Joints

When joints are healthy, the shock absorbing cartilage in the space between the bones helps the bones glide easily over one another. With osteoarthritis, some of the cartilage wears away, which causes the bones to rub against each other. The damage to the joint often causes natural chemicals to accumulate within the joint. The joints naturally try to repair the damage by creating new growth of cartilage and bone occurs which reacts with the buildup of chemicals, causing osteophytes which are outgrowths of the bone. So, the additional cartilage surface becomes rougher, causing joint movement to be less fluid. The misalignment increases the pressure on the joint and as a result the bones rub against one another causing a decrease in motion, swelling, pain and stiffness.

Symptoms of Osteoarthritis

The symptoms of osteoarthritis vary depending on the severity of the condition as well as your activity level, age and overall general health. However, the most common symptoms include:

• Stiffness and achiness around joints, especially after periods of inactivity or over use
• Pain around the joints and/or in your back
• Stiffness and achiness upon waking up that improves and typically goes away with activity
• Grating and/or grinding sensations with normal movement
• Popping sounds
• Loss of range of motion
• Difficulty walking
• Bony growths on joints
• Swelling around the joints

Slowing the Progression of Osteoarthritis

Although osteoarthritis isn’t preventable, there are some things you can do to slow down the progression.  Maintaining a healthy body weight is important, because it helps to reduce the weight placed on the cartilage, which reduces the stress on the joint.  Staying active is also important, because your body is meant to move and your joints like to be active. Some great activities to help maintain weight as well as keep joints moving include walking, jogging and bicycle riding. If you already have osteoarthritis, walking and swimming are great low impact exercises.

Visiting our chiropractor can be extremely beneficial for the treatment of osteoarthritis. Chiropractic care for osteoarthritis often includes massage therapy, physical therapy, manipulations and nutritional and lifestyle advice; all of which help to relieve pain, decrease surrounding muscle spasms, improve joint mobility and strengthen your weakened muscles.

Contact our Jacksonville Chiropractor at  Amazing Spine Care

To learn more information about how chiropractic care can help relieve your pain from osteoarthritis, contact Amazing Spine Care to schedule your consultation today. Call Dr. Khiger, our Jacksonville chiropractor at (904) 701-3916.