Osteoarthritis
Symptoms
Symptoms of osteoarthritis include:
- Pain, commonly in the hands
, hips
- Stiffness (lasting less than 1 hour) after periods of inactivity, such as in the morning after a night's sleep or after sitting for a long time.
- Limited joint motion.
- Tenderness and occasional swelling.
- Joint deformity (usually in later stages of osteoarthritis).
- Joint cracking or "creaking" (crepitation), often accompanied by pain. This creaking also may occur in a normal (nonarthritic) joint and is usually painless.
Symptoms of osteoarthritis range from minor to severe. Symptoms may depend on which joints are involved. If your weight-bearing joints (such as hips and knees) are affected, it often results in more problems than if you have osteoarthritis in non-weight-bearing joints, such as your fingers.
Usually, osteoarthritis is limited to one set of joints, such as both knees. But osteoarthritis may affect more than one location in the body (for example, the knees and hands). Osteoarthritis usually only causes symptoms in one or more joints. Symptoms that affect the whole body, such as fever, weight loss, or rash, are not seen in osteoarthritis.
As osteoarthritis becomes more severe, symptoms may include a total loss of function in the affected joints.
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| Author: | Robin Parks, MS | Last Updated: April 20, 2007 |
| Medical Review: | E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine Stanford M. Shoor, MD - Rheumatology | |
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