Is it really your osteoarthritis that's causing you pain?

Questions related to osteoarthritis come up as often as the sunset, which is pretty much every day!
Perhaps you've already been diagnosed with osteoarthritis? Maybe you've been told that osteoarthritis is the cause of your pain? Perhaps you've developed more fearful behaviors towards physical activity because of your osteoarthritis?

My osteoarthritis just appeared and it hurts...

Osteoarthritis doesn't appear overnight. It's a phenomenon that develops over a lifetime. So, if you have a pain that appears suddenly, it's because your body has been stressed more than usual or your body is currently less resilient (due to stress, fatigue, lack of sleep, etc.). You certainly don't have more osteoarthritis than you did the day before you felt pain. The actual cause of the pain is therefore often not osteoarthritis.

Osteoarthritis itself will not change. This is the first thing to accept and understand. Osteoarthritis is an irreversible degenerative phenomenon. Osteoarthritis cannot be cured, BUT the pain associated with osteoarthritis can be cured.

In short: Pain ≠ Osteoarthritis

‍

If we want to get better, we must stop focusing on the osteoarthritis and concentrate on the things we can change. The pain is present because there is excessive stress on one or more structures of the body (muscles, tendons, joints, ligaments, nerves, discs).

To heal the pain, we must identify the cause of this excessive stress, and that is exactly the role of the physiotherapist. Once the cause is identified, the excessive stress must be reduced by several means such as:

• A good balance of painful tasks, leisure activities, and sports
• Exercises
• Adjustments to postural habits or certain movements
• Manual therapy performed by the physiotherapist

‍

So, what can we really attribute to osteoarthritis?

• Morning stiffness lasting less than 30 minutes that improves with movement
• Cracking of the joints during movement
• Swelling of the joint after a greater effort than usual

Regardless of the severity of the osteoarthritis, we can always address the factors that increase excessive stress to help or even resolve the symptoms.

From now on, you can be confident that, regardless of your age, the degree of osteoarthritis, or your pain level, it is always possible to do something to improve the condition.

To learn more... 

You can listen to the podcast « Parle-moi de santé » produced by one of our physiotherapists, Alexis Gougeon. Episode #15 discusses osteoarthritis.

Episode 15 of Parle-moi de santé (osteoarthritis)

Click below to listen to episodes on podcast platforms:

‍

‍

‍

Sources

• Neogi T. The epidemiology and impact of pain in osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis and cartilage. 2013 Sep 1;21(9):1145-53.
• Zhang W, Doherty M, Peat G, Bierma-Zeinstra MA, Arden NK, Bresnihan B, Herrero-Beaumont G, Kirschner S, Leeb BF, Lohmander LS, Mazières B. EULAR evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis. Annals of the rheumatic diseases. 2010 Mar 1;69(3):483-9.
• Décary S, Feldman D, Frémont P, Pelletier JP, Martel‐Pelletier J, Fallaha M, Pelletier B, Belzile S, Sylvestre MP, Vendittoli PA, Desmeules F. Initial derivation of diagnostic clusters combining history elements and physical examination tests for symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. Musculoskeletal care. 2018 Sep;16(3):370-9.
• Salamh P, Cook C, Reiman MP, Sheets C. Treatment effectiveness and fidelity of manual therapy to the knee: A systematic review and meta‐analysis. Musculoskeletal care. 2017 Sep;15(3):238-48.

‍