It started out fairly minor — you had a joint (or two) that started to get a little sore, especially after using it. Slowly but surely, this discomfort started to become more persistent and, these days, it’s a rare thing to not deal with achy joints.
This is a story that the 33 million Americans who are diagnosed with osteoarthritis (OA) share. And many of these people also share the same question — is this arthritis reversible?
Because May is Arthritis Awareness Month, our board-certified orthopedic surgeons at New Braunfels Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine decided to tackle this common question in this month’s blog. Let’s dive into the nature of this type of arthritis and what options you have moving forward.
To sufficiently answer the questions about the curability, reversability, and treatability of OA, it’s helpful to have a clear idea about what you’re up against.
To start, there are more than 100 different types of arthritis and OA is, by far, the most common. At its core, OA is a wear-and-tear disease that develops over years of use. The wear mainly affects your cartilage, a slippery connective tissue that covers the bones in your joint to provide friction-free gliding and cushioning.
As your cartilage breaks down, your bones can rub together unprotected and it also creates loose bodies in the joint, including pieces of cartilage and bone. Between the friction and the loose material, you’re left with nagging joint pain and inflammation.
One of the primary challenges with OA is that cartilage is a tissue that doesn’t regenerate well — once it breaks down, cartilage doesn’t regrow. As a result, OA has long been considered to be incurable and irreversible, but there is ongoing research in this area.
While still in its infancy, we’re seeing efforts toward regeneration through different therapies, including stem cell therapy and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy.
These treatments are still in the early stages, but they are providing arthritis specialists a glimmer of hope in getting the human body to recover from wear-and-tear conditions like OA. The specialists at New Braunfels Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine can talk with you about the latest evidence regarding these treatments.
It’s also important to note that just because OA isn’t reversible, it doesn't mean you're stuck with the pain and limitations.
The reality is that there are plenty of ways to manage your OA, and these best practices can also slow the progression of the disease, which is important. These strategies include:
We can also hit the reset button on joints with severe OA through joint replacement — for example, knee replacement and hip replacement surgeries — which allows millions of Americans to remain active despite their arthritis.
To explore which treatment and management options are best for your OA, we invite you to contact New Braunfels Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine in New Braunfels, Texas, today by calling 830-341-1386 or requesting an appointment online.
