Supplements made from fish livers often contain a lot of vitamin A, which can be harmful in large amounts. Supplements made from the whole fish usually contain less vitamin A, so are safer if you find you need a high dose of fish oils to get any benefit from them. There are a number of different treatments available and they can generally be used alongside prescribed or over-the-counter medicines.
Private health insurance companies may also cover some types of therapy. However, most people pay for their own treatment, which can be costly.
Some therapies make bold claims — if you have any doubts, ask what evidence there is to back up these claims.
The Institute for Complementary and Natural Medicine can help you find a qualified therapist. Applying a hot-water bottle, wrapped in a towel to protect your skin, or a wheat-bag that you heat up in a microwave can help to ease pain.
An ice pack, again wrapped in a towel to protect your skin, often helps to reduce swelling and discomfort. Ice can be applied for up to 20 minutes every couple of hours. These can be particularly helpful if osteoarthritis has affected the alignment of a joint. Choosing comfortable, supportive shoes can make a difference not only to your feet, but also to other weight-bearing joints including the knees, hips and spinal joints.
In general, the ideal shoe would have a thick but soft sole, soft uppers, and plenty of room at the toes and the ball of the foot. When held in the opposite hand, it can also help to reduce pressure on a painful knee or hip. When your posture is good, your body will feel more relaxed. Think about your posture throughout the day. Check yourself while walking, at work, while driving, or while watching TV. If your pain varies from day to day, it can be tempting to take on too much on your good days, leading to more pain afterwards.
Learn to pace yourself. If there are jobs that often increase your pain, try to break them down, allow time for rest breaks, and alternate with jobs that you find easier.
Or think about other ways of doing a job that would cause less pain. Depending on which joints are affected, there are lots of aids and adaptations to help you around the home, and some fairly simple changes can make a big difference. You may be able to get help with the costs of obtaining aids or having adaptations to your home. Wherever you live, the first step is to ask your local authority for a needs assessment.
Most people with arthritis can continue in their jobs, although you may need to make some changes to your working environment, especially if you have a physically demanding job. Contact your local JobCentre Plus for information about Access to Work, a government initiative to help people overcome barriers to starting or keeping a job.
The allowance covers any extra costs or expenses students have because of a disability. For more information, visit the Disability Rights UK website. Information is available on the National Rail website about station accessibility, train and station facilities, and assistance options. Transport for London offers similar information on their website and has produced a guide to avoiding stairs on the London Tube network. Other local authorities and transport providers produce similar guides to accessible bus, train and minicab services, and some run their own transport schemes.
The emotional effects of arthritis can have just as much impact as the physical symptoms. Severe or long-term pain that affects your daily life and possibly disturbs your sleep can affect your mood. From time to time, your arthritis may get on top of you. You can also call our helpline on , who will listen and offer emotional support. The changes in cartilage that occur with osteoarthritis can encourage crystals to form within the joint. These may be:. Research is helping us to understand more about the causes of osteoarthritis, and to develop new treatments.
It was worse when I woke up in the morning. The pain when I walked upstairs was excruciating. And with my hands it was terrible. I would struggle to do things like open doors, tie my laces or put the top on a bottle of water.
My doctor did blood tests and I was then referred to the rheumatology department at the hospital. The rheumatologist told me it was osteoarthritis. I joined the gym in the March of It was obvious then that there were only certain things that I could go on, but I did a Pilates class once a week and that was good for flexibility.
You can then walk a bit further over the course of a few days or weeks. After three weeks with Shane, I could already walk upstairs without any pain. Once I got started, I became curious about how much I could do. It can be a vicious circle; if I seize up, I find it harder to start exercising again!
As well as becoming more active, I decided to take a good look at what I was eating. I started eating only good food and got rid of all the rubbish. I feel so much better. Set yourself realistic targets and just keep pushing yourself a little bit more. You can read more of our supporter stories on our Your stories page. Osteoarthritis OA. Download osteoarthritis information booklet.
Print this page. What is osteoarthritis? Watch our video about what osteoarthritis is. For example: Extra bone may form at the edge of the joint. These bony growths are called osteophytes and can sometimes restrict movement or rub against other tissues. In some joints, especially the finger joints, these may be visible as firm, knobbly swellings.
The lining of the joint capsule called the synovium may thicken and produce more fluid than normal, causing the joint to swell. Tissues that surround the joint and help to support it may stretch so that after a time the joint becomes less stable.
Related information. The affected joint may sometimes be swollen. The swelling may be: hard and knobbly, especially in the finger joints, caused by the growth of extra bone soft, caused by thickening of the joint lining and extra fluid inside the joint capsule. How will osteoarthritis affect me? Which joints are affected? Osteoarthritis is a chronic and progressive condition that mostly affects the hands, spine and joints such as hips, knees and ankles.
It is the most common form of arthritis and the predominant condition leading to knee and hip replacement surgery in Australia. Osteoarthritis is a chronic condition characterised by the breakdown of the cartilage that overlies the ends of bones in joints. This results in the bones rubbing together, causing pain, swelling and loss of motion Figure 1. Osteoarthritis mostly affects the hands, spine and joints such as hips, knees and ankles, and usually gets worse over time. As osteoarthritis progresses it can become difficult to perform everyday tasks.
At first pain is felt during and after activity, but as the condition worsens pain may be felt during minor movements or even at rest. Affected joints may also become swollen and tender which can affect fine motor skills. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis in Australia. An estimated 2. Although osteoarthritis affects people of all ages, the prevalence increases sharply from the age of 45 years.
Note: refers to people who self-reported that they were diagnosed by a doctor or nurse as having osteoarthritis current and long term and also people who self-reported having osteoarthritis.
Women had higher rates of osteoarthritis compared with men for all regions and socioeconomic areas Figure 3. ABS cat no. Canberra: ABS. Musculoskeletal fact sheet: Osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis affects just joints, not internal organs. Osteoarthritis of the hands seems to run in families. Women are more likely than men to have osteoarthritis in the hands. For most women, it develops after menopause. When osteoarthritis involves the hands, small, bony knobs may appear on the end joints those closest to the nails of the fingers.
Fingers can become enlarged and gnarled, and they may ache or be stiff and numb. The base of the thumb joint also is commonly affected by osteoarthritis. The knees are among the joints most commonly affected by osteoarthritis. Symptoms of knee osteoarthritis include stiffness, swelling, and pain, which make it hard to walk, climb, and get in and out of chairs and bathtubs. Osteoarthritis in the knees can lead to disability.
The hips are also common sites of osteoarthritis. As with knee osteoarthritis, symptoms of hip osteoarthritis include pain and stiffness of the joint itself. But sometimes pain is felt in the groin, inner thigh, buttocks, or even the knees.
Osteoarthritis of the hip may limit moving and bending, making daily activities such as dressing and putting on shoes a challenge. Osteoarthritis of the spine may show up as stiffness and pain in the neck or lower back. In some cases, arthritis-related changes in the spine can cause pressure on the nerves where they exit the spinal column, resulting in weakness, tingling, or numbness of the arms and legs.
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