Osteoarthritis affects the different part of the body that contains joint. The effect though of the osteoarthritis varies from joint to joint. In differentiating the different types of Osteoarthritis, the joint that is affected is used to identify it.
Are there different types of osteoarthritis?
- Hip Osteoarthritis. It refers to the degenerative arthritis of the hip. It occurs when one or both o hip joints are affected by Osteoarthritis that can limit the patient from walking or using the lower limbs.
- Cervical Osteoarthritis. This type of Osteoarthritis affects the neck region. It affects the joints, discs and bone of the neck area. The condition is also referred to as Cervical osteoarthritis.
- Degenerative Arthritis of the shoulder. This is an Osteoarthritis of the shoulder. It results when the different joints of the shoulders are affected. Same as other Osteoarthritis, the risk of getting shoulder Osteoarthritis increases with age. This type of Osteoarthritis can, however, occur at a young age if dislocation or injury of the shoulder occurs.
- Spinal Osteoarthritis. The Osteoarthritis can affect the spin cartilage in the lower back and the neck. The effect can be severe as it can result to a person not able to sit down comfortably as well as not being able to move without severe pain.
- Hand Osteoarthritis. This is a degenerative arthritis of the hand. It refers to Osteoarthritis that affect the different joints of the hand such as fingers, wrist, and others.
- Degenerative Arthritis of the knee. This is the most common type of Osteoarthritis.
- Ankle and foot Osteoarthritis. Foot Osteoarthritis occurs when Osteoarthritis affect the different joints of the foot. The most common affected joints are the ankle joint, the foot bone, the big toes and the heel bone. Effect of any of the joint can hinder the normal movement of the person.
How do the Symptoms of the different types of osteoarthritis differ?
Osteoarthritis affects all the joints of the body. The degree, the effects and symptoms of the various types of osteoarthritis are the same with pain, stiffness, cracking sound and swelling being the main symptoms. However, the effect of the symptoms is the one that does differ. For instance, the spinal osteoarthritis can result to interfering with sitting comfortability of a person while knee and hip osteoarthritis can lead to discomfort while walking or using the lower limbs.
Treatment of the different types of osteoarthritis
The mechanism of the treatment of the various types of osteoarthritis is almost the same. The treatment method, however, may be different depending on the region being considered. Some of the areas affected are delicate and cannot be managed through direct injection or replacement of the bone part. The spine and neck for example when affected with osteoarthritis it becomes challenging to use some of the techniques that can be used on other types of osteoarthritis. The treatment of osteoarthritis must take into account the risks associated with the different areas for effective treatment and reduce the possibility of damage resulting from the treatment.
