Osteoarthritis Treatment Newport Beach

Osteoarthritis is the gradual loss of cartilage in a joint along with changes in the bone beneath it. It is extremely common with age, most often in knees, hips, hands and the spine, and it is far less predictable than people expect — the scan and the symptoms frequently disagree.

What Osteoarthritis Treatment Newport Beach focuses on

Movement, strength and load. Osteoarthritis Treatment Newport Beach patients here get manual therapy to the joint and the tissue around it, plus a graded strengthening programme, because muscle strength around an arthritic joint is one of the better predictors of how much it troubles you.

Why movement rather than rest

Cartilage has no blood supply and is nourished by movement. A joint that is rested becomes stiffer and the surrounding muscle weakens, which increases the load the joint takes. The instinct to protect an arthritic joint is understandable and generally makes it worse.

Managing a flare

Flares happen and are not evidence of deterioration. Reduce load briefly rather than stopping, keep the joint moving through comfortable range, and return to the programme as it settles. Knowing that in advance takes a good deal of the fear out of it.

What we cannot change

We cannot regrow cartilage or reverse the changes on the image, and anyone claiming to should be treated with scepticism. What conservative care reliably does is improve function and reduce how much the joint limits you, which is what most people actually want.

When to consider a joint replacement

When pain is constant, when it wakes you at night regularly, and when a proper course of conservative care and strengthening has not shifted it. Replacement outcomes are good and there is no prize for waiting until you can barely walk. We will tell you when we think that conversation is due.