Can osteoarthritis leave you in a wheelchair?

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asked Nov 11, 2022 in Pain by Lizaboir (1,380 points)
Can osteoarthritis leave you in a wheelchair?

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answered Mar 4, 2023 by meepbiner (4,270 points)
Osteoarthritis can leave you in a wheelchair or cause you to need a cane or walker to get around.

The pain and stiffness or even difficulty moving can affect your mobility and make driving or walking very difficult.

The difference between arthritis and osteoarthritis is arthritis is inflammation of the joints and not from wear and tear of the bones while osteoarthritis is the gradual wearing down of joint cartilage due to wear and tear.

The most painful arthritis is Rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis affects joints as well as organs and surrounding tissues and the autoimmune disease attacks healthy cells by mistake which causes painful swelling in your joints in your hands, wrists and knees.

The main cause and main reason for arthritis is inflammation of the joints.

When your joints are inflamed it leads to arthritis and to get rid of the arthritis you have to reduce the inflammation in your joints.

The risk factors for arthritis include.

Family history. Some types of arthritis run in families, so you may be more likely to develop arthritis if your parents or siblings have the disorder.
Age.
Your sex.
Previous joint injury.
Obesity.

Psoriatic arthritis is a type of arthritis linked with psoriasis, a chronic skin and nail disease.

Psoriasis causes red, scaly rashes and thick, pitted fingernails.

Psoriatic arthritis is similar to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in symptoms and joint swelling (inflammation).

But it tends to affect fewer joints than RA.

Joint pain, stiffness and swelling are the main signs and symptoms of psoriatic arthritis.

They can affect any part of the body, including your fingertips and spine, and can range from relatively mild to severe.

In both psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, disease flares can alternate with periods of remission.

The cause of psoriatic arthritis is unknown.

Researchers suspect that it develops from a combination of genetic (heredity) and environmental factors.

They also think that immune system problems, infection, obesity, and physical trauma play a role in determining who will develop the disease.

So, basically rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis are very similar and treatments are generally the same.

The biggest difference is the joints involved in the hands and feet and the fact that psoriatic arthritis also involves psoriasis of the skin which is a persistent chronic disease in itself.

Arthritis is caused by inflammation of the joints.

Osteoarthritis usually comes with age and most often affects the fingers, knees, and hips.

Sometimes osteoarthritis follows a joint injury.

For example, you might have badly injured your knee when young and develop arthritis in your knee joint years later.

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