3 Strategies for Living Well When You Have Osteoarthritis

Your life used to be bigger, but now achy joints have clipped your wings a little bit, and you don’t love the effect your osteoarthritis (OA) is having on your life.

We assure you that millions of people feel the same way — about 58.5 million Americans have arthritis, including 33 million with OA. 

Since May is National Arthritis Awareness Month, we turn to our team of board-certified primary care providers at CareOne Internal Medicine and Primary Care, who are well-versed in chronic disease management, including osteoarthritis. 

Here, we present three key strategies to help you move more freely, despite your OA diagnosis.

A quick glance at osteoarthritis

OA is a degenerative disease in which the slippery tissues that cover the bones inside your joints — cartilage — start to break down. This breakdown comes on the heels of years of wear-and-tear and can lead to friction inside your affected joints as the bones make direct contact. 

Thanks to this friction, your joints become painful, stiff, and inflamed, making movement more difficult.

Best practices for people with OA

There are more than 100 different types of arthritis that all share two things in common: (1) They all lead to joint pain and inflammation; and (2) None has a cure. 

Since there’s no cure for OA, key practices boil down to management, and there are plenty of ways to better manage this chronic condition so that you can move around with less pain. 

With early intervention, you can slow the progression of your OA, which is a great goal. These practices include:

1. Getting the right OA toolkit and care team

As we just mentioned, OA is degenerative, so it’s important to take action to support your joints as soon as possible. For guidance on this, it’s especially critical to have the right medical team in your corner to make sure you have the resources and treatments you need for better joint health and quality of life.

For example, our team can ensure that your OA toolkit is in order. While this toolkit can vary from one person to the next, it often includes:

• Prescription medications for symptom management
• Joint injections to manage pain and inflammation
• Braces for joints like your knees and ankles
• Assistive devices, such as canes and walkers
• Orthotics for your feet to improve joint alignment

After we fully evaluate your OA and lifestyle, we can figure out the best OA toolkit for your needs.

2. The power of exercise and strong muscles

Once we use your OA toolkit to make moving more comfortable, it’s time to do more of it. Your joints are made for moving and function best when they’re on the go. Movement increases blood flow, improves joint lubrication, and reduces inflammation.

We understand that movement might seem counterintuitive, especially if you're dealing with achy joints. Bear in mind that we’re not asking you to run a marathon — far from it. 

Instead, incorporate some more walking or light jogging into your day. Or, if your joints are really painful, you can try swimming or cycling to take the pressure off.

It’s also important that you strengthen the muscles surrounding your affected joints. As the OA breaks down the cartilage, you can relieve some of the growing friction in your joint by enlisting the muscles surrounding it to reduce the pressure inside. 

Here again, we’re happy to work with you on the best exercise and strengthening plan to manage your OA.

3. Losing weight to ease the pressure on arthritic joints

If you’re carrying excess weight, you're placing more pressure on your joints, which can contribute greatly to OA. The reality is that more than 40% of Americans have obesity, and these added pounds can wreak havoc on the joints. Conversely, when you lose weight, you relieve pressure on your joints and slow degeneration.

We understand how tough weight loss can be, but that’s changing thanks to new GLP-1 weight-loss medications, which we offer here as part of our weight-loss services when appropriate.

With some effort on your end and expert oversight on ours, we’re confident that we can get you to a place where OA isn’t affecting your every step and movement.

To learn more about better managing your OA or to set up a consultation, please contact us at one of our CareOne Internal Medicine and Primary Care locations in Houston or Katy, Texas.