Osteoarthritis, unlike so many other diseases, is a clinical diagnosis. Because of the fact that the majority of disease diagnoses are laboratory based, blood samples are often drawn before a physician lays eyes or hands on patient. A perfect example of this is the emergency room patient.
When a patient presents to an emergency room, they are triaged by a non-physician healthcare worker. Based on the patient's answers to routine questions, often the triage nurse orders basic blood tests which are run while the patient waits to see the physician. Since osteoarthritis is clinical diagnosis, the workup begins with the patient's history of medical problems, followed by a full description of the current complaint and then proceeding to the physician's physical examination.
Typically a radiograph is taken, not to make the diagnosis, but to rule out any other disease or disorder with similar presenting symptoms like Psoriatic or Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Now of-course there is an inflammatory component to the symptomology, however, the main stay of treatment is non-pharmacological. There are numerous anti-inflammatory medications on the market, both by prescription and over the counter.
The main stay for therapy is non-pharmacological. This includes physical therapy, occupational therapy and biomechanical appliances. The ultimate goal is to assist the patient in resuming or continuing with their typical activities.
Physical therapy is aimed at the remediation of impairments and disabilities of movements at particular affected joints. It also aims at promotion of prior or desired mobility, functional ability and a return to the prior quality of life.
Occupational therapy is aimed at teaching the patient how to go about developing, recovering and maintaining the patient's prior daily living and work skills. The occupational therapist works with the patient to adapt their environment to their needs. They help and teach the patient to modify their daily tasks to the current restrictions of their joints.
Various Orthotic and Prosthetic devices, namely splints and braces, can be used to treat both joint pain and instability.
Joanne M. Jordan, MD is a Professor at the University of North Carolina and is director of the University's Thurston Arthritis Research Center. Earlier this month, November 2013, Dr. Jordan spoke publicly about this very topic. She commented of the fact that even though "there is a lot of inflammation that can be present in osteoarthritis, and that's something we should be thinking about. A lot of osteoarthritis is based on biomechanics."
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