Bone-on-bone arthritis is a phrase people use to describe what happens inside a joint when the cartilage—the smooth, cushiony tissue that covers the ends of bones—wears away almost completely. Normally, cartilage helps your joints move smoothly and without pain. But with bone-on-bone arthritis, there’s little or no cartilage left between the bones in your joint. This means that when you move, the bones rub directly against each other.
This condition is most often seen in osteoarthritis, which is the most common type of arthritis. Osteoarthritis usually affects large joints like knees and hips but can also happen in hands and feet. As cartilage wears down over time or due to injury, you might start feeling pain, stiffness, swelling, or hear grating sounds when moving your joint.
When someone says they have bone-on-bone arthritis in their knee or hip for example, it means X-rays show very little space left between their bones because so much cartilage has disappeared.
So what can be done about bone-on-bone arthritis? While there’s no way to regrow lost cartilage yet (unless new treatments become available), there are several ways to manage symptoms and improve quality of life:
– **Lifestyle changes:** Losing weight if needed can reduce stress on joints like knees and hips.
– **Exercise:** Gentle activities such as swimming or walking help keep muscles strong around affected joints.
– **Physical therapy:** A therapist can teach exercises tailored for your needs.
– **Pain relief medications:** Over-the-counter options like acetaminophen or ibuprofen may help with pain and swelling.
– **Prescription medications:** Sometimes doctors prescribe stronger medicines if over-the-counter ones aren’t enough.
– **Injections:** Corticosteroid injections into painful joints may provide temporary relief from inflammation.
– **Assistive devices:** Braces or shoe inserts might help support affected areas during daily activities.
If these treatments don’t work well enough anymore—especially if pain becomes constant even at rest—doctors sometimes recommend surgery such as joint replacement (like knee replacement). Surgery replaces damaged parts of a joint with artificial materials so movement becomes smoother again.
Living with bone-on-bone arthritis isn’t easy but many people find ways through lifestyle adjustments combined with medical care to stay active despite discomfort caused by this condition.
