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wonder
why?
The Ligament Injury Connection to Osteoarthritis
Mark T. Wheaton, MD
& Nichole Jensen
Osteoarthritis (OA) or degenerative joint disease (DJD) is more common
than all the other types of arthritis combined. It is well-established that injury
to a joint increases the chances that the joint will develop osteoarthritis over
time. Precipitating causes include sudden impact or trauma, overuse or repetitive
motion injuries, biomechanical abnormalities (congenital or acquired), ligamentous
injury, joint hypermobility, obesity, intra-articular or systemic corticosteroids,
avascular necrosis, and hereditary factors. Osteoarthritis, though the accepted
term used to describe degenerative joint disease, is misleading because it primarily
relates to cartilage, not bone, and involves degeneration, not inflammation.
A lack of understanding about the development of osteoarthritis has resulted
in a broad array of symptom-based treatment options such as rest, ice, heat,
analgesics, anti-inflammatories, narcotics, braces and wraps, physical therapy
and exercise, chiropractic, viscosupplementation, corticosteroid injections,
and surgery. While advances have been made in joint replacement, cartilage repair,
cartilage replacement, and spinal procedures, treatments to limit or even reverse
articular cartilage breakdown have been lacking. Being that ligament injury,
excess laxity, joint hypermobility, and clinical instability are known to be
major causes of osteoarthritis, any treatment which can address restoration of
ligament function would help reduce the incidence, pain, and dysfunction of osteoarthritis.
Journal of Prolotherapy. 2010;(2)1:294-304.
KEYWORDS: cartilage, degeneration, hypermobility, instability, ligaments, osteoarthritis. |
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