Do you know what causes osteoarthritis? Well if you google this question you may well become more confused than before you began.
Many opinions state that what causes osteoarthritis is unknown. I do not agree with this view and have answers that many others are not aware of. Nearly all cases of osteoarthritis that I have treated have had mechanical traumas of one type or another.
These mechanical traumas appear to have 2 main classifications;
- Direct trauma; this often relates to a significant injury that may have occurred years earlier (severe ligament damage, fracture close to a joint etc). This is rather well known and understood in mainstream medicine. However, I qualify this type of statement to specify that not all significant injuries will result in future osteoarthritis. But this outcome is more likely if the injury has not been rehabilitated correctly.
- Indirect trauma; This is more to do with Bio-mechanics of the joints (how they move) and is the least understood of the causes of osteoarthritis. Essentially this can be further broken down into poor bio-mechanics of the feet and poor bio-mechanics of the muscles. Bio-mechanics of the feet is very important as it will affect how the rest of the body above the feet will move. Bio-mechanics of the muscles is the most critical however as this can put the joint into a state of constant compression and can accelerate the joint wear phenomenally!
Muscle imbalance often what causes osteoarthritis.
This sure was the case for me and many clients that I have worked with. This was why at the age of 18 I had osteoarthritis developing very quickly in my knee joints. Correcting that problem can result in a very fast removal of symptoms, as it did for me. 20 years later I am still pain free and have full joint mobility and can pursue all physical activities that I desire. Many of which I couldn’t do as an 18 year old due to pain.