Though osteoarthritis is disease which is not life threatening can affect the lives of people significantly. This disease which affects the various joints in the body and causes pain and swelling is something many people find difficult to cope with in their lives. This is because of the complications of osteoarthritis which can cause immobility and pain in their lives.

The major complications of osteoarthritis are of course pain as the degree of pain can vary from being just mild to even crippling causing debility. People cannot expect arthritis to just disappear but the pain of early osteoarthritis can lessen. Pain when it becomes severe can cause the patients to desist from activities and mental and physical health gets affected due to this. Many people because of this disease tend to even quit work early before their retirement age because the pain becomes unbearable. Many people find that osteoarthritis is a great nuisance as it cripples their daily activities also as no known treatment to rid one of arthritis has been found yet. This is a degenerative disease which people have to put up with and needs to be treated effectively.

Another of the complications of osteoarthritis is other than disability due to joint pain and stiffness which can make life really miserable are rapid breakdown of cartilage tissue called chondrolysis, bone death or osteonecrosis, hairline cracks which can develop in the bones due to repeated injuries or even stress, joint infections and bleeding.

Some other complications of osteoarthritis include pinched nerve which occurs in the spine, the rupture and tear of tendons and ligaments surrounding the joints, bone spurs, water accumulating in the knee joints, Ganglion cysts, Bunions, hammer toe, spinal stenosis, and Sacroillitis etc. Adverse reactions to certain drugs which have been used for treatment and complications arising in surgery can also contribute to complications of osteoarthritis patients.

Water on the knee is one of the common complications of osteoarthritis patients. Here the patient finds that a swelling in the knee joints arises due to the accumulation of water which gets collected there. This water on the knee which is also known as knee effusion can cause the breakdown of the joint cartilage. This breakdown further increases the pain but may not cause immobility in the patients. Proper treatment for this complication can make you mobile.

So if you suffer from any one of the above complications which may cause you immense pain and the disability to go about your daily activities then you certainly need to get treatment for osteoarthritis.