How can you tell if you have OA?  Are you suffering from pain or stiffness and thinking you might have developed it?  Well, there are a number of signs and symptoms that can help you make a more informed decision.

One of the main signs, of course, is having short lasting pains that will often cause stiffness and loss of ability.  The pain takes place in muscles and tendons and is usually either sharp aches or burning sensations.  The most common places the pain will affect are the knees, hands, hips, feet, and spine.  The pain is generally worse at the end of the day and after periods of activity.

As stated earlier, stiffness is another symptom.  Usually, the stiffness occurs after periods of inactivity.  It can be when you wake up in the morning, or just sitting for a long period of time at work, while watching television, etc.  The stiffness usually lasts around an hour.

Other symptoms can include limited joint motion and creaking (the creaking can be followed by pain), and tenderness.  All symptoms can be either minor or severe (or somewhere in the middle).  This can also result in where you are having the problems.  For example, hands don’t really bear much weight and therefore won’t hurt as much as your knees and other joints that bear weight.  Knees (and also hips) with OA will result in more problems as well.

Symptoms are limited to joints with OA.  Usually that is only one area, but sometimes it can be in multiple areas.  Osteoarthritis never has symptoms that affect the entire body.

If you feel you might have Osteoarthritis, please consult your doctor.