Osteoarthritis Pain Can Spread to Other Areas

Philip Conaghan, PhD, professor of musculoskeletal medicine at the University of Leeds in the UK, director of the Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, and first author of the study, was quoted stating "Multisite joint pain usually represents a combination of back pain, osteoarthritis (in knees and feet), and tendon inflammation (hands and shoulders).”

To make the best use of various treatment modalities for osteoarthritis, there is a need to better understand the nature of this kind of pain.

He continues “How you use your body can lead to other pains. For example, people with a single painful knee will quickly lose quadriceps muscle strength and use that leg as a stilt, causing them to get pain in the outer thigh, aggravating their back pain and often causing ligament pain around the ankle. We need to have a clear understanding of the biomechanical ‘spread’ of pain and how important, for example, strengthening leg muscles might be for reducing pains in other joints.”

Our experience at NYC Pain MD confirms this as patients with lower extremity arthritis such as hip or knee, due to alterations in their walking habits, often results in lower back stress and pain. In reverse, those with chronic low back pain often alter basic motions stressing the upper torso, knees, hips and ankles eventually lending itself to pain in those areas.

If you find yourself in a similar situation, the doctors at NYC Pain MD offer no-cost screening evaluations to determine if they can help. Call our office and schedule an evaluation today!