There are two main types of athritis, Osteoarthritis (or wear and tear arthritis) or Inflammatory Arthritis which are auto immune diseases and include Rheumatoid and Psoriatic arthritis amongst others.

The purpose of early treatment is to:

1) Improve symptoms

2) Prevent or delay the progression of arthritis

In the inflammatory group of arthritis early treatment is medical and is aimed at reducing the inflammation which is destroying the joint cartilage. This treatment is usually managed by the patient's General Practitioner or a Rheumatologist. Modern disease modifing drugs can dramatically improve the outcome of these potentially crippling disorders. In the later stages when the articular cartilage has been destroyed the treatment is surgical.

In the majority of people however, it is osteoarthritis. It Is caused by either genetically poor hyaline cartilage or abnormal(over) loading. In many cases it can be the combination or a contribution of both!

Factors causing osteoarthritis:

1) Genetically poor cartilage (family history)

2) Overloading secondary to:

i) Injury (fractures damaging joint surface)

ii) Abnormal limb alignment

iii) Excess weight

iv) Excessive activity

v) Age