This sheet has been written for people affected by osteoarthritis. It provides general information to help you understand how osteoarthritis affects you and what you can do to manage it. It also tells you where to find further information and advice.

What is osteoarthritis (OA)?

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a condition that affects the whole joint including bone, cartilage, ligaments and muscles.

Osteoarthritis may include:

inflammation of the tissue around a joint
damage to joint cartilage - this is the protective cushion on the ends of your bones which allows a joint to move smoothly
bony spurs growing around the edge of a joint
deterioration of ligaments (the tough bands that hold your joint together) and tendons (cords that attach muscles to bones).

Osteoarthritis can affect any joint but occurs most often in the knees, hips, finger joints and big toe.

Osteoarthritis can develop at any age but tends to be more common in people aged over 40 years or those who have had joint injuries.

Osteoarthritis is different to osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a condition where the bones become fragile and brittle, causing them to break more easily.

What are the symptoms?

The symptoms of OA vary from person to person. Your symptoms will also depend on which joints are affected. OA tends to come on slowly, over months or even years. The most common symptoms are pain and stiffness of the joints. These sensations are usually worst with activity initially but can be more constant in later disease. These symptoms may affect your ability to do normal daily activities, such as walking, climbing stairs and opening jars. Other symptoms may include clicking noises, grating sensations, or a loss of flexibility in a joint.

What will happen to me?

The impact of OA on your normal activities and lifestyle depends on which joints are affected. However the outlook for most people with OA is very positive. For many people OA will be mild and not cause major problems. OA of the hip and knee can sometimes cause severe disability and surgery to replace joints may be necessary. Joint surgery is usually only an option if less invasive treatments, such as weight loss, exercise, and medicines, have failed to control your symptoms.

Is there a cure for OA?

Currently there is no cure for OA. While there are treatments that can effectively control symptoms, you should be wary of products or therapies that claim to cure OA.

What treatments are there for OA?

Treatments for OA vary depending on which joints are affected and the severity of your condition. There is no way of predicting exactly which treatment will work best for you. Each treatment has its own benefits and risks. Your doctor may need to trial several different treatments before finding the one that is right for you. In general terms, treatment usually includes:

a weight loss program, if you are overweight
an exercise program tailored to your condition and ability
pain management, using medicines such as paracetamol or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), as well as learning to change the way you think about, and react to, pain
devices such as braces, walking sticks, and shoe insoles
joint replacement surgery, if your symptoms are no longer controlled with other therapies.

What can I do?

See your doctor for treatment and advice. Your doctor will help you get the right treatment to manage your symptoms.

Learn about OA and play an active role in your treatment. Not all information you read or hear about is trustworthy so always talk to your doctor or healthcare team about treatments you are thinking about trying. Reliable sources of further information are also listed in the section below. Self management courses aim to help you develop skills to be actively involved in your healthcare.

Learn ways to manage pain.

Stay active. Exercise is strongly recommended for people with OA. It keeps your joints and muscles healthy and flexible and prevents other health problems. You may find it useful to see a physiotherapist or exercise physiologist for advice.

Have a healthy diet. There is no diet that will cure OA, but a diet aimed at maintaining an ideal body weight is recommended. See the Healthy eating information sheet. Balance your life. Learn about equipment that make daily tasks easier and how to balance rest and activity.

Acknowledge your feelings and seek support. As there is currently no cure for OA, it is natural to feel scared, frustrated, sad and sometimes angry. Be aware of these feelings and get help if they start affecting your daily life.

© Copyright Arthritis Australia 2007. Reviewed May 2015.
Disclaimer: This sheet is published by Arthritis Australia for information purposes only and should not be used in place of professional advice.

Source: A full list of the references used to compile this sheet is available from your local Arthritis Office. The Australian General Practice Network, Australian Physiotherapy Association, Australian Practice Nurses Association, Pharmaceutical Society of Australia and Royal Australian College of General Practitioners contributed to the development of this information sheet. The Australian Government has provided funding to support this project.

What is a Rheumatologist?

A Rheumatologist is a specialist physician who has expertise in diagnosing and treating diseases of the joints, muscles and bones. Sometimes the term rheumatic disease or ‘rheumatism’ is used to describe this group of diseases.

There are also a number of rarer rheumatic conditions that can affect other parts of the body including the skin, hair and internal organs. These include “lupus”, myositis, vasculitis and scleroderma.

The more common rheumatic diseases include:

Rheumatoid Arthritis
Psoriatic Arthritis
Ankylosing Spondylitis
Gout
Back and neck pain
Osteoarthritis
Muscle and tendon injury/tear
Tendonitis
Fibromyalgia
Polymyalgia Rheumatica
Bone Disease
Osteoporosis
Paget’s disease

What do you charge for consultations?

Initial Consultation Fees

Our full private rate for an initial appointment is $380 (which comes down to $145 after your Medicare Rebate of $234.85 is refunded to you)
Our Health Care Card/Full-time Student/COVID rate is $320 ( (which comes down to $85 after your Medicare Rebate of $234.85 is refunded to you)
Our Pension rate is $290 ( (which comes down to $55 after your Medicare Rebate of $234.85 is refunded to you)

Follow-up/Review Appointment Fees

Our full private rate for a review appointment is $140 (which comes down to $145 after your Medicare Rebate of $67.20 is refunded to you)
Our Health Care Card/Full-time Student/COVID rate for a review appointment is $140 (which comes down to $53 after your Medicare Rebate of $67.20 is refunded to you)
Our Pension rate for a review appointment is $100 (which comes down to $33 after your Medicare Rebate of $67.20 is refunded to you)

Do you Bulk Bill?

We don't bulk bill for appointments with our Rheumatologists. However, we do offer a once-a-week option for you to be seen by a Rheumatology Registrar (a doctor who is close to completing his/her advanced training to become a Rheumatologist). You can be seen by the Registrar, and Dr Peter Landsberg will also meet with you for part of that appointment in his role of supervising the Registrar and to check in on your management plan.

Do you offer Telehealth Appointments?

We definitely do offer Telehealth or online video consultation appointments. Especially in these times of COVID-19 disrupting our ability to set up face-to-face meetings for our immune-suppressed patients. But, we do very much prefer to see you in person for your first appointment.

We believe that this is critical to ensure that we are able to most accurately diagnose and map out the best management plan for your condition. Some things just can't be done well online and we pride ourselves on looking after you as best as we can.

After that initial appointment, once we have met with you and we understand you and your condition, we then feel confident that we can move to Telehealth appointments and offer optimal quality for your ongoing personal care plan.