What Are the Symptoms of Osteoarthritis?

Symptoms of osteoarthritis include:

• Pain, commonly in the hands , hips , knees , or feet , and sometimes in the spine . Pain usually is related to activity of the joint and is worse at the end of the day or after periods of activity. As the disease progresses, pain is present even during rest.
• Stiffness (lasting less than 1 hour) after periods of inactivity, such as in the morning after a night's sleep or after sitting for a long time.
• Limited joint motion.
• Tenderness and occasional swelling.
• Joint deformity (usually in later stages of osteoarthritis).
• Joint cracking or "creaking" (crepitus), often accompanied by pain. This creaking also may occur in a normal (nonarthritic) joint and is usually painless.

Osteoarthritis of the spine can also narrow the openings that make space for the spinal cord and for the nerves that branch off the spinal cord (spinal nerves). This is called spinal stenosis. It can lead to pressure on the spinal cord or spinal nerves. This pressure can cause pain, weakness, or numbness.

Symptoms of osteoarthritis range from minor to severe. Symptoms may depend on which joints are involved. If your weight-bearing joints (such as hips and knees) are affected, it often results in more problems than if you have osteoarthritis in non-weight-bearing joints, such as your fingers.

Usually, osteoarthritis is limited to one set of joints, such as both knees. But osteoarthritis may affect more than one location in the body (for example, the knees and hands). Osteoarthritis usually only causes symptoms in one or more joints. Symptoms that affect the whole body, such as fever, weight loss, or rash, are not seen in osteoarthritis.

As osteoarthritis becomes more severe, symptoms may include a total loss of function in the affected joints.

Compare osteoarthritis with rheumatoid arthritis.

Learn about other conditions with symptoms similar to osteoarthritis.