Pain

Pain is the main symptom. It varies according to the joint in question.

  The characteristics of the pain of osteoarthritis are quite particular

 
• It is triggered and increased by movement
• It stops or lessens when the joint is at rest
• It is less severe in the morning, then it increases throughout the course of the day and is at its maximum in the evening
• It traditionally disturbs falling asleep, but may exceptionally lead to waking-up during the night
• It reappears every time the affected joint is subjected to an effort: walking for osteoarthritis of the hip, going upstairs for the knee, lifting the arm for the shoulder and so on.

  Why does it hurt?

In osteoarthritis it is the inflammatory reaction that is painful rather than the degeneration of the cartilage. This explains why painless osteoarthritis can suddenly become painful, often from a traumatism or micro-trauma for this is what provokes the painful inflammatory reaction. This pain is found again during mobilisation of the affected joint during a clinical examination.

  Self-evaluation tools to assess the pain

It is difficult to assess the pain because each person expresses what they feel with relevant ease: It is a very subjective notion. Some people have a “high pain threshold” and do not talk about their pain very much while others are more "sensitive". To help your doctor quantify your painful sensation there are self-evaluation tools to assess the pain that you complete yourself. You can thus show him or her the results during your consultation.

  There are 3 main assessments:

• Visual Analogue Scales
• Numeric Pain Intensity Scale
• Verbal Rating Scale