Osteoarthritis is a lifelong condition, but living with it does not have to mean living under its control.

Listen up, people with osteoarthritis (OA), and take heart. Your joints are depending on you to stay as healthy as possible, and you have the power to significantly help them. Because OA must be managed day to day, you play the biggest role in your own treatment.

While you can't and shouldn't try to manage OA without the help of a health care team, what happens now is largely in your control. To take the first step, check out the Arthritis Foundation's Life Improvement Series, a set of programs on fitness and self-management.

Goals and methods of treatment

OA is chronic (lifelong) condition that often gets worse (progresses) over time. Progression may be very slow in some people and faster in others.

Because each person with OA is different, long-term treatment is tailored to the needs of the individual. Even two people who are the same age and sex, with the same joints involved, may have very different experiences living with OA and therefore different needs and specific treatment goals and approaches.

That said, the overall goals of OA management are the same for everyone and include:

• Controlling pain and other symptoms
   
• Improving and preserving joint function
   
• Weight loss (if overweight) and maintaining a healthy body weight
   
• Optimizing overall health, well-being, and quality of life

Optimal long-term management of OA strives to meet these goals, an OA management plan uses a combination of strategies, including:

• Regular physical activity and exercise to achieve/maintain cardiovascular fitness, muscle strength, and flexibility and to improve pain and joint function
   
• Balancing activity and rest to keep joints mobile but not stressed
   
• An overall plan for weight loss, including sensible calorie restriction, balanced nutrition and other strategies for portion control and healthy eating habits
   
• Non-drug approaches for pain relief (heat and cold, massage, acupuncture, meditation and guided imagery) improved joint function (physical and occupational therapy), and joint support and cushioning (walking aids, knee braces, footwear and insoles)
   
• Nonprescription medicines for pain relief (pain relievers, like acetaminophen, or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories, or NSAIDs, such as ibuprofen)
   
• Prescription medicines (opioid pain relievers, like oxycodone or hydrocodone)
   
• Topical rubs, creams and ointments (NSAIDs, capsaicin)
   
• Joint injections (corticosteroids, hyaluronic acid)
   
• Surgical procedures to relieve severe pain not manageable with medicines and/or to restore joint function (removal of loose pieces of bone and cartilage, repositioning of bones, resurfacing of bones, replacement of part or all of a joint)

The Arthritis Foundation has more information on OA management and treatment strategies.

What You Should Know

• Managing pain. Many people with OA need medicines at least occasionally to ease their symptoms. It may be necessary to try several different pain-relief treatments or combinations of treatments before finding a regimen that works. Work with you doctor or other health care providers to make sure that you have safe and effective pain-relief medicines available when you need them and that you understand how and when to take them.
   
• Managing weight. Being overweight can make hip or knee OA worse. Even modest weight loss can produce meaningful improvements in pain, physical function, and disability. Each pound lost reduces the load on knees by 4 pounds and the pressure on the hips by 6 pounds. Gradual weight loss through a combination of increased physical activity and adoption of a healthy, nutrient-dense diet has shown to be most effective.
   
• Staying active. People with OA who stay active have a better chance of maintaining joint function and keeping pain under control than people who are inactive. Regular moderate-intensity exercise or physical activity is an integral to optimal long-term management plan of OA. Studies show that a safe and appropriate exercise or physical activity regimen can reduce pain and improve joint function and flexibility, and reduce disability.

Learn more about the benefits of exercise here. Find out how much exercise is enough?