Task 8.1b- disorders and dysfunctions of the musculoskeletal system Osteoarthritis Osteoarthritis is the most common arthritis. It is an incurable condition which affects your joints. The surface within the joints become joints become damaged which stops the joints moving smoothly. [1] The symptoms of this are: o Pain and stiffness o Swelling o Not being able to move the joint normally o A grating/grinding feeling The symptoms can vary and the symptoms can worse on some days and not really noticeable on others. If the condition is serious, the pain may not go away and it may affect you in your everyday life. For example, it may stop you from sleeping through the night and could cause difficulties when trying to carry out daily tasks like climbing …show more content…
The treatments given are there to: control pain, improve joint function, maintain normal body weight and have a healthy life style. Treatments which may be recommended could be: o Physiotherapy o Joint replacement o Rest, ice, compression, elevate (RICE) o Pain relief o Splinting and casting Tendonitis Tendonitis is an injury which causes inflammation to the tendon. Usually tendons are thick and strong fibrous bands which can handle movement and pressure well. However, it can sometime become inflamed or even torn which will also cause pain this is when tendonitis occurs. Tendonitis can also be caused by gonorrhoea but this is rarely the case. The main symptom of tendonitis is pain. Symptoms o Shoulder pain o Pain in the outer side of the elbow o Pain in the inner side of the elbow o Pain in the wrist o Pain at the back of the heel Although in most cases the exact reasoning of tendonitis is unknown, when the cause is known it can be one of two reasons either “overuse” or “overload”. Overuse happens when a particular body motion is repeated too often and overload happens when the level of a certain activity e.g. weightlifting.