Osteoarthritis Patient Information

Joint pain and stiffness are very common in people after middle age and whilst pain usually goes away with rest, stiffness may get worse. The term osteoarthritis or OA is often used to describe these type of joint symptoms. Typically, OA affects the joints such as the hip, knee also small joints found in hands and feet. OA is one of the major causes of reduced mobility and it particularly has an impact on people’s ability to continue with their everyday activities such as employment, leisure activities or hobbies.This guidebook has been written by patients and healthcare professionals for patients and carers, and will offer information on managing symptoms and different treatments.

All the comments in italics are what people have told researchers about their experience of having osteoarthritis type joint pain. Reading about their experiences may help you. For example, it may make you feel more confident to try out different ways of managing your symptoms, or reassure you that others have had similar experiences to you. People’s circumstances vary enormously and it may be that you will identify more with some individual experiences than with others.

This is the third version of the Osteoarthritis Guidebook and is now available in several different formats – there is a short version, and online text version and an online flipbook version, which you can find here:www.jigsaw-e.com/patient-focus/guidebook/It has also been translated into several different European languages.

This easy to read guidebook concerns osteoarthritis, and draws on both the knowledge and experiences of patients and health professionals. We hope that you will be able to understand the reasoning behind the advice that is given and that you will see how to use it to fit into your own life.