This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Osteoarthritis symptoms and severity vary—no two patients experience osteoarthritis the exact same way. The most common signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis include:26
- Sore, painful joints
- Joint stiffness and swelling
- A grating sensation, or clicking or popping sound when you move your joints
- Decreasing range of joint motion and flexibility
Because osteoarthritis symptoms worsen over time, early diagnosis and proactive therapies can help keep you physically active longer without joint pain. If osteoarthritis is left untreated, increasing stiffness and discomfort in the joint may start to limit everyday activities.26
Even mild to moderate osteoarthritis knee pain can stop you in your tracks.
In a healthy knee, thick synovial fluid lubricates and cushions the joint, protecting it from damage.15 But when osteoarthritis strikes, the synovial fluid loses hyaluronic acid and becomes thin and weak.18 This fluid depletion intensifies inflammation and stiffness, which limits knee strength and movement and accelerates progressive joint damage.5,11,24