Causes of osteoarthritis

There are many causes of osteoarthritis, and we can't say for sure why a particular person gets knee or hip osteoarthritis. Some risk factors are within your control, while others are not.

"Age" is one of the factors you can't control. The risk of getting osteoarthritis increases with age.

Another factor is the "previous injuries". Young people who develop osteoarthritis often had a previous knee or hip injury.

Another factor is "gender". Women tend to develop osteoarthritis of the knee more, while it is more common for men to have osteoarthritis of the hip.

"Heredity" also plays a role: If one or both of your parents have osteoarthritis, the risk that you will get it is greatly increased.

Then there are factors that you CAN influence: These include "heavy load": An excessively high load daily over many years accelerates the degradation of cartilage in the hip and knee joints. Being overweight is also a factor which adds to joint strain. Walking normally, your joints are strained 3-4 times your own body weight. So the more you weigh, the more strain your joints.

If you move too little, the cartilage doesn't get sufficient nourishment, and the cartilage will thereby lose the strength to support your joints. Weak muscles lead to bad shock absorbing, which means the joints are strained even more since the muscles aren't ready to take the load during activity. Weak muscles lead to poor control of the joints and the cartilage is strained unnecessarily.