Medical Treatments for Osteoarthritis

Physician Treatment - What can a doctor do to help?

Confirm that this actually is the problem.
Prescribe stronger NSAID medication or cortisone type medication.
Prescribe hand therapy and/or a custom splint.

Give a cortisone shot into sore joints. This can be very helpful in controlling arthritis pain and swelling.
Perform surgery to reconstruct or fuse the involved joints. There are two types of surgery commonly performed for joints affected by arthritis, fusion and arthroplasty.

Surgery is a consideration when all else has failed.

Fusion (arthrodesis) is an operation to make bones on each side of the joint grow together. Fusion can be very helpful for joints which are stiff and arthritis painful, awkwardly crooked, or unstable. Fusion also can reduce the size of an enlarged joint, although this alone is not usually reason enough for surgery.

Arthroplasty, or joint reconstruction, in osteoarthritis is most often performed for thumb basal joint arthritis. Artificial joints have also been developed for the small joints of the fingers. Finger joint replacements made of pyrolytic carbon (the same material used in most artificial heart valves) were FDA approved for use in 2002.

These new implants are a reasonable alternative to fusion, and in some cases can be used to restore motion to a joint which has been fused.

Treatment Success Rates - How successful is treatment?

Many people with mild symptoms will improve with a limited period of anti-inflammatory medication and avoiding arthritis painful activities.
A cortisone shot into the sore area helps most people - at least temporarily. When temporary, relief usually lasts about two months.

What happens if you have no treatment?

It depends on how much it is bothering you - it really is a quality of life issue. This is not a problem which can spread to other parts of your body. Many people have arthritis pain which subsides after a few years, when the arthritis and irritation in this joint "burns out".
The main reason to do surgery is to relieve arthritis pain and, when possible, prevent the progressive weakness and deformity which may occur. Some people will have a mild problem which flares up from time to time, and treat it themselves or ignore it, others will have a severe problem which prevents them from doing many things with their hand, and feel that they have no choice but to have surgery.

Current Studies

A newer treatment that may help is a series of injections of a substance called hyaluronate. Hyaluronate is a chemical that provides lubrication and nutrition to the joint. Synvisc and Hyalgan are synthesized forms that can be injected weekly for three to five weeks into an osteoarthritic knee. Some studies suggest that these injections help, although others have found no benefit.

Read on for both medical and natural treatment approaches

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