Inflammatory Environment
Arthritis creates an environment of inflammation within affected joints. The condition causes irritation to the synovium, or lining, of the joint, which can cascade into additional problems.
No joint that moves is exempt from the ravages of arthritis, and inflammation can, and has, been seen frequently in finger and wrist joints, as well as the more popular and often-affected larger joints.
Joint Cartilage Destruction
In the more severe cases of arthritis, damage and destruction of the normally smooth joint surfaces can occur due to the decreased amount of water that is absorbed and stored by the cartilage cells. This leads to increasingly brittle cartilage cells, which can flake, crack and be injured more easily.
Think of articular (joint surface) cartilage as similar to "tread" on a tire. As the tread wears down, the tire surface becomes increasingly irregular and susceptible to further breakdown.
Altered Range of Motion
As the arthritic condition progresses and worsens, so does the swelling, fluid buildup and cartilage damage. The increased wear of the articular cartilage typically occurs in an irregular pattern, with one side of a weight-bearing joint, such as the knee, wearing down more rapidly than the other side.
This uneven wear pattern frequently causes the body to falsely over-produce additional joint surface in an attempt to battle against the wear and tear, resulting in the formation of bone spurs, or "osteophytes." These spurs can play a significant role in altering the joint's ability to move freely and normally.
Deformity
With irregular wear patterns, especially in the weight-bearing joints of the hips, knee and ankles, deformity can, and frequently does, occur. These uneven patterns of degeneration are typically responsible for the bow-legged or knock-kneed appearance of the knees when walking, or the pronation (flat foot) appearance of an ankle.
