From Medication to Injections to Surgery: How Arthritis Treatment Steps Up Only When Needed

Marisol noticed it first on the stairs at work. Not pain exactly, more a stiffness in the right knee that took three or four steps to loosen, and a low ache by the end of the day that made her rub the joint without thinking. Her sister, who had a hip replaced two years ago, told her not to wait: get it done, get it over with. Her neighbor swore by turmeric. A colleague had a steroid shot and was back on the tennis court in a week.

Three confident opinions, three different rungs of what clinicians call the arthritis treatment ladder. What none of them mentioned is the logic that connects those rungs, or the fact that most people with arthritis spend years on the lower ones and never climb higher.

This article walks through that ladder honestly: what each step involves, who is usually offered it, who is usually asked to wait, and where the evidence is stronger or thinner than the folklore suggests.

What is the arthritis treatment ladder, and why does it exist?

The arthritis treatment ladder is not a single official document. It is a way of describing how national guidance from bodies such as the NHS and the guidance summarized by Mayo Clinic organizes care: start with the least invasive measures that carry the fewest risks, review the response, and move up only when a lower step has been tried properly and has not done enough.

Arthritis itself is an umbrella word. Osteoarthritis, the most common form, is the gradual wearing of cartilage, the smooth cushioning tissue that lets bone glide over bone. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s own immune system attacks the lining of joints. The two share a ladder-shaped philosophy but the rungs are spaced very differently, which is why a friend’s experience with one kind of arthritis is a poor guide to another.

Why not simply jump to the strongest option? Because each rung trades benefit against harm. Exercise and weight management have almost no downside and help the whole body. Anti-inflammatory tablets can irritate the stomach and strain the kidneys. Steroid injections relieve pain for a limited period and may weaken tissue if repeated too often. Surgery changes a joint permanently and carries the risks that come with any operation. A stepped approach lets a person and their clinicians find the lowest rung that keeps life livable.

The ladder also runs in both directions. A person whose rheumatoid arthritis has been quiet for a year may, under supervision, step down. Someone who does well after a knee replacement will still be encouraged to keep up the exercise habits that sat on the first rung. Stepping up is never a failure; it is a review.

First rung: what actually happens when treatment starts with movement and weight

Nearly every guideline places the same three things on the bottom rung for osteoarthritis: education about the condition, regular exercise, and weight management where weight is a factor. This sometimes disappoints people who arrived hoping for a prescription. Yet the NHS lists exercise as the most important treatment for people with osteoarthritis regardless of age or fitness.

The reasoning is mechanical as much as medical. Cartilage has no blood supply of its own; it takes up nutrients when a joint is loaded and unloaded, a little like a sponge being squeezed and released. Muscles around a joint act as shock absorbers, so a stronger thigh means less force reaching the knee with every step. Movement also keeps the joint capsule from tightening into the morning stiffness that makes the first flight of stairs feel like a negotiation.

What this looks like in practice is less dramatic than it sounds. A physical therapist typically assesses strength, range of motion and how a person walks, then builds a program of strengthening and low-impact aerobic activity, swimming, cycling or walking being common choices. The NHS suggests adults aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity a week, built up gradually, and adds that a little discomfort during exercise is expected while sharp or lasting pain is a signal to adjust.

Weight management sits alongside because every extra pound of body weight adds load to the hips and knees with each step. Mayo Clinic notes that even modest weight loss can reduce pain and improve function in people carrying excess weight. Nobody on this rung is being shamed; they are being handed the one lever that no injection or operation can replace.

Where do painkillers and anti-inflammatory tablets fit on the arthritis treatment ladder?

Medicines for pain sit on the ladder as a support for the first rung, not a substitute for it. Their job is to make movement possible on days when a joint objects, and to allow sleep when night pain interrupts it.

Two classes come up most often. Acetaminophen (called paracetamol outside the US) works mainly on how the brain processes pain signals and does little to inflammation. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, usually shortened to NSAIDs, block enzymes that produce inflammatory chemicals; they can ease both pain and swelling, but the same enzymes protect the stomach lining and regulate blood flow through the kidneys, which is why they carry warnings about stomach bleeding, kidney strain and, at higher intensities of use, cardiovascular risk. Mayo Clinic notes that acetaminophen has been shown to help some people with mild to moderate osteoarthritis pain, while NSAIDs are typically considered when inflammation is part of the picture.

Guidelines increasingly favor NSAID gels applied to the skin over a painful knee or hand as an earlier option, because far less of the drug reaches the bloodstream. The NHS lists these topical preparations among first choices for osteoarthritis of the knee or hand.

Opioids, once common for chronic joint pain, have largely slipped off the routine ladder. Their benefit for long-term arthritis pain is modest, tolerance develops, and the risks of dependence and falls are real. Mayo Clinic describes them as an option only in limited situations.

Whether any of these medicines suits a particular person depends on their kidneys, their stomach, their heart, and everything else on their prescription list. That judgment belongs to the prescribing clinician, and so does any change to what is already being taken.

Rheumatoid arthritis treatment options: why this ladder starts higher

Rheumatoid arthritis breaks the pattern. In osteoarthritis, the lowest rungs are gentle because time is on the patient’s side; cartilage wears over decades. In rheumatoid arthritis, an overactive immune system can damage joint lining and bone within months, and that damage does not reverse. So the first serious rung is not exercise alone but a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug, or DMARD: a medicine that dampens the immune attack rather than just masking pain.

The NHS describes conventional DMARDs such as methotrexate as usually the first medicines offered, often within weeks of diagnosis. They work slowly. It can take several weeks to a few months to feel the full effect, which is why a short course of corticosteroids, medicines that mimic the body’s own anti-inflammatory hormone, is sometimes used as a bridge while the DMARD gets going. Regular blood tests monitor the liver, kidneys and blood counts because these medicines act on fast-dividing cells throughout the body.

If a conventional DMARD does not control the disease, the next rung is a biologic: a protein-based medicine, given by injection or infusion, that targets one specific messenger in the inflammatory chain. Newer oral medicines called JAK inhibitors work on signaling inside immune cells. Both classes raise infection risk, so people taking them are typically asked to report fevers promptly and to keep vaccinations up to date.

The goal named in rheumatology guidance is remission or low disease activity: joints that are not swollen, blood markers of inflammation that are near normal, and mornings that start without an hour of stiffness. Which DMARD, when to add or switch, and whether to step down after a quiet stretch are decisions for the rheumatology team, revisited at each review.

What are some home remedies for an arthritis flare-up?

A flare is a stretch of days when pain, swelling and stiffness climb above their usual level. Home remedies for arthritis flare up periods are the most searched question on this topic, and the evidence-backed list is shorter and more practical than the internet suggests.

Heat and cold both have a place. Warmth from a shower, heating pad or warm paraffin bath loosens stiff muscles and eases movement, which is why many people reach for it in the morning. Cold, a wrapped ice pack for up to 20 minutes at a time as Mayo Clinic describes, dulls pain and reduces swelling after activity. Neither changes the disease; both change how the next few hours feel.

Relative rest matters, with an emphasis on relative. The NHS advises keeping active during a flare where possible, scaling back intensity rather than stopping altogether, because a joint that is not moved for a week stiffens and the muscles around it weaken quickly. Gentle range-of-motion movements several times a day tend to be better tolerated than one long session.

Simple supports help some people through a flare: a walking stick used on the opposite side to a painful knee or hip, a wrist splint for hand arthritis at night, shoes with cushioned soles. Occupational therapists are the specialists in this kind of adaptation.

Supplements deserve a plain statement. Trials of glucosamine and chondroitin have given mixed results, with Mayo Clinic noting that the best-designed studies show little or no benefit over placebo; turmeric and fish oil have small, inconsistent evidence. None are proven to treat arthritis, and some interact with prescribed medicines, so they belong in a conversation with the care team rather than in a shopping basket.

Who is usually offered injections, and who is asked to wait?

Injections occupy the middle of the ladder, and the question of who climbs to them is where the stepped approach earns its keep.

The most common injection is a corticosteroid delivered directly into the joint. Steroid injections for arthritis are usually considered when a single joint is painful and swollen despite exercise and oral or topical medicines, or when a flare is so severe that a person cannot do the exercise that forms the first rung. The NHS frames them as a way to relieve pain in one joint for a period of time, not a long-term treatment. Mayo Clinic notes that the number of cortisone shots a person can have in a joint is generally limited to three or four a year because repeated injections can worsen joint damage over time.

People are usually asked to wait, or to take a different route, in several situations. Someone whose pain is mild and manageable has little to gain and takes on needle-related risks for nothing. Anyone with signs of a possible joint infection is not injected until that is excluded, because steroids suppress the immune response. People with poorly controlled diabetes are counseled that a steroid injection can push blood sugar up for days. And a person who is already on the surgical pathway for knee replacement is often advised to avoid a steroid injection in the weeks before the operation, since it may raise infection risk.

In rheumatoid arthritis, a joint injection can settle one stubborn joint while the DMARD works on the rest, but it is never the main strategy. The decision, as always, rests with the treating team weighing the whole picture.

Injections, braces and lubrication shots: what the evidence really says

The middle of the ladder is crowded with options whose reputations run ahead of their evidence. The table below summarizes how mainstream sources describe them for osteoarthritis, the setting where most of these choices arise.

Option	What it is	What the evidence shows	Usual place on the ladder
Corticosteroid injection	Anti-inflammatory hormone injected into the joint	Short-term pain relief lasting weeks to a few months in many people; frequency limited (Mayo Clinic)	Middle rung, for a flare in one joint
Hyaluronic acid injection	Gel resembling natural joint fluid	Mixed; some studies show relief, others no more than placebo (Mayo Clinic)	Not routinely offered in NHS guidance
Platelet-rich plasma	Concentrated components of the person’s own blood	Evidence still developing; not established as effective	Investigational
Knee brace or insole	External support that shifts load	Can ease pain and improve confidence for some; benefit varies by joint and pattern of wear (NHS)	Alongside first rung
Physical therapy	Structured strengthening and movement program	Consistently supported for pain and function (NHS, Mayo Clinic)	First rung, continued throughout

Two patterns stand out. Options that are simple and cheap, exercise and appropriate supports, have the steadiest evidence. Options that sound sophisticated, lubrication shots and blood-derived injections, have the shakiest. Knee braces deserve a specific note: an unloader brace, which pushes the knee slightly outward or inward to shift weight off the worn side, only makes sense when wear is concentrated on one side of the joint, which is why a clinician’s assessment matters before buying one.

None of these rungs replaces the one below. A person receiving a steroid injection is usually encouraged to use the pain-free window to build strength, so that the benefit outlasts the medicine.

When does knee replacement for arthritis come into the conversation?

Surgery is the top rung, and the criteria for reaching it are less about X-ray appearance than most people expect. Mayo Clinic describes joint replacement as an option when pain and loss of function remain severe despite non-surgical treatment. The NHS adds that surgery is generally considered only when other treatments have not helped or when joint damage is affecting daily life.

Total knee replacement, formally called arthroplasty, means removing the worn ends of the thigh bone and shin bone and capping them with metal components separated by a durable plastic spacer. The kneecap surface is often resurfaced too. A partial replacement addresses only one compartment when wear is confined there. Hip replacement follows the same logic with a ball-and-socket design.

Other operations sit on the same rung for different situations. An osteotomy cuts and realigns bone to shift weight off a damaged area, sometimes used in younger, active people to delay replacement. Arthroscopy, keyhole surgery to look inside and tidy up the joint, was once common for knee osteoarthritis but is no longer recommended for that purpose by most guidance because trials showed little benefit over exercise. Joint fusion is occasionally used in small joints of the hand, foot or spine where stability matters more than movement.

Who is asked to wait? People whose pain is still controlled by lower rungs, because implants wear and a replacement done too early may need revising. People with an active infection anywhere in the body. People whose other medical conditions make anesthesia unusually risky until those are optimized. Surgeons and anesthesiologists weigh these factors with the patient; the X-ray is one input among many, not the deciding vote.

What the days and weeks after each step usually look like

Each rung has its own rhythm, and knowing it in advance takes some of the anxiety out of the wait.

Starting an exercise program brings a familiar disappointment first: things feel slightly worse before they feel better as muscles unused to work protest. The NHS advises that gains in strength and pain typically take several weeks of consistent effort to notice, which is why programs are usually reviewed at around six to twelve weeks rather than after a fortnight.

A steroid injection often stings for a day or two, and some people notice a brief flare before relief arrives within a few days. Mayo Clinic describes the pain relief as typically lasting a few months, though it varies widely between individuals and tends to shorten with repeated injections.

Starting a DMARD for rheumatoid arthritis is a slower story. The NHS notes it can take a few months to notice the full benefit, with blood tests in the early weeks to check for side effects. Many people describe the change as mornings gradually getting shorter: stiffness that lasted two hours lasts one, then thirty minutes.

After knee replacement, Mayo Clinic describes standing and walking with support within a day of surgery in most cases, a hospital stay measured in days, and a physical therapy program that runs for weeks. Most people can resume most daily activities within about three to six weeks; driving usually waits around three weeks, and kneeling may remain uncomfortable much longer. Swelling and warmth around the knee can persist for months and is expected. Improvement continues for up to a year, which surprises people who assumed recovery ended when the stitches came out.

Does arthritis in the knee ever go away?

This is a question people type into search engines late at night, and it deserves a straight answer rather than a hopeful one.

Osteoarthritis of the knee does not reverse. Cartilage that has worn does not regrow to its original state, and no current treatment, including any supplement or injection, has been shown to rebuild it. That is the honest part. The more useful part is that the pain of knee osteoarthritis and the disease itself are not the same thing. Two people with identical X-rays can have wildly different symptoms, and one person’s symptoms can swing from disabling to barely noticeable over the course of a year. Cleveland Clinic notes that osteoarthritis symptoms often fluctuate and that many people manage them well for years with non-surgical care.

Why the gap between structure and pain? Pain in an arthritic knee comes largely from inflamed joint lining, irritated bone beneath the cartilage, tight muscles and sensitized nerves rather than from the cartilage itself, which has no nerve endings. Those sources respond to strengthening, weight change, activity pacing and the medicines on the lower rungs. So the disease stays while the experience of it can change enormously.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a different case. It does not go away in the sense of the immune system forgetting its target, but with modern treatment many people reach a state their rheumatologist calls remission, in which joints are not inflamed and damage is not progressing. Stepping down medication in sustained remission is possible under supervision, though flares can return.

Neither picture involves a joint returning to what it was at twenty. Both involve a great deal more room to move than the word arthritis usually implies.

What is the most effective treatment for arthritis? An honest answer

The most searched version of this question assumes a single winner. The evidence gives a different shape of answer depending on which arthritis is meant and what effective is measured against.

For osteoarthritis, the treatment with the most consistent support across guidelines is not a drug or a procedure but exercise combined with weight management where relevant. It improves pain and function in trial after trial, carries the fewest harms, and keeps working for as long as it is continued. Joint replacement is the intervention with the largest effect on severe pain for people who have exhausted other options, which is why it sits at the top of the ladder rather than the bottom: it works powerfully, but it is irreversible and carries surgical risk.

For rheumatoid arthritis, the most effective treatment is early disease-modifying medication. The NHS is explicit that starting DMARDs soon after diagnosis gives the best chance of preventing permanent joint damage. Here the ladder is compressed deliberately, because waiting has a cost that osteoarthritis does not impose.

What about the middle? Steroid injections are effective for what they are designed to do, easing a flare in one joint for a period, and ineffective at what people sometimes hope, changing the course of the disease. Lubrication injections and most supplements fall into the category where mainstream evidence is mixed or absent.

So the honest answer is layered: the most effective treatment is the lowest rung that controls a person’s symptoms, applied early and reviewed regularly, with the higher rungs held in reserve for when they are genuinely needed. That is not a hedge. It is what the stepped approach is for.

What people often get wrong about the arthritis treatment ladder

Several myths travel from waiting room to waiting room, and each pushes people up or down the ladder for the wrong reasons.

Rest protects the joint. The opposite is closer to the truth for most arthritis. Unloaded joints stiffen, supporting muscles shrink, and cartilage receives less of the nutrient exchange that movement provides. Guidance from the NHS and Mayo Clinic is consistent: keep moving, adjust intensity, avoid only the activities that cause sharp or lasting pain.

A bad X-ray means surgery is inevitable. X-ray findings correlate poorly with symptoms. Plenty of people with advanced changes on imaging manage comfortably on the first rung; the decision to operate rests on pain and function, not the picture.

Steroid injections fix the problem. They relieve inflammation for weeks to months and are limited in frequency because repeated use can harm tissue. Useful, temporary, and not a substitute for the work underneath.

Painkillers are the treatment. Medicines on the lower rungs exist to make exercise and daily life possible. Taking them without the movement they are meant to support is a ladder with a missing rung.

Natural means safe and effective. Supplements marketed for joints have mostly mixed or negative trial results, and several interact with blood thinners and other prescriptions.

Surgery ends arthritis. A replaced joint no longer has arthritis in it, but the rest of the body does, and the implant depends on the same muscles and habits that the first rung was building. People who do well after surgery tend to be the ones who kept climbing back down to exercise afterward.

Rheumatoid arthritis should start gently like osteoarthritis. It should not; delay allows permanent damage, which is why its ladder begins with disease-modifying medicine.

Can I live a normal life with arthritis?

Most people can, though normal usually needs a little redefinition, and the shape of that redefinition depends on where a person sits on the ladder.

On the lower rungs, life with osteoarthritis often means planning around the joint rather than being ruled by it. Stairs are taken one at a time for the first few steps of the morning. Long walks are broken by a bench. Kneeling in the garden happens on a foam pad or not at all, with raised beds doing the work knees used to do. Occupational therapists specialize in exactly these substitutions and can turn a frustrating kitchen into a workable one with a few adjustments to height and reach.

Work is usually possible. The CDC has long emphasized that arthritis is a leading cause of work disability in the US, but also that regular physical activity and self-management education reduce that impact. Jobs involving heavy lifting or prolonged kneeling may need adaptation or honest conversations with an employer; desk-based work more often needs a better chair and a habit of getting up every half hour.

Rheumatoid arthritis adds the rhythm of medication, blood tests and rheumatology reviews, plus the awareness that fatigue is a symptom in its own right and not a character flaw. With disease activity controlled, many people describe the condition as something they manage in the background rather than something that runs the foreground.

Mood deserves a mention because it is part of the picture, not a side note. Persistent pain raises the risk of low mood and poor sleep, and both make pain feel worse. Telling the care team about sleep and mood is as legitimate as telling them about a swollen knuckle, and it often changes which rung is chosen next.

Questions to ask your care team at each rung

The stepped approach works best when the person on the ladder understands why they are on a particular rung and what would prompt a move. These questions help draw that out. They are prompts for conversation, not a checklist to work through in one appointment.

• Which type of arthritis do I have, and how does that change the order of treatments you would consider?
• What are we hoping this step will achieve, and how will we know whether it has worked?
• How long should I give this rung before we review it together?
• What would make you suggest moving up a step, and what would allow us to step down?
• Is there a physical therapist or occupational therapist involved, and what should I be doing between appointments?
• Given my other conditions and medicines, which pain-relief options are safer for me and which should I avoid?
• If an injection is being considered, what should I expect in the first days, how long might it last, and how many can safely be given?
• If I am taking a disease-modifying medicine, what monitoring is planned, and which symptoms should I report straight away?
• If surgery is on the table, what are the alternatives, what does recovery involve week by week, and what would happen if I chose to wait?
• Who do I contact between appointments if a joint becomes hot, swollen or suddenly unusable?

Writing down the answers, or bringing someone along to do so, is worth the small awkwardness. Reviews on the arthritis treatment ladder often happen months apart, and the reasoning behind a decision is easy to lose in between. A short note of what was agreed, and what would trigger the next step, makes the following appointment more useful for everyone in the room.

When to call your doctor: red flags at every rung

Most of the arthritis journey is slow, and most changes can wait for the next scheduled review. A small number cannot. These are the signs that mainstream guidance treats as reasons to seek care promptly, whatever step a person is on.

Seek urgent help for a single joint that becomes suddenly hot, red, very swollen and too painful to move, especially with fever or feeling generally unwell. This pattern can indicate septic arthritis, an infection inside the joint, which the NHS describes as a medical emergency because it can destroy a joint within days. The risk is higher after a joint injection or surgery and in anyone taking medicines that suppress the immune system.

Contact the care team the same day if a joint suddenly cannot bear weight after a fall or twist, if there is new numbness, tingling or weakness in a limb, or if a wound after surgery becomes increasingly red, leaks fluid or opens.

After joint replacement, calf pain, swelling or warmth in one leg, or any chest pain or sudden breathlessness, need emergency assessment because they can signal a blood clot. Mayo Clinic lists clots among the recognized risks of knee replacement and advises immediate contact for these symptoms.

For anyone taking anti-inflammatory tablets, black or tarry stools, vomiting blood, or severe stomach pain are signs of possible bleeding and warrant urgent care. For anyone on a DMARD or biologic, a persistent fever, a sore throat that will not settle, unusual bruising, or a sudden severe cough are reasons to call the rheumatology team before the next scheduled blood test.

Finally, pain that changes character, from a familiar ache to something sharp, constant or waking a person night after night, deserves a conversation rather than a stoic wait. The ladder exists so that such changes can be met with the right next step, chosen with the treating team.

Frequently asked questions

What is the arthritis treatment ladder in simple terms?

It is the stepped order in which clinicians usually offer arthritis care: education, exercise and weight management first; simple or topical pain relief alongside; joint injections or disease-modifying medicines if symptoms or damage persist; and surgery when non-surgical options no longer control pain or function. Each move up is a review with the treating team, and steps down are possible when a condition is well controlled.

What are some home remedies for an arthritis flare-up?

Heat for stiffness, a wrapped cold pack for swelling, gentle movement instead of complete rest, and simple supports such as a walking stick or splint are the measures with practical support from the NHS and Mayo Clinic. Supplements such as glucosamine or turmeric have mixed or weak evidence. Any new remedy is worth mentioning to the care team, especially alongside prescribed medicines.

Does arthritis in the knee ever go away?

Knee osteoarthritis does not reverse, because worn cartilage does not regrow, but symptoms often fluctuate and can improve substantially with strengthening, weight management and pacing. Pain comes largely from inflamed lining, irritated bone and tight muscles rather than from cartilage itself, which is why the experience of the disease can change even when the X-ray does not.

What is the most effective treatment for arthritis?

For osteoarthritis, exercise with weight management where relevant has the most consistent evidence across guidelines, while joint replacement has the largest effect for severe pain that has not responded to other options. For rheumatoid arthritis, early disease-modifying medication is the priority. The most effective treatment for an individual is the lowest rung that controls symptoms, reviewed regularly.

Can I live a normal life with arthritis?

Most people can, with adjustments that depend on the type of arthritis and the joints involved. Planning around stiff mornings, adapting tasks such as kneeling, staying active and keeping up with reviews are the common threads. Rheumatoid arthritis adds medication and monitoring, and fatigue and mood deserve attention too, since both affect how pain is experienced.

How long do steroid injections for arthritis usually last?

Relief typically lasts from a few weeks to a few months, according to Mayo Clinic, and varies widely between people. The effect tends to shorten with repeated injections, and the number given into one joint is generally limited to three or four a year because repeated steroid exposure can weaken joint tissue over time.

What rheumatoid arthritis treatment options come before biologics?

Conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, with methotrexate the most commonly used first, are typically offered before biologics, sometimes with a short course of corticosteroids as a bridge while the DMARD takes effect over several weeks to a few months. Biologics and JAK inhibitors are considered if conventional DMARDs do not control the disease, with the rheumatology team deciding when to switch.

When is knee replacement for arthritis usually considered?

Knee replacement is usually considered when pain and loss of function remain severe despite exercise, medicines and often injections, and when arthritis is limiting daily life. The decision rests on symptoms rather than X-ray appearance alone, and factors such as infection, other medical conditions and a person’s own priorities are weighed by the surgical and anesthesia team.

Do knee braces actually help arthritis?

They can help some people, particularly when knee wear is concentrated on one side and an unloader brace shifts weight away from it. Simple sleeves may improve comfort and confidence without changing joint loading. The NHS lists braces and supports among options to discuss, and a clinician’s assessment helps match the type of brace to the pattern of wear.

Why is arthroscopy no longer routine for knee osteoarthritis?

Trials comparing keyhole surgery to clean out an arthritic knee with exercise-based care found little added benefit for osteoarthritis pain, so most current guidance no longer recommends it for that purpose. It remains useful for specific problems such as a locked knee from a torn piece of cartilage, which is a different situation from generalized wear.

References

• NHS: Osteoarthritis, treatment and support
• NHS: Rheumatoid arthritis, treatment
• Cleveland Clinic: Osteoarthritis
• MedlinePlus: Arthritis

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a qualified doctor about your individual situation.