Arthritis is a joint disorder that is the most common cause of disability in the United States, with approximately 50 million adults and 300,000 children affected by it. It typically involves inflammation, swelling, and degeneration of one or more joints and causes pain when the joint moves.
Anatomy of a Joint
Soft tissues cushion your joints and prevent bones from grinding on one another. Articular cartilage, a connective tissue, enables joints to move without pain or friction.
Some joints are kept lubricated by fluid padding called synovial membranes. Others are also supported by tendons (connecting muscle to bone) and ligaments (connecting bone to bone). Different types of arthritis affect different parts of the joints….