6 Basic Symptoms of Osteoarthritis Knee: Don't Ignore the Warning Signs

What are the signs of Osteoarthritis Knee? This degenerative joint disease doesn’t just cause pain, swelling, and stiffness—it can lead to serious issues such as diminished range of motion and knee deformities.

If you or someone you know has been experiencing these symptoms, see a doctor immediately before the damage gets worse and surgery becomes necessary!

The following list of 6 basic symptoms of Osteoarthritis Knee may help you detect the disease before it’s too late.

1. Pain.

This is one of the more common symptoms, and it’s usually on and off in the early stage, depending on how much pressure you put on your joints.

You might have to get up out of a chair slowly or with help if you have arthritic knees. Later on, as the disease progress pain may become constant.

Some people say they feel their joint locking or catching, meaning that there’s a specific point in motion when they are most vulnerable to pain.

While some pain is normal (if not always welcome), if your arthritis symptoms cause consistent discomfort and limit activity, see your doctor right away.

Untreated osteoarthritis can make even basic tasks like climbing stairs difficult or impossible over time—and that's not normal. Loss of range of motion.

Many joints become stiff and lose flexibility.: If you try to bend your knee or lift your arm, but find it doesn’t move quite as far, as usual, something may be wrong.

This symptom tends to happen gradually; you don’t wake up one morning unable to move an affected joint.

When you first notice stiffness, give yourself a break from any activities that cause pain until things loosen back up again.

2. Swelling

Swollen right knee

One common symptom of osteoarthritis knee is swelling in and around your joint. Your doctor will be able to tell you if your particular case involves synovitis, a type of swelling that’s caused by an accumulation of fluid in and around your joint.

Regardless, though, your knee might feel warm or even hot to touch. The swelling may also make it difficult for you to bend and straighten your leg normally.

And no matter how hard you try not to put weight on your knee, it still hurts. Swelling doesn’t have to mean that there’s a lot of damage done inside your joint; sometimes it can just mean that some tissue has been pinched or hit repeatedly with physical activity.

3. Stiffness.

Stiff and deformed knee

When osteoarthritis knee starts to set in, you may begin to lose flexibility in your knees, which can make it painful to perform daily activities.

Every joint has a normal amount of stiffness, which disappears after movement. But if your joints are stiffer in the morning or after you've been inactive, it could mean osteoarthritis is causing them to deteriorate.

In contrast to rheumatoid arthritis, stiffness in osteoarthritis does not change much with activity. In advanced osteoarthritis, the joint is so stiff that it refuses to budge.

Additionally, some people report that they feel a clicking sensation when they flex or extend their knees. If the stiffness is long-standing, then the joint may permanently deform. In that case, the patient is unable to straighten the knees.

4. Tenderness

You might feel soreness and tenderness in your knee when you bend it or apply pressure. Doctors use pain scales to measure tenderness, but every patient is different.

Your doctor will ask you to rank your pain on a scale from 0 to 10. If you’re rating your pain a 5 or higher, there may be inflammation present in your knee joint that could lead to osteoarthritis.

That doesn’t mean that you automatically have osteoarthritis, but it does mean it should be evaluated further by a doctor.

The Mayo Clinic says pain due to arthritis can be managed with medication and physical therapy designed specifically for arthritis care if diagnosed early enough.

Once your symptoms become chronic (pain lasts longer than three months), medical treatment won’t work as well. In that case, surgery may be necessary to repair or replace damaged joints.

5. Grating sensation.

Knees are made up of cartilage, a soft tissue that glides smoothly over other tissues like bone. With osteoarthritis, these smooth surfaces may develop rough spots called defects or spurs.

The edges can catch on each other, causing a grating sensation. The patient feels like walking on pebbles. The condition often starts in one area and then moves to another; so, you might first feel it in your right knee and then notice it in your left.

You may also experience pain after sitting for long periods. It's important to see your doctor if you have any new symptoms—even if they seem minor—because they could be signs of something more serious.

6. Bone spurs

Calcium is deposited along the edge of a bone, forming a small projection. As we age, these projections can build up in areas where bones rub together — on tendons, bursae, and ligaments that surround joints.

The resulting bone spurs can make joint movement more difficult and painful. The pain associated with bone spurs can cause people to avoid moving as much as they should, increasing tension in their joints and worsening their condition.

In some cases, surgery may be necessary to remove or reduce bone spurs.

Keep track of these changes and alert your doctor if you experience any joint pain or have trouble bending or extending your knee.

If you notice these symptoms suddenly appear and persist over several days, you should seek medical care right away as these symptoms could indicate other conditions besides osteoarthritis.

N.B – The content provided is for information and education purposes only.