The clock starts ticking the moment you injure your knee. Ignore it and here's what happens.
Month One: Once cartilage has been damaged, knee cells become inflamed.
Months One to Six: Without treatment, the inflammation spreads, and cartilage directly around the site of the injury starts breaking down.
Year One: Damage spreads to nearby healthy cartilage, like ripples across a pond.
Year Two: You could still be pain-free, but the immune proteins have started to break down the sturdy framework that holds your knee together. An MRI could pick up early changes in cartilage and bone, called pre-osteoarthritis.
Year Four: So much cartilage has worn away that bones and nerves start to rub against each other and your knee begins to ache. The soft lining around the joint is swollen. Injections of cortisone or hyaluronic acid may ease pain and swelling.
Years Five to 10: Cartilage can no longer work as a shock absorber, leaving bones rubbing together and causing joint-damaging bone spurs. What began years ago as a tiny chink in cartilage is now full-blown OA, what doctors call end-stage joint disease. Your only option is a complete joint replacement.
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