Mechanical

Just heard a diagnosis of Arthritis been called Mechanical

Any suggestions

[francherry]

Hello Bob, I hadn't heard of this before but came across this description for 'Degenerative or mechanical arthritis': - if you scroll down it's the second heading. Hope this helps. arthritisresearchuk.org/art...

[oldtimer]

I would think this corresponds to an arthritis developing after an injury or repetitive overuse.

[DavidT]

Hi Bob I was referred by my GP about 10 years ago with suspected RA but the Consultant I saw at the time said I had Mechanical Arthritis. My GP translated this as wear and tear on the joints.

[Hidden]

My understanding of the word 'mechanical' attached to arthritis is that it usually means osteoarthritis resulting from wear and tear i.e. from particularly repetitive use of a joint or 'just' as a result of ageing. Mechanical arthritis is different from inflammatory arthritis such as RA, PsA etc. which are autoimmune diseases that can also cause damage, regardless of age or of how much use a joint gets.

Where it gets more complicated is that joints that are affected by inflammatory arthritis can get various kinds of damage, including osteoarthritis. The inflammatory arthritis weakens the joint in various ways and 'wear and tear' can occur very quickly. I think osteo that results from PsA, RA etc. is called 'secondary osteoathritis', unlike the primary osteoarthritis that most of us get to some degree as we age.

You'll realise I'm no doctor, just someone whose PsA led to osteoarthritis of the knees which happened very quickly. The first rheumy I had tried telling me that the two forms of arthritis were just a coincidence, rather than connected, which didn't add up. I'm sure I have bits and pieces of purely mechanical arthritis in various joints that are nothing to do with my PsA as well. But when osteo comes on so quickly in joints swollen from PsA, I suspect that the PsA is to blame. My current rheumy agrees with me on this so harmony reins!

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Totally agree ... I am sure a lot of my OA has come from RA and the ones I had OA in before RA have deteriorated very quickly too.

[Hidden]

I was always told that the pain is mechanical when it comes as part of a movement using muscles or tendons rather than a constant pain of infection or general aching of inflammation or chemical reaction ie. when a disc ruptures and inflames the sciatic nerve.

According to my ortho you can have both. He said my shoulder has an inflammed bursa so it wakes me from sleep but when I try to lift my arm the pain becomes mechanical because the bursa gets impinged against the bone as I lift. Same thing with the neurosurgeon who told me on one occassion that my back pain was mechanical because it happened when I was bending or lifting even though originally he told me the facet joints had synovial cysts that indicated there was inflammatory RA involvement.

So in relation to arthritis? Well this is my take on what I read and like Postie2 I'm no doctor, but apparently if you have overuse, underuse or physical misalignments etc of the muscles, tendons and bones with movement then its called mechanical arthritis (which mostly happens with OA but can also happen in RA to make it worse when the joint is already compromised) as opposed to degredation of a joint from the release of chemicals (which can also happen in both OA and RA) or infection.

[earthwitch]

Yes, I believe its arthritis that has come on after injury or after overuse or wear and tear, rather than from inflammatory diseases (like RA or spondyloarthritis)