What is Arthritis?

Arthritis is a common very misunderstood word. It is used in the usual context to mean “arthritis” as in my joint hurts. Or, my doctor says I have “arthritis”. The reality is that the word arthritis is used any time any joint for whatever reason is injured or inflamed. Arthritis literally means inflammation of a joint. But, there are many types of arthritis.

Rheumatology is the specialty that deals with various types of arthritis, from rheumatoid arthritis, to osteoarthritis, to lupus, to Sjogrens, to infectious such as sexually transmitted disease, to inflammatory such as Gout and many others. All of these are in the general category of arthritis.

The most common types of arthritis are degenerative arthritis commonly called Osteoarthritis. It is the most often type which results in knee or hip replacement. Rheumatoid arthritis is the type which can result in hand deformity.

The Carticel Procedure does not address these types of arthritis. Carticel is used with traumatic or microtraumatic arthritis, an injury to a joint. These cases can be treated with chondrocyte cultures to repair the knee joint and return it to a hyaline like cartilage surface; almost the same as your original joint.