What Exactly Is Osteo-arthritis?
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) defines it this way: “Osteoarthritis (OA) is a painful, degenerative joint disease that often involves the hips, knees, neck, lower back, or small joints of the hands. OA usually develops in joints that are injured by repeated overuse from performing a particular task or playing a favorite sport or from carrying around excess body weight. Eventually this injury or repeated impact thins or wears away the cartilage that cushions the ends of the bones in the joint.”

What Types of Injuries Can lead to Arthritis?
Sprains (damage to ligaments), strains (damage to muscles and tendons) and broken bones (see Sprains, Strains and Tears). According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, damaging a joint makes your chances of developing arthritis seven times greater. Remember osteo-arthritis was defined as meaning worn-down cartilage.

How Do Sprains and Strains Damage Cartilage?
Notice in the definition of osteo-arthritis it says: “wears away the cartilage that cushions the ends of the bones in the joint.” The question is, can damaged ligaments and tendons lead to degradation of cartilage. Yes.

You see, a weakness (looseness) in a ligament can lead to greater stress placed on the tendon and cartilage. Similarly, a weakness in the tendon can lead to undue stress on the ligament, which in turn, places the cartilage under severe stress (see The Cartilage-Ligament-Tendon Connection).

What Can I Do to Protect My Cartilage?
In a double-blind, placebo controlled clinical trial, the ch-OSA in new ON YOUR GAME, the cartilage degradation inhibitor, was clinically proven to reduces pain 26%, reduces stiffness 35%, improve physical function 25% while improving the condition of cartilage.^† All results measured on the gold-standard WOMAC rating system and recorded versus the Placebo group (see Clinical Trial Results).