Calling it osteoarthritis is actually rather inaccurate, since "-itis" suggests an inflamatory condition whereas, in fact, the joint is not inflamed at all. Instead, the term "degenerative joint disease" (DJD) is much more accurate and preferred.

Signs that a joint has degenerated include a rough grinding sound and feel to it on movement (known as crepitus), along with stiffness, pain, and deformity. The stiffness is often worse in the mornings, but then improves through the day if the joint is moved.

There are two main types of degenerative joint disease: primary and secondary. Primary means, basically, that it happened all by itself, whereas secondary means there was some obvious cause for it such as trauma or another disease process.

What the real cause of primary osteoarthritis is is still a mystery. Some experts believe that it is related to dysfunction in the normal movement of the joint - either too much or too little.

Having too much motion, such as can occur if the ligaments become overstretched, can result form poor posture or even chronic over-stretching of the joint, such as when people "pop" their knuckles repetitively.

This results in deterioration of the integrity of the joint as the joint cartilage receives too much wear, quite similar to having a loose wheel on a vehicle. The cartilage slowly begins to roughen causing a grinding sound (crepitus), and decreases the shock absorption of the joint. This, in turn, then leads to greater wear on the joint and increased deterioration.

If a joint is moving too little, degenerative joint disease may set in due to a lack of nutrition to the internal components of the joint. Since there is no direct blood supply to the inside of a joint, the body relies on motion to allow a transfer of waste product and nutrition across the joint capsule.

Since lack of movement can prevent adequate nutrition at the joint face, most health care professionals recommend that you DON'T rest immobilize your joints (eg in traction) for extended periods of time unless absolutely necessary.

This essentially leads us to the conclusion that the best practice to help decrease the risk of degenerative joint disease is to maintain proper joint motion to the best of our abilities. This entails having proper treatment of injuries with a health-care professional and following an adequate stretching routine.

By strengthening muscles around a joint whose ligaments have been torn, we are better able to avoid aberrant motion. By stretching muscles around a joint that is stiff and having that joint adjusted by a chiropractor, we are better able to maintain the motion needed in the joint for the proper transfer of "waste products" and nutrition for the internal joint.

Even though all this may not eliminate the risk of osteoarthritis - especially if you have had some significant trauma to the joint - it will certainly help to delay or slow down the degenerative process.