frizz1111

Cornell offers a Bachelor of Arts in science? Or do you mean Bachelor of Science? If so what exactly was your major?

Orthopedic physical therapist. Joint degeneration is absolutely a normal part of aging. By the time you're 40 you most likely have some radiographic arthritis somewhere. That is, you can see it if you received imaging. That DOES NOT mean you have pain, stiffness etc. Imaging results corelate poorly to symptoms. It actually IS like gray hair. That is the exact analogy I use with patients.

I don't think it minimizes their experience at all. OA itself is normal, it's a statistical probability as you age. It IS abnormal if it interferes with function and effects daily life negatively. If a person has knee OA, they have pain but they function the way they want to function and they cope with their symptoms then why would you treat it? That person just need reassurance, advice, education and possibly some pain relievers to use as needed. PT could also help if strength is an issue.

I've just seen so many OA patients who have been over medicalized, over treated. They wind up getting cortisone shots, unnecessary surgeries, many expensive treatments with little evidence backing them. It winds up doing more damage to the patient psychologically and financially with little benefit.

That's not to say surgery or cortisone or gel injections are never appropriate. They are just over utilized. For the patient that have severe let's say knee OA which drastically effects their quality of life a joint replacement surgery may be a life saver. It's just not without it's risks.

I hope you have conversations with the PTs you refer your patients to. We often have a lot more face to face time with the patient and could offer a different perspective on patient care.

I am a PT and I'm going to have to disagree that OA isn't a normal part of aging. There are many people with OA that have no pain. Imaging results have a poor correlation to symptoms. Pain is multifactorial and can't always be explained with structural deficits in tissue. There's a strong psychosocial aspect to pain.