Hands Osteoarthritis What is hands osteoarthritis? When the soft and protective tissue at the ends of bones falls apart and wears away, it leads to a degenerative joint disease known as osteoarthritis. Considered a very common condition, this form of arthritis often impacts the hands and knees of individuals, and is typically caused by bone deformities, obesity, aging, rheumatic diseases and genetics. What are the symptoms of hands osteoarthritis? Symptoms of osteoarthritis include feeling stiff in the morning (lasting around 30-45 minutes after waking up), locked joints, limited range of motion in the wrist, joint instability, loss of function in the hand, and joint pain when using the hand after a period of rest. How do we treat hands osteoarthritis? Our team starts out by assessing the extent of immobility in your hand and wrist and shows you various exercises that are designed to strengthen the surrounding muscles and increase flexibility and range of motion through various stretches. Along with searching for the root cause of your pain, we also look for compensation patterns in other parts of the body and look to eliminate those so that you are not putting additional stress and pressure on other muscles.