The main symptoms of osteoarthritis are pain and sometimes stiffness in the affected joints. The pain tends to be worse when you move the joint or at the end of the day. Your joints may feel stiff after rest, but this usually wears off fairly quickly once you get moving. Symptoms may vary for no obvious reason. Or you may find that your symptoms vary depending on what you’re doing.

The affected joint may sometimes be swollen. The swelling may be:

• hard and knobbly, especially in the finger joints, caused by the growth of extra bone
• soft, caused by thickening of the joint lining and extra fluid inside the joint capsule.

The joint may not move as freely or as far as normal, and it may make grating or crackling sounds as you move it. This is called crepitus.

Sometimes the muscles around the joint may look thin or wasted. The joint may give way at times because your muscles have weakened or because the joint structure has become less stable.