Hello, Welcome to Health Care Magic. Thanks for writing. I am Dr.Saddiq ul Abidin. I have read you question completely, i understand your concern and will try to help you in best way possible. Osteoarthritis is the inflammation of the bones and joints leading to swelling and severe pain. There are many ways to reduce the symptoms and avoid pain leading to healthy and comfortable lifestyle. First of all Exercise is the cornerstone of treatment. The more you will mobilize the joint the better it will work. So try to have good tolerable exercise regularly. Next big step in treatment is Weight reduction. Don t burden the joint with your fat. The lesser the weigh the better the joint. So try to have healthy balanced diet with good exercise to reduce the suffering of joint. Rest and joint care is also very necessary as too much working will all to your problem. For the pain try warm bandages and local painkiller creams and sprays. If the pain is severe then medical therapy is recommended which includes drugs like Acetaminophen and NSAIDs these are the agents which actually reduce the pain and the swelling around the joint thus relieving symptoms. Along with medicines Physical therapies and Occupational therapies are very important. That will be advised by your Physiotherapist. Then you can also have braces and shoe inserts these actually lessen the pain and tenderness. If all these medical and complementary treatments fail then the SURGICAL option is always there,which includes joint replacements. Thus getting rid of the problem ! I hope this answered your question.If you have more queries I am happy to answer.Otherwise rate and close the discussion Regrads. Dr.Saddiq ul Abidin M.B.B.S(Licensed Family Physician) Resident Medicine.