Can You Get Arthritis in Your 20s?

Osteoarthritis typically occurs with age, but young adults can also develop this degenerative joint disease.

Arthritis usually occurs among older adults, but it's possible to get arthritis in your 20s. Arthritis refers to several diseases that affect the joints. Osteoarthritis (OA) is a type of arthritis that typically develops with age but may affect young adults, especially people who have had joint injuries or play sports.

OA is a degenerative joint disease that wears down joint cartilage, damaging the bones, connective joint tissue, and fat. OA mostly affects the back, hands, hips, knees, and neck but may involve any joint. OA develops gradually and worsens over time, causing decreased mobility, pain, and stiffness.

Over 32 million people across the United States live with osteoarthritis. There is no cure for OA, but there are ways to manage it to minimize pain and remain active, even if you develop it in your 20s.

Closeup side view of early 30's unrecognizable doctor examining a knee of a woman during an appointment. The doctor is gently touching the tendons around the knee and the knee cap and trying to determine the cause of pain.
Getty Images

How Common Is Arthritis in Young Adults?

OA typically affects people older than 50, but young adults can also develop it. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that healthcare providers diagnosed about 7% of people in the United States aged 18–44 between 2013–2015 with OA.

Young adults who do physically demanding activities, have sustained an injury such as a torn meniscus (the cartilage of the knee), or play sports are more prone to developing OA earlier than others.

Types

Although OA is the most common form of arthritis, other types of arthritis may affect young adults.

Other types of arthritis include:

  • Gout: This involves sudden pain in one joint at a time, such as the big toe or ankle, which can last several days. Risk factors include a diet high in purines (i.e., in some seafood and red meat) and obesity.
  • Infection arthritis: This happens due to a bacterial, fungal, or viral infection that spreads to your joints. Infectious arthritis may include difficulty moving joints, chills, fever, and painful, swollen joints. Reactive arthritis occurs when your joints react to an infection elsewhere in your body, such as a bladder or vaginal infection, chlamydia, or a stomach bug such as salmonella.
  • Juvenile arthritis (JA): This includes different types of arthritis that affect people younger than 16. JA is typically an autoimmune disease, meaning the immune system attacks healthy joints and tissues. JA symptoms are similar to OA and include joint pain, stiffness, and swelling. Some types of JA only affect the skin or other organs.
  • Psoriatic arthritis (PsA): This occurs in some people with psoriasis, a skin disease that causes itchy, red thick patches of skin and silvery scales.
  • Rheumatoid arthritis (RA)This autoimmune disease typically starts in small joints like the fingers. RA then progresses to large joints like the hips and knees. Over time, RA damages the bone and cartilage of the joints, which causes decreased mobility, deformities, and pain. RA typically appears between the ages of 35–60.

Symptoms

Recurring stiffness in a joint after long periods of inactivity may be an early sign of OA.

Other OA signs and symptoms typically develop over time and may include:

  • Difficulty moving your joint
  • Instability of your joint, like a knee-buckling
  • Pain or aching in your joint, especially after activity or at the end of the day
  • Popping or clicking in your joint
  • Stiffness after sitting for extended periods or sleeping that goes away with movement
  • Swelling around your joint
  • Weakness in the muscles around your joint

Many young adults with OA have few symptoms or even none at all. You may assume pain is part of being active or playing sports. 

Research has found that young adults tend to have a higher pain tolerance than older adults. Young adults are less likely to consult a healthcare provider than others, leading to diagnostic delays.

What Causes Early Onset Arthritis?

OA causes damage to the tissues in your joints, including the bone, cartilage, ligaments, and tendons.

In young adults, joint damage often occurs due to placing force on the joints and repetitive stress on the joints, usually while playing sports. Another common cause of early-onset OA in young adults is joint injuries, which reduce joint stability. Athletes are likelier to have joint injuries than others.

You may develop decreased mobility and painful, swollen joints as joint damage worsens. You may be less likely to exercise if you have joint pain. A lack of exercise may cause muscle weakness, increasing stress on your joints. 

As OA progresses, your bones and joints may lose their shape. You may develop bone spurs, or small growths of bone, on your joints. Bone or cartilage may break off, worsening damage.

Risk Factors

Age is one of the most common risk factors for OA, but other factors may affect the risk of OA in young adults, such as:

  • Being an athlete: Young adults who play sports such as football, hockey, rugby, or soccer are likelier to have joint injuries than others, increasing the risk of OA. More than 80% of football players in the United States who had a knee injury developed OA 10–30 years later.
  • Genetics: A family member with OA increases the risk of developing the disease.
  • Joint injury: Trauma to the joints can raise the risk of OA. Repeated physical activity upon an injured joint can worsen symptoms. Research has found that nearly 50% of young adults who sustain knee injuries in the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) or meniscus will develop OA within 10–20 years.
  • Obesity: Developing obesity in adolescence can place stress on your joints, increasing the risk of OA in the ankles and knees.

Diagnosis

There's no test to diagnose OA. Instead, a healthcare provider will likely review your health history and perform a physical exam to check your joints and reflexes. Then, a healthcare provider may use several tests to examine your joints and rule out other conditions.

Tests that may help diagnose OA include:

  • Blood tests: These help rule out other health conditions that may cause painful, swollen joints.
  • Joint fluid samples: This may rule out gout and infectious arthritis. 
  • Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): This imaging test may detect tissue damage in joints that give out or lock. 
  • X-rays: These may show bone damage and spurs and loss of joint space. X-rays may not detect OA in the early stages. 

Treatment

OA symptoms range from subtle to life-altering, making doing regular activities or playing sports hard. There are lifestyle changes and treatment options that help reduce pain and improve joint movement.

Common OA treatments include:

  • Bracing: A brace may help with alignment, easing pain and preventing further damage to certain joints like the knee.
  • Exercise: Keeping your joints active helps reduce pain and maintains functionality. A physical therapist can develop a targeted exercise plan.
  • Medication: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like Advil (ibuprofen) help get rid of inflammation and reduce pain.

Taking proactive care of your joint health may help you participate in your favorite physical activities. For example, you may require physical therapy, in which you learn different exercises to treat your joints and prevent further damage. 

Muscle-strengthening exercises help reduce pain. Aerobic exercises and flexibility training may help if you have hip or knee OA.

Prevention

Some OA risk factors, like genetics, are unmodifiable. Still, there are steps you can take to reduce your risk of early-onset arthritis. 

For example, here are some ways to minimize your risk of and prevent OA:

  • Avoid joint injuries: This may not always be possible, but taking steps to protect your joints may reduce your risk of OA. For example, wear the appropriate equipment properly if you play sports. Take care of your joints if you develop an injury to avoid worsening joint damage. 
  • Exercise regularly: The CDC advises exercising moderately for 150 minutes per week (e.g., 30 minutes daily, five days per week). Staying physically active helps keep your joints agile, stabilizes your hips and knees, and strengthens your muscles.
  • Maintain a healthy body weight: Losing excess weight helps reduce joint pressure and stress and may lessen inflammation. Excess weight adds pressure and stress to your hips and knees. Fat tissue also increases the number of cytokines, or proteins that create inflammation, in your body. Cytokines may affect cartilage, increasing the risk of tissue damage in your joints.
  • Manage your blood sugar: Uncontrolled high blood sugar may increase inflammation and the number of molecules that cause joint stiffness.

Related Conditions

People with OA may risk developing complications or other health conditions due to arthritis-related pain. Complications and related conditions may include:

  • Diabetes: Arthritis may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes by nearly 61%. OA and type 2 diabetes have several risk factors, such as obesity. If untreated, high blood sugar may increase inflammation, which worsens joint damage.
  • Falls and fractures: OA may impact your balance and weaken your muscles, upping the risk of falls and fractures. People with OA have nearly 30% more falls and 20% more fractures than others.
  • Heart disease: Research has found that OA increases the risk of heart disease, the leading cause of death among adults in the United States. People often use NSAIDs to reduce joint pain and swelling. NSAIDs may increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. Difficulty moving joints and pain may also cause physical inactivity, a risk factor for heart disease.
  • Obesity: This is one of the most common risk factors for OA. Likewise, arthritis-related pain may increase the risk of obesity. Decreased mobility and painful, swollen joints often make physical activity difficult. As a result, inactivity may lead to obesity. 

Living With Arthritis

OA mostly affects older adults, but young adults can develop OA, especially if they have had a joint injury or play sports. Living with arthritis-related pain may be frustrating if it impacts your daily activities.

Here are some ways to manage living with arthritis:

  • Apply heat and ice to the affected joints to alleviate pain.
  • Avoid heavy lifting, such as while carrying groceries and repetitive activities.
  • Improve your posture, which helps reduce pressure and stress on your joints. 
  • Join a support group. Some people with OA may find comfort in sharing their experiences with others with the disease. 
  • Use a cane or walker to reduce the risk of falls, which may worsen joint damage. 

Talk to a healthcare provider about what you can do to remain active as you age if you have a family history of arthritis or had a joint injury. Do not put off seeking help if you have painful or stiff joints that last weeks or worsen. A healthcare provider can develop a plan to reduce pain and maintain mobility.

Was this page helpful?
20 Sources
Health.com uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
  1. Arthritis Foundation. What is arthritis?

  2. Amoako AO, Pujalte GG. Osteoarthritis in young, active, and athletic individualsClin Med Insights Arthritis Musculoskelet Disord. 2014;7:27-32. doi:10.4137/CMAMD.S14386

  3. Arthritis Foundation. Osteoarthritis.

  4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Osteoarthritis (OA).

  5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Arthritis related statistics.

  6. MedlinePlus. Arthritis.

  7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Gout.

  8. MedlinePlus. Infectious arthritis.

  9. Arthritis Foundation. Juvenile arthritis.

  10. MedlinePlus. Psoriatic arthritis.

  11. Bullock J, Rizvi SAA, Saleh AM, et al. Rheumatoid arthritis: A brief overview of the treatmentMed Princ Pract. 2018;27(6):501-507. doi:10.1159/000493390

  12. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. Osteoarthritis.

  13. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. Osteoarthritis: Diagnosis, treatment, and steps to take.

  14. Arthritis Foundation. Slowing osteoarthritis progression.

  15. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. How much physical activity do adults need?

  16. Arthritis Foundation. The link between arthritis and diabetes.

  17. MedlinePlus. Heart diseases.

  18. Wang H, Bai J, He B, et al. Osteoarthritis and the risk of cardiovascular disease: a meta-analysis of observational studiesSci Rep. 2016;6:39672. doi:10.1038/srep39672

  19. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. Living with arthritis: Health information basics for you and your family.

  20. National Institute on Aging. Osteoarthritis.

Related Articles