But all moving joints, whether in the wrists, the Yoga body spine, or the jaw, have the same parts: bones, with cartilage at their Yoga body interfaces; ligaments that hold them together; and tendons that cross the joints, attaching muscles to the various bones in order to move them when they contract. But there’s more to it.
All this is described and pictured in Chapter 1. Osteoarthritis from a Medical Perspective Osteoarthritis grows from mechanical defects in the surfaces of the joint cartilage and from irregular spawning of new cartilage by the underlying cartilage-making cells.8 This makes for an uneven distribution of pressures within the joints, and irregular force on the bones beneath the cartilage, which also slowly disrupts the bone substance beneath the joint’s cartilage.
Subsequently there is further irregularity in the cartilage and yet further distortion of the bone beneath. This process occurs with normal wear and tear in all of us, but our genetic makeup, our activity, and the environment in which we live influence the effects on our joints. Typically, the cartilage seems to suffer first.
