Osteoid osteoma is a type of bone disease that usually affects long bones in the body such as the femur and tibia. Osteoid osteoma may occur at any age, but it most commonly affects people between early childhood and early adulthood. Since there isn’t a lot of information about the condition, many people have misconceptions about the diagnosis, treatment, and detection of the disease. Questions like ‘Is the disease curable?’, ‘What are the causes?’, ‘How common is the disease amongst the masses?’ etc. are common.
In this article, we will be taking you through the Top 4 doubts about Osteoid Osteoma, and clearing them up as well.
Osteoid Bones is a rare bone cancer:
Osteoid Osteoma falls under the category of benign tumor, which is non-cancerous, meaning it’s not a deadly or severe life-threatening disease. Of all the benign bone tumors, 10% are caused by osteoid osteomas.
You will experience some symptoms though, as a result of this disease, the most important being pain, usually at night, which response to anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin. If the tumor is not treated in time, there can be deformity of the bone.
Is Osteoid Osteoma curable:
As stated earlier, osteoid osteoma is noncancerous. Each tumor usually measures less than 1 cm and doesn’t metastasize i.e. grow or spread anywhere else in your body. It often develops in the long bones of your body like your thigh, chin, arms, feet, and sometimes the spine.
Now that we have understood the disease, let's move on to the cure bit.
The treatment for this condition ranges from surgery to radiofrequency ablation (RFA) to cryoablation.
Detecting Osteoid Osteoma is hard:
Most people believe it is difficult to detect osteoid osteoma because its symptoms are quite varied.
If you have pain, especially at night, which response to anti-inflammatory drugs and you are between 5-30 years of age, a dynamic contrast MRI and a CT scan will confirm or rule out the diagnosis.
How you can decrease your risk of osteoid osteoma:
The exact cause of Osteoid Osteoma is still unknown. That's why we cannot predict if and when it’s going to affect someone, nor can we take any preventive measures for the disease.
We at Picture This, help you to get accurate CT scans and MRIs with to diagnose and then either with RFA or cryoablation to cure the disease.