Paget’s disease is a condition of bone that changes how the bone forms, and remodels during age. It might only affect a single bone in a patient. It might not cause any trouble. Some patients experience pain with their Paget’s disease. This could be caused by:

• metabolic activity of new bone being formed
• stress fractures
• joint overload from bowed bones (pre-arthritic)
• osteoarthritis from bowed bones changing the loading of joints
• nerves being compressed
• nerves being compressed in the spinal canal
• blood being diverted from the spinal cord
• extremely rarely – tumour formation.

Your GP, or an endocrinology physician might suggest medications to control the bone turnover rate.  Surgery might be required to correct some problems of Paget’s disease.  If a hip or knee is overloaded by the bow deformity, it may be possible to straighten the bone and rectify the problem.  Sometimes the joint is too stiff for much to be achieved, and the joint needs to be replaced at the same time