X-rays
X-rays only show your bones. You cannot see the cartilage, muscles or other tissues, and you cannot see pain.
This means that an X-ray can only say what the bones look like on that day. X-rays cannot say how you feel or how much your OA affects you. X-rays also cannot say how long the joint has looked like this or what this means for the future.
Do not be surprised if your X-ray looks a lot better or a lot worse than you feel. Some people with no pain have a lot of joint changes on X-ray. Others have a lot of pain but few X-ray changes.
It’s likely that any changes you see on X-ray took place slowly over a long time and will change only slowly in the future.