What Are Symptoms Of Rheumatoid Arthritis?

If you are looking for comprehensive information on what are symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis? then you are looking in the right place.

The word ‘arthritis’ in normally used to refer to a number of conditions in which arthritis plays a central role, instead of to a single specific medical condition. Amongst this group two conditions are especially well known and these are rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.

The most common type of arthritis in modern society is osteoarthritis which is an extremely painful condition experienced as stiffness together with a loss of movement in the joints which all too many people find considerably lowers the quality of their. Usually found in the hips, knees, spine and ankles, osteoarthritis results from the destruction of the cartilage which protects the bones so that they are no longer cushioned and can rub painfully against each other. This condition is commonly caused by some form of injury or a metabolic condition.

Rheumatoid arthritis is the second most commonly found type of arthritis and appears when the immune system turns and attacks the body. The condition begins with inflammation and swelling in the lining of the joints which then spreads into the cartilage and the bone. It is common for rheumatoid arthritis to appear in the same joint on either side of the body (for example, both wrists) when it is said to be ‘symmetrical’.

Before proceeding take a moment to examine one or two of the many forms of arthritis before looking more deeply at what are symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis?.

There are a fairly large number of conditions which fall into the category of ‘true’ arthritis and these include:

Psoriatic Arthropathy. This kind of arthritis is seen in people who also suffer from psoriasis. Psoriasis is a skin disorder that causes scaly, red, rough patches on the elbows, knees and neck. This kind of arthritis generally appears in the joints of the feet and hands and causes the toes and fingers to swell to resemble small sausages.

Gonococcal Arthritis. Gonococcal arthritis is the commonest of the infectious kinds of arthritis and is caused by the gonococci bacterium, which also causes gonorrhoea. On top of pain, that can frequently flit between the different joints in body, this kind of arthritis is also accompanied by small blisters that can be present on many parts of your skin.

There are also a lot of conditions where arthritis is not the main element but it is nonetheless a very significant contributory factor. These include:

Scleroderma. This is an auto-immune disease normally present in adults, rather than in children. An excess production of collagen results in the inflammation of the tiny blood vessels (the capillaries) in the body and the stiffening of the tissues in the blood vessels, skin, internal organs and joints. Joint stiffening in this case is actually caused by the hardening of the overlying skin.

There are also numerous conditions in which arthritis plays a minor part:

Sjögren’s Syndrome. Sjögren’s syndrome is principally seen as a condition affecting the mouth and eyes although it is in fact an auto-immune disease that also causes swelling throughout the body, including the nerves, thyroid, brain, liver, kidneys, lungs and the joints.

Finally, before shifting our focus towards what are symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis? we should also have a look at one or two ideas to help in living with arthritis.

Try to save your energy by balancing activity and rest.

Make sure you get a good night’s sleep by making sure that your mattress and pillows are comfortable.

Adapt your home to make things simpler by wrapping rubber bands around doorknobs which are hard to turn, thereby improving their grip.

Make cleaning simpler by using a 30 meter extension cord on the vacuum cleaner so that you do not need to keep bending over to unplug the vacuum and then plug it in again.

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