Symptoms And Signs Of Arthritis
By Roger Thompson
With over a 100 different forms of arthritis, it can be difficult to determine which type a patients has. Pinpointing arthritis symptoms can help expedite the diagnoses of arthritis.
Arthritis means joint inflammation, and this is a result of having arthritis. Some forms of arthritis can actually affect body’s organs and can cause death.
Arthritis symptoms in the initial stages can be somewhat undefined. Vague pain and being tired may accompany joint pain that can occur occasionaly. Most of the specific pain surrounds the joints of the patient. These arthritis symptoms can be in the form of direct joint pain, redness and warmth around the joints, swelling and tenderness around the joint and the patient may experience limited range of motion in the joint.
Arthritis symptoms are important to keep track of in order to get definitive diagnoses. When a patient begins seeking medical advice in regards to their symptoms, the patients history will play an important part in being able to determine the form of arthritis that they have.
A doctor will also perform a physical evaluation of a patient that is experiencing arthritis symptoms. This can be in the form of looking at the patients joints, and determining motion range. The doctor may also be searching for warm or red joints, and will ask the patient numerous questions in order to get a clear physical picture of the patient. Arthritis symptoms may not be obvious to a patient, so the doctors questioning can lead to a proper diagnoses.
There are several major forms of arthritis. Discovering which arthritis symptoms go with these diseases can help in finding out which form of arthritis a patient has. Rheumatoid Arthritis has some classic arthritis symptoms, including severe morning stiffness, the small bones of the hands and feet may be swollen and painful and extreme fatigue are common arthritis symptoms in Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Osteoarthritis often appears as a constant pain in a specific joint. This pain may be more evident after continued use of the joint. The pain is more common later in the day, and this form of arthritis can also occur with other arthritis conditions.
Psoriatic Arthritis affects not only the joints but also the skin. The arthritis symptoms associated with this arthritis include, swollen joints and red, patchy and scaly skin. This form of arthritis has an impact on both joints and skin areas.
Anklosing spondylitis is another form of arthritis. The arthritis symptoms associated with this disease include, severe lower back pain that will progress up the spine and into the ribs. This form is very painful and begins with chronic lower back pain.
As arthritis is a very common condition, learning some of the classic arthritis symptoms can assist a patient in getting the proper treatment.
For more information arthritis check the link http://www.arthritisreliefhelp.info
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If you have rheumatoid arthritis in both hands and one knee are there any benefits you can claim?
My mam is 51, not working but signs on. Gets working tax credit because husband works but is there anything else she might be entitled to. She has rheumatoid arthritis in both hands and one knee so there are not many jobs she can do. She used to be a cleaner but can not do this now because of the pain she gets. Any help much appreciated. U.K
Signs of rheumatoid arthritis in 22yr old?
I’m wondering if I’m starting to have the signs of rheumatoid arthritis even though I’m 22 years old. I’m noticing pain in my left ring and pinky fingers, and soreness in my right thumb. My wrists generally feel sore and the muscles in my hands just feel achy. There doesn’t seem to be any specific time that this feels worse during the day (i.e., not in the morning). I’ve also had a lot of stiff back and neck pain for weeks now, but I thought that was due to lying in bed funny or too much exercise lately.
I also have a really strong family history of rheumatoid arthritis. My mother developed it at 33yrs old, my great-grandma had it in her hands, and very bad psoriasis and ecsema are very common on my mother’s side. No one would has shown arthritis as young as me though. Autoimmune diseases like Grave’s disease and vitilego are also on my mother’s side. But there’s nothing on my dad’s side.
So could this be RA or carpal tunnel syndrome?
It could be, or it could be a case of carpal tunnel. You don’t need to have a job where you use your hands excessively; it also comes from your hobbies and your every day life – do you cook? Fold laundry? Did you raise kids? And then the gardening.
Carpal tunnel is caused by the way you sleep. It may just be a matter of wearing a cock-up wrist splint at night to help you feel much less pain.
The symptoms sound common to both.
Signs of Rheumatoid arthritis in 20 year old male?
I’m sure I have it. I’ve been having tests for thyroid which eventually came back clear and the doctors reckon it’s stress, but I”m sure it isn’t I have depression and anxiety problems for a while but the last 3 weeks I’ve had chest pains once or twice a day where my chest twinges…my hands are always cold and look discoloured when they are…and yesterday my knuckles looked strange…almost dis shaped….I went to the doctor today and the nurse said they were fine..but they look raised to me…it’s really annoying and depressing when doctors keep telling me it’s stress when i think it’s more…
What do you think?
Also I sometimes get pain in the center of my hand but not on the fingers..
Is this the sign of arthritis?
I am 42 years old and in the past few month I have pain in my fingers on both hands. The pain is symmetrical. My fingers hurt when I tightly bend my fingers or flex them as much as I can or when I press them around the knuckle. I did not injured my hands, I am not in a job where I use them excessively. I have a hard time to pull weeds for instance, my hands hurt after gardening. I am an active person, no history of any illness, not overweight, healthy and happy but I am scared. Is this the beginning of rheumatoid arthritis. I am going to see a doctor soon but I could use some advice. What can I expect?
You suffer from man-o’-pause. You’ve got your productive life on hold, pending intervention gleaned from non-professionals such as ourselves. And you don’t even bother to apply new ideas as is evident from your finding new ways to engage the unsuspecting nice people here.
You have so many complaints of ailments, I’m certain you need psychological intervention. I’ve been reading of you heart, chest, anxiety, cold hands, fear of death, ever-present search for simplistic quotes you think will magically transform you into a strong man instead of a weak-kneed mistrusting hypochondriac.
You need help upstairs. You reject all such recommendations and I’m sure you’ll disregard this one as well. That’s your privilege but it is mine to tell you that you get off on burdening others with your incessant complaints and disguised fears that you are dying and the world is plotting to deny you help. You do need help! But you are not my child and I’m under no obligation to be of service to you. Yet I’m a nice guy, so I’m doing the tough love thing one last time.
I’m not plotting anything. I have nothing to gain by pointing out the futility of your plaintive cries in an anguished night. I find your diatribes beyond frustrating—they go nowhere, you’re never improved by the exercise and it’s disheartening to see how you continue to use people here at YA, pretending to appreciate counsel yet you never apply it as is evidenced by the fact that you continue to get help from people not equipped through training to guide you.
Get some help, young man. It’s not arthritis, it’s not heart maladies, it’s not anything one could identify until anxiety has been ruled out. Your poor parents must be in awesome pain over your failure to live within your own skin.
Len
How likely am I to get cancer from taking the drug azathioprine to treat my Rheumatoid Arthritis?
I have a severe case of rheumatoid arthritis. My knees, ankles, hands and other joints swell up with fluid a lot. I have had my knees drained of fluid around 25 to 30 times. I feel like I’m running out of options. I’ve had arthroscopic knee surgery and it didn’t help. I’m in a lot of pain all the time even when I don’t have visual signs of swelling.
I am on a strong pain killer and also take Plaquenil. I am just afraid of more problems occuring if I take the drug azathioprine. Please help!
In a 1977 study, 70 patients were followed after taking azathioprine. Only 2 had “cancer,” and they were both skin cancers, usually caused by the sun and probably not related to the azathioprine. Azathioprine, when converted to 6-MP, is actually used as part of cancer treatment programs.
I’m not sure about the 7.83% that the other poster came up with. That’s a very high incidence. Azathioprine has been around for a long, long time, and it’s still a primary treatment for anti-inflammatory disorders. They wouldn’t still use if it there was something better available.
Hope that helps.