Arthritis – What You Need to Know

Arthritis is a general term that signifies inflammation of the joints. This condition produces many individual illnesses with differing factors, treatments, complications and prognoses. They are similar because they tend to affect one or more joints, plus muscles, ligaments, cartilage and connective tissues. Some types of arthritis can affect internal body areas.

Common Signs and Symptoms

The most common types of arthritis cause persistent joint pain. Affected joints will have pain or tenderness that can become aggravated by movement or activity, such as walking, getting up from a chair, writing, typing, holding an object, throwing a ball, turning a key, and similar tasks. Inflammation manifests through joint swelling, stiffness, redness, and/or warmth, joint deformity, loss of range, motion or flexibility in a joint.

Other associated symptoms that may be present include unexplained weight loss, extreme fatigue, lack of energy, and non-specific fever without any cause. Different forms of arthritis, such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, can cause changes you can see and feel.

Osteoarthritis Symptoms

With osteoarthritis, symptoms can range from stiffness and mild pain that comes and goes with activities like walking, bending or stooping and range to severe arthritis pain. Typical osteoarthritis signs include the following:

• Pain in a joint, especially during movement
• Stiffness
• Joint swelling
• Decreased range of motion
• Feeling joint instability
• Joint deformity

The duration, severity and type of joint pain often indicate the type of arthritis a patient has. The prognosis and treatments will vary according to the type of arthritic disease. Severe osteoarthritis, where cartilage has completely disappeared, frequently results in total joint replacement.

Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms

Rheumatoid arthritis can attack almost any joint in the body, but it affects every patient differently. Most of the time, those with rheumatoid arthritis in a joint on one side of the body will also suffer symptoms in the same joint on the other side. Sometimes. Some people develop symptoms over several years, while others experience rapid progression. Many people with rheumatoid arthritis experience immune system flares characterized by significant pain followed by time with no pain, called remission.

Rheumatoid arthritis symptoms include:

• Pain, swelling, stiffness and tenderness in multiple joints
• Stiffness, particularly in the morning or after sitting for long periods
• Pain and stiffness in the same joints on both sides of the body
• Fatigue and weakness
• Fever

Many patients with RA indicate that fatigue is among its worst symptoms. Living with chronic pain can be exhausting, and fatigue makes it more difficult to manage pain. If you have RA, paying attention to your body and taking breaks before getting too tired is essential.

Rheumatoid Arthritis Flares

Rheumatoid arthritis flares represent a cluster of RA symptoms. Stress, weather changes, certain foods or infections can trigger a period of increased disease activity. Although you can’t completely prevent flares, you can take steps to manage them. Consider recording your symptoms daily in a journal, along with what is happening in your life. Share this information with your doctor, who can help you identify and manage your triggers.

Other Types of Arthritis

When only a single joint experiences pain, your doctor will consider other causes, including septic arthritis when fever or inflammation is present, transient synovitis, or gout, which affects the big toe. Gout is a common form of arthritis caused by too much uric acid in the body. Similar to rheumatoid arthritis, gout has flares followed by periods of remission.

Diagnosis and Arthritis Treatments

Diagnostic clues will give your healthcare professional an idea to conduct specific tests to recommend appropriate therapy to minimize pain and activity disruption with a minimum of side effects.

Diagnosing arthritis early can help to prevent irreversible damage and disability. You must take arthritis signs seriously because there is currently no known cure once you develop arthritis. Aggressive treatment can minimize your symptoms and ongoing joint destruction.

How is Gout Diagnosed?

A healthcare provider can only diagnose gout by assessing your symptoms and the results of your physical examination, X-rays, and lab tests during a flare. When a joint is hot, swollen, and painful and when a lab test finds uric acid crystals in the affected joint. Careful assessment is necessary because gout signs and symptoms are not specific and can look like signs and symptoms of other inflammatory diseases. Doctors who specialize in gout and other forms of arthritis are called rheumatologists. To find a rheumatologist, visit the database of rheumatologists on the American College of Rheumatology website. Once a rheumatologist has diagnosed and effectively treated your gout, a primary care provider can track your condition and help you manage it.

How is Gout Treated?

We can effectively treat and manage gout with medical treatment and self-management strategies, including the following:

• Manage the pain of a flare. Treatment consists of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen or acetaminophen and the anti-inflammatory drug colchicine, oral or injected corticosteroids.
• Prevent future flares. Making changes to your diet and lifestyle, such as losing weight, limiting alcohol, and avoiding foods high in purines (like red meat or organ meat, may help prevent future attacks. Changing or stopping medications associated with hyperuricemia may also help.
• Prevent tophi and kidney stones. These stones occur because of chronically high uric acid levels. Tophi are hard, uric acid deposits under the skin. For people with frequent flares or chronic gout, doctors may recommend taking certain drugs like allopurinol, febuxostat, and pegloticase.

Self-Management Strategies for Arthritis Pain

If you have a common type of arthritis, its pain affects many aspects of daily living. Fortunately, you can follow many low-cost self-management strategies proven to improve your quality of life. The CDC’s Arthritis Management and Wellbeing Program recognizes five self-management strategies for managing arthritis and its symptoms.

•  Join a self-management education class to understand how arthritis affects your life. These classes increase people's confidence in controlling their symptoms and living well.
• Attend a physical activity program proven to improve health. For people who worry that physical activity may worsen arthritis or are unsure how to exercise safely, participation in physical activity programs can help reduce pain and disability related to arthritis and improve mood and the ability to move. These classes can help people with arthritis feel better.
• Remain physically active. Experts recommend that adults participate in 150 minutes of physical activity per week, with activities like walking, swimming, or biking for 30 minutes a day over five days. Regular physical activity can also reduce risk factors for heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

• Lose weight. For people who are overweight or obese, losing weight reduces pressure on joints, particularly weight-bearing joints like the hips and knees. Reaching or maintaining a healthy weight can relieve pain, improve function, and slow the progression of arthritis.
• Protect your joints. Joint injuries can cause or worsen arthritis. Choose low-impact activities that are easy on the joints, like walking, bicycling, and swimming. These activities have a low risk of injury and do not twist or put too much stress on the joints.

Let VIVAA Help You Manage Your Arthritis

The healthcare professionals at our Seattle-area medical spa can help you achieve a better quality of life with arthritis. To learn more, call us at 425-250-9999 or schedule an appointment through our online form.