Rheumatoid arthritis is an auto-immune disease that causes pain, swelling and in some severe and chronic cases deformation in joints. Unlike osteoarthritis that is seen mostly in seniors and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis that affects children, rheumatoid arthritis symptoms can be seen in any age. Like all other auto immune diseases, rheumatoid arthritis is also caused by the immune system mistakenly attacking body tissues as if they were harmful invaders. Rheumatoid arthritis is also known as rheumatoid disease as it is a systemic disease that can affect multiple parts of the body.
In order to be diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, a patient should have had the symptoms (pain and swelling in joints) for at least six weeks. At the moment, rheumatoid arthritis has no cure and is a chronic illness that will likely last for the lifetime of the patient. And although the rheumatoid arthritis symptoms are known to come and go and sometimes even disappear for years, the disease is progressive, and it can destroy the joints and cause disability in the end. The permanent destruction of joint can occur in years, but it can also happen much quicker due to a chronic inflammation even if the symptoms of the rheumatoid arthritis case are not that severe.
Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms: Joint Pain and Swelling
Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms
The most common and well known symptom of rheumatoid arthritis is pain and swelling in the joints. The symptoms almost always start in the smaller joints including the wrists, knuckles and feet. Symptoms are almost always symmetrical, but pain can be greater on one side of the body, depending on the side most used by the patient. The affected joints will feel hot and stiff when touched. The symptoms will spread to other joints in the body after a time, affecting bigger joints like the shoulders, cervical spine joints, elbows and jaws.
Another common rheumatoid arthritis symptom is stiffness in the mornings that can last for up to one hour (and even longer in some patients) after waking up. Unlike osteoarthritis in which the morning stiffness goes away in half an hour, it tends to last much longer in rheumatoid arthritis.
Patients can also develop nodules under their skin near the inflamed areas. These pea-sized nodules are caused by the inflammation of blood vessels.
Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms: Other Physical Symptoms
In addition to pain and swelling in the joints, rheumatoid arthritis also has other physical symptoms that are similar to symptoms of flu. Especially in the early stages of the disease, flu-like symptoms including fatigue, fever and weight loss can be observed in some patients.
If you are showing any of these rheumatoid arthritis symptoms, it will be a very good idea to contact your doctor as soon as possible to be sure. Although you shouldn’t worry right away as the symptoms have to continue for at least 6 weeks for a rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis, you shouldn’t waste time either, and contact your doctor immediately for a proper diagnosis and treatment as necessary.