Soft tissue rheumatism

Soft tissue rheumatism is a very common disease in daily life. It not only affects the patient's normal life and work, but also causes great harm to their health. Therefore, people need to have a certain understanding of this, including its causes and symptoms. Bursitis, tendinitis, tendon synovitis, etc. are all causes of soft tissue rheumatism, and the disease usually manifests as fatigue, fatigue, joint swelling and tenderness, etc.

1. Basic Information

Soft tissue rheumatism refers to a group of musculoskeletal pain syndromes caused by extra-articular lesions or lesions of non-bony structures around joints. "Soft tissue" structures include: bursae, tendons and their synovial coverings, tendinous ends, muscles, and fascia. It must be clarified that the pain of soft tissue rheumatism is not caused by true intra-articular structural lesions. Soft tissue rheumatism can manifest as lesions around a single joint or as localized myofascial pain syndrome.

2. Causes

Bursitis, tendinitis, tenosynovitis, and enthesitis or enthesopathy (eg, plantar fasciitis). Although diffuse connective tissue diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and seronegative spondyloarthropathies can involve soft tissue structures, the presence of monoarticular or oligoarticular periarticular lesions in the absence of joint disease suggests that the syndrome is caused by chronic, repetitive minor trauma or acute overexertion.

Symptoms

Rheumatism in medicine refers to chronic pain of unknown cause in the joints and surrounding soft tissues. Rheumatic diseases refer to a large class of diseases with different causes but the common feature is that they affect the joints and surrounding soft tissues, including muscles, ligaments, bursae, and fascia.

1. Fatigue: Fatigue refers to a decrease or loss of muscle strength. Because fatigue often occurs with other symptoms, such as pain, morning stiffness, and tiredness, patients sometimes cannot tell what fatigue is. Patients will find themselves experiencing symptoms of fatigue when they are unable to complete actions such as walking, chewing, and swallowing. Whether the fatigue is symmetrical and whether it is axial or peripheral in distribution is very useful in the differential diagnosis of the disease.

2. Fatigue: Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms of rheumatism. In severe cases, it may even prevent patients from completing daily activities. Fatigue occurs in both inflammatory and non-inflammatory diseases, such as RA and fibromyalgia syndrome.

3. Joint swelling and tenderness: often occur in painful joints and are signs of synovitis or surrounding soft tissue inflammation. The degree varies depending on the severity of the inflammation. It may be caused by joint effusion or synovial hypertrophy. Bone hyperplasia is more common in osteoarthritis.

4. Joint deformity and dysfunction: The finger joints lose their normal shape and range of motion is restricted, such as the knee cannot be fully straightened, the metacarpophalangeal joints of the hand have ulnar deviation, and the joints are subluxated. These changes are associated with the destruction of cartilage and bone. Common in rheumatoid arthritis.