What are the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis?

Morning stiffness, joint swelling and pain, deformity, etc. are common symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, so once signs of these symptoms appear, everyone should pay more attention and seek treatment as soon as possible to prevent the condition from becoming more serious.

(1) Morning stiffness: The first symptom of joints, often appearing before joint pain. Joint stiffness causes pain and discomfort when the joint begins to move, but morning stiffness decreases or disappears as joint movement increases. Morning joint stiffness is more obvious in the morning and eases in the afternoon.

(ii) Joint swelling and pain: usually symmetrical, often affecting the metacarpophalangeal joints, wrist joints, shoulder joints, interphalangeal joints, ankle joints and knee joints. The joints are red, swollen, hot, painful, and have difficulty moving.

(III) Deformity: Late-stage cases generally present with metacarpophalangeal joint flexion and ulnar deviation deformity; if it occurs in the toes, it presents a claw-like toe deformity.

(IV) Rheumatoid nodules: They occur in 15-20% of patients and are mostly found on the extensor side of the forearm that is often under pressure, such as the ulnar side and the olecranon. Soft, amorphous, mobile nodules or rubbery nodules fixed to the periosteum can be felt subcutaneously. Subcutaneous rheumatoid nodules are more common in patients with strong positive serum rheumatoid factor.

(V) Rheumatoid vasculitis : Rheumatoid vasculitis is the basic lesion of this disease. Vasculitis can occur in other parts of the body except joints and peri-articular tissues. Symptoms include distal vasculitis, skin ulcers, peripheral neuropathy, pericarditis, and visceral arteritis such as the heart, lungs, intestines, spleen, pancreas, kidneys, lymph nodes, and testicles.

(VI) Rheumatoid heart disease : cardiac involvement, formation of rheumatoid granulomas in the myocardium, valvular ring or aortic root, or lymphocytic infiltration or fibrosis of the myocardium, endocardium and valvular ring.