Symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis

Generally speaking, most people don’t know or understand much about the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis in the elderly, because in our daily lives, most of the people who suffer from the disease are elderly people. In addition, we rarely come into contact with people with such diseases, and we rarely live with the elderly, so we are not very familiar with this aspect. Not to mention knowing the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.

What people don’t know is that the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis are concentrated in several aspects, making it a more troublesome disease for the elderly. Therefore, people who care for the elderly need to have a thorough understanding of the symptoms of the disease, and treatment is an indispensable approach.

① Morning stiffness: Joint stiffness is more obvious in the morning and is relieved after activity, which is called morning stiffness. Usually after getting up, the affected joints are stiff and painful, and movement is limited. As time goes by, movement increases and the stiffness eases.

② Pain: Fingers, wrists, and toes are swollen and painful first, either singly or multiple times, gradually spreading to the elbows, shoulders, knees, iliac joints, and temporomandibular joints, and the disease is symmetrical. The pain is aggravated by recurrence of the disease, changes in weather, or cold stimulation.

③ Swelling: There is inflammatory effusion in the affected joint cavity, which manifests as diffuse swelling or redness and swelling in the joints, mainly in the four small joints. The finger joints are mostly fusiform and swollen. When the condition is relieved, the joint swelling may disappear.

④ Movement disorders: As the disease progresses, muscles atrophy, fibrous tissue proliferates in bones and joints, and the tissues around the joints become tough, making it impossible for the joints to resume normal functional activities. When the disease develops to the late stage, the joints become ankylosed or subluxated, the metacarpophalangeal lateral deviation occurs, and the finger joints become goose-neck, telescope-shaped, bouquet-shaped or hook-shaped deformities.

The symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis in the elderly introduced above are generally divided into four forms, but if you do not pay more attention to your body, it will not help alleviate the condition. There are many causes of this type of disease, so we should pay more attention to the elderly at home in our daily lives, which is conducive to the recovery of the disease.