Symptoms of arthritis

When we enter middle age, we are often accompanied by pain in various joints of the body. A big reason for this is that we did not pay attention to keeping warm and protecting our joints when we were young, which is very likely due to arthritis. Since this is a relatively common chronic disease, it may not attract enough attention from people. However, if it is not treated early, it is likely to cause a series of complications as time goes by.

Arthritis refers to inflammatory diseases that occur in human joints and surrounding tissues and can be divided into dozens of types. There are more than 100 million arthritis patients in my country, and the number is increasing. The clinical manifestations are redness, swelling, heat, pain, dysfunction and deformity of the joints. In severe cases, it can lead to joint disability and affect the patient's quality of life.

Causes

The causes of arthritis are complex and are mainly related to factors such as inflammation, autoimmune response, infection, metabolic disorders, trauma, and degenerative diseases.

Clinical manifestations

1. Pain

It is the main manifestation of arthritis.

2. Swelling

Swelling is a common sign of joint inflammation and does not necessarily correlate with the degree of joint pain.

3. Dysfunction

Joint pain and inflammation cause edema of the tissues around the joints, leading to limited joint movement. Patients with chronic arthritis may suffer from permanent loss of joint function due to long-term limited joint movement.

4. Physical signs

Different types of arthritis have different signs, which may include erythema, deformity, soft tissue swelling, joint redness and swelling, exudate, bone swelling, bone friction sound, tenderness, muscle atrophy or weakness, limited range of joint motion and nerve root compression.

The prognosis of arthritis varies depending on the cause, course, individual differences and treatment methods. The course of reactive arthritis is self-limited in most patients, and usually disappears within 3 to 5 months. In the past decade, with the early combined use of slow-acting antirheumatic drugs, the treatment of extra-articular lesions and the emergence of new therapies, the prognosis of rheumatoid arthritis has been significantly improved. Most people with rheumatoid arthritis can have their condition well controlled or even completely resolved.