Healthy skeletal system October.2014 | Page 13

Signs & Symptoms

The symptoms of arthritis you experience will vary depending on the type you have. This is why it's important to have an accurate diagnosis if you have:

Joint pain, tenderness and stiffness.

Inflammation in and around the joints.

Restricted movement of the joints.

Warm, red skin over the affected joint

These are just the symptoms faced by people who experience any kind of arthritis. However for the particular types they have their specific symptoms.

Rheumatoid arthritis- tender, warm swollen joints, morning stiffness that may last for hours, firm bumps of tissue under the skin, fatigue, fever and weight loss. Early stages of the disease affect the smaller joints such as the ones attached to the hands and the toes. As the disease progresses the symptoms then spread to the knees, ankles, elbows, hips and shoulder. In many cases when the symptoms occur on the right side they eventually also occur on the left side. The signs and symptoms come and go, other times the pain cam be a lot, while others times it can fade away. Over time, it can cause the joints to deform and shift out of place, causing the symptoms to become severe.

Osteoarthritis- usually develops slowly and can occur in any joint; however it often occurs on weight bearing joints such as the hips, knees, neck, hands or lower back. These signs include: joint pain, swelling, tenderness, stiffness after getting out of bed, crunching feeling or sound of bones rubbing.

We Can Fight Arthritis , Its Just the beginning!

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