There’s really no getting around it: Joints get sore. But there’s a difference between pain that arises as a temporary reaction to exertion or injury, and the chronic pain of arthritis, which can be just there, without a direct cause, and it becomes degenerative without treatment.
Family nurse practitioner Savitri Gopaul of Commonwealth Pain Management and Wellness specializes in developing holistic arthritis management plans for our patients. You may not realize it, but physical activity is an important part of slowing the pace of arthritis, though achy joints may have you preferring the sidelines.
Pain management keeps you on your feet to slow the progress of your condition. Recognizing these six signs of arthritis can help you into treatment sooner.
It’s common to be creaky and stiff in the morning as you get older. Pay attention to how quickly this stiffness passes. When it lasts longer than about 30 minutes, it’s more likely due to inflammation than simply too many birthdays.
The “itis” in arthritis describes the joint conditions as inflammatory.
Arthritis damages joint tissue, and since joints are all about movement, reduced range of motion might be your first clue about the origin of your joint pain. It may be harder to bend or straighten joints. Without treatment, this problem can only get worse.
When joint pain is due to exertion or overuse, rest provides relief. With arthritis, rest reduces joint lubrication, increases stiffness and weakens supporting muscles. After rest, you feel worse, not better.
Puffiness around painful joints is common, a condition that’s more pronounced when rheumatoid arthritis is the culprit. Some of the most common areas are the fingers, wrists, and knees. Inflammation can also produce warmth and redness.
Another feature of rheumatoid arthritis is the level of systemic fatigue it can cause. Unlike osteoarthritis, which is a wear-and-tear disease, rheumatoid arthritis results from an autoimmune system reaction.
Essentially, your body turns on its joints and starts to attack the synovium, the thin inner layer of the joint capsule. While you feel the results in your joints, the immune system affects your entire body.
Once again, rheumatoid arthritis is the culprit in this sign of the disease. Symmetry is a defining feature of rheumatoid arthritis, attacking the same joints on each side of your body, such as both hands or both feet. This symmetry suggests a systemic condition working across your body.
Osteoarthritis is asymmetrical, affecting joints more often on the dominant side of your body, joints that might be more prone to injury as well as wear-and-tear.
Contact us at our Richmond, Virginia, office when joint pain becomes a problem. We’ll apply our holistic approach to create an arthritis plan with your lifestyle in mind. Call or click to make an appointment today.
