Home > Videos > Orthopedic > What is Arthritis?

What is Arthritis?

Arthritis is a disease in which your joints face swelling, inflammation, tenderness, stiffness, and pain. However, the main symptom of arthritis is joint pain.

There are two basic types of Arthritis. These are:

• Osteoarthritis: In this case, the joints like hip joints and joints of hands get weakened because of age. This is common in people whose age is 50-60 years or above. 
• Inflammatory Arthritis: This happens because of inflammation and stiffness in joints, especially after waking up in the morning.

The function of your immune system is to fight against external viruses and bacteria. The immune system has a mechanism by which it can differentiate between the cells in your body and the foreign cells. But, in certain conditions this mechanism fails and the immune system attacks the body cells by assuming them as foreign cells. This condition is referred to as Autoimmune condition and inflammatory Arthritis is a part of this.

There are more than a hundred different types of inflammatory Arthritis depending on the types of cells. There are different symptoms associated with them.

Types of Inflammatory Arthritis

The most common types of inflammatory arthritis are Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriatic Arthritis, Ankylosing Spondylitis, etc.

Another common thing is – after any sort of viral infection, swelling and stiffness occur to the joints. Sometimes, it exists for months or longer. This is called Post Viral Arthritis.

In the case of OsteoArthritis, the symptoms are mostly seen during old age. You would feel pain in your knees while walking or climbing stairs. It is commonly seen in old people.

On the other hand, the main symptom of Inflammatory Arthritis is joint pain. The symptoms are mostly seen during the morning after you wake up. If the pain or swelling lasts for more than 30 minutes, it’s not normal. So, if you are facing such pains in your joints for such a long time, you must visit a consultant or specialist immediately.

These are some common symptoms that differentiate between Osteoarthritis and Inflammatory Arthritis.

If you have any of the above-mentioned symptoms, then you must visit a doctor. The doctors who treat Inflammatory Arthritis are known as Rheumatologists. In addition to the M.D medicine degree, they also have a super-specialty degree to specifically treat Arthritis.

So, if you have Arthritis, further evaluation is done. This procedure includes some blood tests, an X-ray of hands and legs, etc. The diagnosis depends on these test reports. These reports also indicate whether you have Inflammatory Arthritis or not. And, if you have this arthritis, there are great treatments to get rid of it.

People often have misconceptions that there’s no treatment and cure for Inflammatory Arthritis. However, nowadays many modern treatments are available. Hence, if you’ve Inflammatory Arthritis, there’s nothing to worry about. With proper treatments and medications, you can lead a normal life.

The prescription of medication depends on your level of Arthritis. Just like a blood sugar test is necessary once, in three months, a blood test is also required to examine the condition of your Arthritis.

Another misconception about Arthritis is about the side effects of various medicines. But, only 1% or 2% of the patients face the side effects. For others, these medicines don’t cause any harm. And even if there are side effects they don’t sustain for a long time. Moreover, doctors can manage them by altering the doses of medicines and the effects can be normalized.

However, if the treatment gets delayed because of your ignorance, then the possibility of getting rid of Arthritis decreases. In that case, your knee and other joints can be affected and you may require to go through knee replacement surgery. But, you can entirely prevent it by early treatment.

Have queries or concern ?

• You can use ice packs. This would help to get relief from joint pain and swelling. 
• The proper amount of rest is necessary to decrease the stiffness of your joints. Don’t give access stress to the affected parts. Stop walking or running until the pain permanently goes away.

If even after taking measures at home, your joint pain remains, you must consult a doctor.

About Author