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What Is Arthritis?
Doctors define arthritis as swelling in one or more joints. There are more than 100 health problems that can cause this painful disease.
Some types of arthritis are more common as people age. But some happen in children and young adults.
Arthritis may stay the same or get better or worse over time. It depends on the type.
What are the types of arthritis?
Some of the main kinds of arthritis are:
- Autoimmune-related arthritis. This is when the body attacks healthy tissue by mistake, leading to swelling. Common examples are rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and juvenile arthritis (JA).
- Gout. Uric acid crystals (found in meat, alcohol, and other food) build up in the joints and cause swelling and pain. This can happen because of diet, an underlying health problem, medicine, or genetic reasons.
- Infectious or septic arthritis. This swelling due to bacteria, virus, fungi, or parasites in the joint fluid goes away after the infection clears.
- Osteoarthritis. The most common type, it happens when the joints weaken with age.
- Reactive arthritis. This type happens when the immune system overreacts to an infection and causes swelling in the joints. It can occur days or weeks after an infection and can happen even after treatment for the infection.
What causes arthritis?
There is no single cause of arthritis.
Osteoarthritis happens because of wear and tear on the joints with age.
In autoimmune types, stress, exposure to a chemical, or an infection can trigger the immune system to attack healthy tissue.
With many types of arthritis, genes plays a role. For instance, people have a higher risk of getting osteoarthritis or RA if a family member has the diagnosis.
What are arthritis risk factors and complications?
Arthritis risk factors include the following:
- Age. The most common type, osteoarthritis, mostly happens after age 45 and increases with age. The second most common type, RA, often starts between age 30 and 50.
- Being obese or overweight stresses the joint tissue, causing it to break down. This triggers swelling.
- Gender. Many types of arthritis are more common in women than men.
- Overuse of joints (from sports or repeated movements at work). The wear and tear of bone and connective tissue can cause osteoarthritis.
- Smoking puts you at a higher risk of getting some types of arthritis, including RA.
- Prior injury to a joint increases the chance of osteoarthritis in that joint.
If not treated, arthritis can get worse and cause health problems beyond swelling, stiffness, and pain.
Arthritis can cause issues such as:
- Deformed joints, especially with RA.
- Disability, such as trouble walking or grasping.
- Fractures.
- Hearing loss due to arthritis in the ear. This causes swelling in the joints that connect tiny bones in the middle ear.
- Hoarseness, painful swallowing, and loud or shallow breathing due to arthritis in the throat. Though rare, some people get arthritis in the small joints at the back of the voice box.
- Joint damage.
- Pinched nerve in the spine due to swelling.
Other issues may happen due to the problem causing arthritis.
For instance, gout can cause problems in the kidneys, and RA affects the heart and other organs.
Why choose UPMC for arthritis care?
At UPMC, we have experts in autoimmune disease, sports medicine, joint and bone health, and more. This means we can figure out the cause of your arthritis quickly.
Our experts work as a team to create the best treatment plan for you.
We offer all treatments for arthritis, from physical therapy to advanced surgeries.
Our goal is to make sure stiffness and pain won't get in the way of your daily life.
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Arthritis Symptoms and Diagnosis
What are the signs and symptoms of arthritis?
Arthritis symptoms include:
- Limited movement or flexibility in one or more joints — such as the wrists, knuckles, elbows, knees, shoulders, or hips.
- Pain in one or more joints, which may get better with movement.
- Stiffness that's worse in the morning or after not moving for a long time.
- Swelling in one or more joints.
See a doctor if you have joint pain or stiffness that:
- Doesn't go away after a few days.
- Keeps coming back.
How do doctors diagnose arthritis?
Your doctor will ask about your arthritis symptoms and family history, including:
- When your symptoms started.
- Where you feel pain or stiffness.
- Whether you have a family member with arthritis, and if so, what type.
- If your arthritis symptoms are worse in the morning or get better with movement.
Your doctor will do a physical exam. This may involve asking you to move your joints in many ways to assess your range of motion.
They may also ask you to walk to see if arthritis affects your gait.
Your doctor may order tests like:
- An MRI, x-ray, or ultrasound to look for damage to the bone or extra fluid in the joint.
- Blood tests to look for proteins that your immune system may produce at higher levels if you have arthritis.
- Tests of the fluid in a joint to look for signs of swelling. For this, your doctor will take a small sample of joint fluid using a needle.
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What Are the Treatment Options for Arthritis?
Treatment depends on the type of arthritis you have, and how severe it is.
Some people only need over-the-counter pain relievers once in a while. Others may need prescription medicines or surgery.
Many people with arthritis find relief from treatments like physical therapy.
Medicine to treat arthritis
These include drugs that:
- Relieve pain.
- Reduce swelling.
- Alter or reduce immune system activity.
Newer treatments for arthritis have less side effects than older medicines. This is because they target certain proteins causing swelling, rather than the entire immune system.
Massage
Massage can help relieve arthritis pain and increase movement in the joints.
Electrical nerve stimulation (stim) to treat arthritis
In stim treatment, a machine sends small electrical pulses to your nerves. It can reduce pain signals that the nerves send to the brain and lessen the pain you feel.
Talk to your doctor before trying stim, as it isn't safe for everyone.
Physical therapy (PT) and exercise
PT helps you increase the movement in your joints and reduce stiffness through:
- Exercises to strengthen and stretch the muscles around your joint.
- Hot-and-cold therapy and braces to support the joint during exercise.
People may find it painful to work out at first. But movement lubricates the joint, which reduces pain.
Surgery to treat arthritis
If your arthritis symptoms are severe, your doctor may suggest:
- Surgery to remove some of the joint tissue's lining if it's growing abnormally due to arthritis.
- Partial or total joint replacement. In such surgeries, the surgeon replaces bones and connective tissue with medical-grade metal and plastic.
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Last reviewed by Donna Geraci, CRNP on 2024-05-15.
