Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic systemic disease that primarily affects the joint surfaces, producing symptoms of joint inflammation (arthritis) - redness, swelling, pain and dysfunction. But since the process is systemic, in addition to changes in the joints, the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis also include signs of damage to other organs and systems: the heart, blood vessels, kidneys, lungs, skin, etc.
Rheumatoid arthritis is a very serious disease, the signs of which should never be ignored: joint damage progresses very quickly, leading to irreversible loss of function. Without appropriate treatment, about half of patients with rheumatoid arthritis become disabled within 5 years from the onset of the disease. Life expectancy also decreases (for example, because the immunoinflammatory process spreads to the heart and other organs, infections are attached to it, etc.).
Timely and complete treatment, although not capable of leading to a complete recovery, can significantly slow down the progression of the disease, prevent early disability and alleviate painful symptoms.
The main manifestations of rheumatoid arthritis (the links below are the contents of the article):
For rheumatoid arthritis, symmetrical (i.e., simultaneously on both sides) changes in the small joints of the hand are typical: metacarpophalangeal, interphalangeal, and also small joints of the feet (metatarsophalangeal).
Over time, changes and painful symptoms appear in other joints: wrist, tarsus, elbow, ankle, knee, shoulder, temporomandibular, hip, cervical spine.
In rare cases, the disease begins with inflammation of one large joint (knee, elbow, etc.).
Signs of joint damage:
Symptoms of damage to the articular surfaces increase gradually. At the initial stage, signs of inflammation may be inconsistent, even a short-term spontaneous remission is possible (when the articular syndrome goes away on its own - without treatment), but after a few weeks or months, the pain returns again and begins to intensify, and the dysfunction increases.
Pain, joint deformities, deviations and ankylosis cause significant impairment of the functions of the hands and limbs, reducing the patient’s quality of life and ability to self-care. Patients cannot perform the most common actions: fasten buttons and zippers on clothes, lift and hold a kettle, glass and spoon, open doors with a key.
Damage to the joints of the lower extremities (hip, knee, ankle) leads to limitation of movement - first, pain occurs during physical activity and walking, then it becomes difficult to simply stand and lean on the legs, and it becomes difficult for patients to walk without additional support on a cane and crutches.
Pain in the joints is a concern at the initial stage of the disease only during movements: in a typical localization with damage to the small joints of the hand, attempts to bend and straighten the fingers and associated movements (holding a pen when writing, fastening buttons and other finger work) become painful.
As the disease progresses, the pain becomes chronic and bothers patients even at rest, including at night.
Morning stiffness is a limitation, the inability to make full movements in the morning, after waking up. Morning stiffness is an important diagnostic sign of rheumatoid arthritis if it persists for an hour or more.
Symptoms such as swelling and redness around the joint occur simultaneously or some time after the pain occurs. At first, there is only a slight transient swelling and slight redness, later the swelling becomes permanent, dense, and the skin over the joints is red, thinned, and shiny.
Dysfunction in the form of limited or inability to work joints develops first as a defensive reaction due to pain (the patient consciously or unconsciously limits painful movements and in this way seems to spare the joint). In the later stages of rheumatoid arthritis, limitation of movements is due to the formation of joint deviations and deformities.
The inability to fully bend or straighten a limb (finger) at a joint is called contracture.
Muscle atrophy - thinning and weakening of muscles - occurs due to complete or partial immobility of the limb (fingers) and the transition of the inflammatory process to nearby tendons and muscles.
Deviation - deviation of bones that articulate in a joint - develops as a result of long-term and irreversible muscle contractures and the formation of subluxations. Characteristic is ulnar deviation - the so-called “walrus fin” - deviation of the fingers outward, towards the ulna.
Ulnar deviation or “walrus fin”
Deformity is a pronounced, disfiguring change in the shape of a joint, first due to swelling, and then due to subluxations, the spread of the pathological process to the articular cartilage and segments of articulating bones. In the later stages, joint deformities typical of rheumatoid arthritis occur:
Symptom of “spider hand” in the disease
Ankylosis is complete immobility in the joint due to the destruction of cartilage and the formation of fibrous and bony adhesions between the articulating surfaces of the bones.
Symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis are not limited to joint damage alone. After the onset of the disease, general symptoms appear:
Over time, other organs and tissues become involved in the immunoinflammatory process:
Muscles: muscle pain (myalgia) and inflammation (myositis) develop.
Skin: becomes thin and dry, subcutaneous hemorrhages occur, foci of necrosis in the form of black spots under the nails.
The vessels are affected in the form of rheumatoid vasculitis (inflammation of the vascular wall) with the appearance of multiple subcutaneous hemorrhages and hemorrhagic rash (dark red, cherry-colored rash). Nasal and uterine bleeding are possible. When the vessels of internal organs are damaged, heart attacks (heart, lung, intestines), hepatitis, etc. develop.
Lymph nodes increase in size in 40–60% of patients. They are painless, mobile, and have a dense elastic consistency.
Lung damage in the form of pleurisy, pneumonitis, alveolitis. Clinically manifested by a productive (with sputum discharge) cough, shortness of breath on exertion.
Heart failure often develops.
The kidneys and liver are affected both as a result of the spread of the immunoinflammatory process and as a result of the side effects of the drugs used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.
Changes in the digestive system, which are explained not so much by arthritis, but by the undesirable effects of NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) used for treatment. Patients often note a decrease in appetite, periodic nausea up to vomiting, pain in the stomach or diffuse abdominal pain. Relatively rarely, if treatment recommendations and drug dosages are not followed, more serious effects of NSAIDs may occur: erosions on the mucous membranes of the stomach and duodenum, acute ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeding.
Damage to the peripheral nervous system - in the form of polyneuropathies, manifested by paresthesia (burning, tingling, numbness in the extremities), decreased pain and tactile sensitivity.
Anemia is a common companion to rheumatoid arthritis. It is characterized by a decrease in red blood counts (the number of red blood cells, hemoglobin, color index, etc.) and sideropenic syndrome (external signs of iron deficiency) in the form of striations, layering and brittleness of nails, hair loss, the appearance of “jams” in the corners of the mouth, peeling of the skin.
The symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis are very varied. In the initial stages, the disease can proceed rather sluggishly, without causing much suffering to the patients. However, it should be remembered that joint damage progresses very quickly, and over time the pathological process can spread to other organs. Therefore, it is extremely important that when the first symptoms of the disease occur, immediately contact a doctor - a therapist, rheumatologist or arthrologist for examination and prescribing adequate treatment.
These seeds are small in size but have great healing powers for our health.
A rich source of magnesium and selenium, they regulate metabolism, reduce symptoms of asthma, arthritis, menopause and respiratory problems.
What kind of seeds are these?
Take care of yourself, use natural remedies and BE HEALTHY!
Mustard seeds have been used since ancient times for both culinary and medicinal uses.
The Egyptians used mustard to combat respiratory problems.
Mustard can be used to relieve back and muscle pain, runny nose and sinusitis, reduce symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and asthma, reduce menopausal symptoms and breathing problems, and help prevent cancer.
Mustard is rich in vitamin A, which is responsible for the condition of the skin and mucous membranes; and B vitamins, important in energy metabolism.
It is a good source of selenium, a nutrient that helps reduce asthma symptoms; and omega-3 fatty acids, iron, calcium and zinc.
The seeds contain enzymes that inhibit the growth of existing cancer cells and also have a protective effect against the formation of new cancer cells.
Magnesium, which helps lower blood pressure, regulates sleep in women suffering from menopausal symptoms and reduces the frequency of migraine attacks.
Mustard greens can be easily found in the market and can be eaten raw or cooked, in salads and soups.
To relieve back pain, prepare a mustard bath.
Place about 200 ml of mustard seed (yellow in color) in a bath and fill with hot water.
Once the bath is filled, stir well and relax for at least 15 minutes.
You can use mustard directly on the skin in the area that is causing you pain. Mix mustard powder and vegetable oil in equal quantities and apply a small amount to the skin, rinse after 20-30 minutes. Then insulate the area.
To relieve nasal congestion, mix hot water with mustard powder, place a cloth in the mixture, and then place it on your chest.
Prepare the tea: 1 teaspoon fennel, 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder and 1 teaspoon mustard seeds and 1 liter of water.
Boil this mixture for five minutes after the water is boiling.
Drink three cups a day.
This tea relieves muscle pain and gives energy.
These spices fight aging and are excellent antioxidants.
Cinnamon, one of the ingredients in tea, is one of the most widely used spices around the world. It has a high degree of protection against many diseases.
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One of the most popular antispasmodics is No-shpa. It effectively copes with various types of pain, including headaches. Due to the fact that No-Spa has a minimal number of contraindications and has a gentle effect on the body, it is often prescribed to pregnant women as an anesthetic drug. The main effect of the medicine is to relieve spasms of smooth muscles, so before taking another pill for headaches, you need to understand the nature of the pain.
The drug is an antispasmodic and has a gentle effect on smooth muscles, blood vessels and tissues of the body, reducing their tone. However, the tablets do not affect the muscle tissue of the heart and skeleton. “No-shpu” is traditionally prescribed for:
In addition to tablets, the medicine is available in the form of injections, which are used:
Despite the wide range of effects, not every headache can respond to the action of No-shpa. When will No-Spa help with a headache?
In medicine, it is customary to distinguish three main types of primary headaches:
The most common type is tension pain, which spreads over the entire surface of the head and brings significant discomfort to the person. The reason for its occurrence is considered to be:
However, “Noshpa” is powerless in front of her. In this case, it is better to take drugs based on paracetamol or aspirin.
Migraine is considered to be a neurological disease that occurs when the tone in the blood vessels of the brain is disturbed. Cluster or beam pain is uncommon, but is very intense. These two types of ailment arise due to vasospasm, so they can be successfully relieved with the help of “No-shpa”. But do not forget that the drug only helps to get rid of pain, while serious therapy is needed for full treatment.
No-shpy tablets help relieve headaches. They are available in different dosages (40 and 80 mg). The drug is absorbed into the blood quite quickly, so after 15-20 minutes the patient can feel relief. The injection of the drug begins to act 2-3 minutes after administration. The maximum effect is achieved after 30 minutes.
The drug is also prescribed to children. Together with other medicines, No-Spa helps to gently reduce fever and eliminate headaches. The drug is taken at the rate of ? part of the tablet per 10 kg of child’s weight. For adults, the dose is 1-2 tablets.
“No-shpu” for headaches should not be combined with other antispasmodics. This may cause side effects from these drugs. It can be taken simultaneously with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or Paracetamol.
If “No-spa” turns out to be powerless for headaches, then you need to consult a doctor to prescribe another drug. You can buy it at a pharmacy without a prescription.
Before taking any pill, you need to carefully read the indicated contraindications. In this case, they include:
Although “No-shpu” is allowed to be taken by pregnant women for the scalp, before taking the pill, it is necessary to consult with a doctor, who, after weighing all the risks, will determine the advisability of taking it. During this period, “No-spa” is capable of relieving pain in the shortest possible time and is acceptable for use if the uterus is in normal condition. If there is a suspicion of isthmic-cervical insufficiency, taking No-shpa should be stopped, otherwise the drug may cause complications.
No-shpa is usually well tolerated, and negative consequences are extremely rare. Side effects of the drug may manifest themselves as:
Just like other antispasmodics, No-Spa helps mask the main symptoms and can only alleviate the condition temporarily. Therefore, to prevent headaches from bothering you again, you need to take care to eliminate the cause of its occurrence. A regularly occurring headache is a reason for an immediate visit to a doctor, who can determine why the ailment occurred and select the optimal treatment.
Arthritis is a word familiar even to healthy people who are infinitely far from medicine in all its manifestations. Often in everyday life the word “arthritis” refers to any pain in the joints, so for most people the concept of arthritis is associated with pain. Indeed, arthritis pain is often unbearable, preventing normal movement and interfering with life. Therefore, adequate pain therapy for these patients is a vital issue.
The “king of horror” Stephen King has a book called “Necessary Things”, in which the main character suffered from joint pain so much that she agreed to sell her soul to the devil just to get rid of arthritis. In this story, everything ended well, but such a method of getting rid of suffering can hardly be applied in real life and in modern medicine. Today, the most important thing is that pain therapy is effective and safe. The purpose of our article is to understand which method of combating pain in arthritis can be considered optimal. To do this, let’s take a closer look at the problem.
Even a first-year student at a medical school will tell you with confidence that “art” in Latin means joint, and the suffix “itis” means inflammation. Thus, arthritis is inflammation of a joint. It doesn’t matter which one: arthritis can be of the knee joint, the elbow, the mandible, or, in fact, any joint in our body.
Arthritis is a very common disease and occurs in people of different genders, ages and social status. The most common diseases that are accompanied by arthritis:
And this is not the entire list of types of arthritis. There are also parasitic and allergic arthritis. In addition, inflammation and pain in the joints can accompany a variety of diseases that at first glance have nothing to do with the joints, for example, flu or burn disease.
What might a 57-year-old overweight woman and a 19-year-old weightlifter have in common? They will have symptoms of arthritis in common. Despite the fact that the woman has gouty arthritis, and the young man has traumatic arthritis, the complaints will be the same - joint pain. Pain, in principle, is the most common reason for seeking medical help, and pain in the joints with arthritis always comes to the fore, overshadowing other symptoms (impossibility or significant limitation of movement in the joint, stiffness of the joint, swelling and redness of the skin in the area of the affected joint ).
People suffering from arthritis describe their pain in different ways: it is aching, gnawing, sharp, twisting and constraining. But, nevertheless, it is always pain, exhausting both physically and mentally. Even not very strong, but constant pain can drive a person into a frenzy. But what can you say when even the usual actions of buttoning up buttons or combing your hair bring unbearable suffering? How to live knowing that the slightest deterioration in the weather will leave you bedridden?
Treatment of arthritis primarily depends on the cause that caused it and the activity of the inflammatory process. It includes rapid-acting anti-inflammatory drugs and basic (main) treatment. Basic treatment for each type of arthritis is individual and directly depends on the root cause (for example, arthritis of infectious origin is treated with antibiotics, arthritis with systemic diseases - with cytostatics). The use of rapid-acting anti-inflammatory drugs is also called symptomatic therapy, since this type of treatment is aimed at quickly getting rid of the symptoms, that is, the pain that accompanies arthritis.
The group of anti-inflammatory drugs includes:
Diclofenac is a prominent representative of the group of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. It is recognized as the gold standard for the treatment of diseases accompanied by pain. Diclofenac has been on the pharmaceutical market for a long time, and for decades has established itself as the most effective and safe NSAID for the treatment of arthritis. The drug has a number of features compared to others from the group of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs:
Arthritis pain occurs as a result of the body producing higher than normal amounts of certain enzymes associated with inflammation. Painkillers are designed to break the vicious circle of formation of aggressive substances and, thus, relieve a person from pain. The efforts of medical science were aimed at finding the main enzyme most responsible for the occurrence of pain and the invention of a drug capable of blocking this enzyme. As a result, many years of work by scientists were crowned with success, and the long-awaited cure was obtained. But, unfortunately, it turned out that it was too early to sing praises. When the effectiveness and safety of the new expensive drug was compared with the long-known and well-known diclofenac sodium, it turned out that diclofenac was significantly superior to the new invention, both in terms of effectiveness and safety.
The safety of a drug is always of paramount importance, especially when a long course of therapy is necessary, since the goal of each treatment is to get rid of an old disease, and not to acquire a new one. Exacerbation of arthritis is long-term and can last for weeks. In such cases, diclofenac medications are prescribed for up to two weeks, because even such a safe drug can cause side effects when taken long-term in large doses. It is also important to note here that the side effect of drugs from the NSAID group is dose-dependent, that is, the higher the dose of the drug, the greater the likelihood and severity of its side effect.
But not in all cases, an exacerbation of arthritis can go into remission within two weeks. What should a person with arthritis do if the treatment period has expired and the pain continues?
It would seem that the answer to this question is obvious: it is necessary to reduce the dose of diclofenac while maintaining its therapeutic effect. Scientific studies have been conducted in this direction, which have shown that B vitamins (vitamin B1 (thiamine hydrochloride), vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin)) have an analgesic effect, and are also able to enhance this effect of diclofenac. In addition, B vitamins have a positive effect on metabolism, which also has a beneficial effect on the healing process. Research by scientists from the Austrian company Lannacher Heilmitted has shown that the combination of diclofenac with B vitamins (B1, B6, B12) allows you to reduce the effective dose of diclofenac and minimize the risk of side effects. As a result, a combination drug was created containing a minimum dose of diclofenac and a complex of B vitamins (B1, B6, B12). The use of this combination drug allows arthritis patients to receive pain medication for as long as needed without the risk of side effects.
Advantages of using a combination drug from the Austrian pharmaceutical company Lannacher Heilmitted for the treatment of patients with arthritis:
A unique combination of diclofenac and B vitamins is a medicine that meets all modern requirements for effectiveness and safety and is the optimal choice for the treatment of persistent pain arising from arthritis of various origins. Be healthy!
Author: Orthopedist of the highest category, MD. Polulyakh Mikhail Vasilievich
Homeopathy sometimes saves us from diseases that conventional medicine cannot cope with. In this case, plant or mineral products that are safe for the body are used. The huge advantage of homeopathy is its ease of use; to prescribe a remedy, you need to know the characteristics of the symptoms, without the mechanisms of their development.
Homeopathy is a special method of regulatory therapy. Its goal is to influence self-regulation processes with the help of specific homeopathic remedies, which are often plants. Treatment is selected strictly individually, based not only on the symptoms of the disease.
Homeopathy has a number of undeniable advantages:
There are dozens of diseases in the treatment of which homeopathy has a clear advantage - this is a scientifically proven fact.
The principles of homeopathy were laid down at the end of the 18th century by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. In fact, the founder of the method can be considered the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, but due to censorship of the Catholic Church and long centuries, most of the knowledge was lost. Therefore, it is believed that homeopathy was born in 1796 after the publication of an article on plant healing.
The main law of homeopathy is that in each specific case a medicine is selected that can cause a condition similar to the patient’s suffering.
Interestingly, homeopathy can be considered the basis of modern medicine, although the latter has become skeptical about it over time. The influence of plants on human well-being has been studied scientifically seriously. In the period from the 18th to the mid-20th century, plant treatment was an integral part of official medicine.
Only with the beginning of the production of synthetic medicines on an industrial scale did homeopathy begin to lose ground. After all, mixing a couple of liquids from flasks is easier than growing dozens of plants. Nowadays, almost all common medications on pharmacy shelves are artificially created aggressive chemicals.
Please note that homeopathy does not replace going to the doctor, because you first need to find out the cause of the symptoms.
For each type of headache, a different homeopathic remedy is used. Headaches are varied; one or more processes are responsible for their occurrence: neuralgic, vascular or mechanical. For each disease, pain has a special characteristic; important parameters include the type of pain sensation, time and conditions of occurrence, and localization. Also, other symptoms are more important in diagnosis.
While looking for a remedy for headaches, I came across iherb on Nature's Way, MygraFew
The package contains 90 tablets, each of which contains 40 milligrams of pyrethrum extract. Take one tablet once a day with water. The tablets are small, green, with the smell of chrysanthemum grass and the taste of something bitter-herbal
The main active ingredient is the glycoside parthenolide, which suppresses the release of serotonin and regulates vascular tone. The manufacturer promises better results with long-term use.
On iherb there are other preparations with pyrethrum - solutions, capsules and tablets.
Myrafew attracted me because I only need to take it once a day.
So what is pyrethrum? And in what cases can it help?
Native to Europe and the United States, feverfew is a plant in the Asteraceae family with small flowers similar to the daisy flower. For centuries, this plant has been used to treat fever, arthritis, menstrual cramps and migraines.
Arthritis. Research into the pharmaceutical properties of this plant has indeed proven its ability to have anti-inflammatory effects similar to those of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen. As you know, ibuprofen is commonly used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.
Migraine. Feverfew is widely used as a home remedy to prevent migraines. In recent years, clinical trials of this drug have confirmed its effectiveness. An experiment conducted in Britain with 59 patients showed a significant reduction in the incidence of migraines and resulting vomiting in those who took capsules with dried leaves of feverfew. No such changes were observed in the placebo group. The subjects taking feverfew also showed a tendency to reduce the severity of the disease.
Observations by a group of British scientists showed that 70% of 250 patients suffering from migraines who ate pyrethrum leaves daily noted a decrease in the frequency and severity of attacks.
Although the cause of migraines is still unknown, research shows that platelets (a component of the blood) release a special substance called serotonin during migraine attacks. From the results of laboratory studies it follows that feverfew extract prevents the production of serotonin by platelets. This allows us to better understand the mechanism of pain relief in migraines.
Contraindications and side effects. Some people may have mucous membranes sensitive to pyrethrum. It is not recommended to take products with pyrethrum during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Based on the results: I can’t say that my head doesn’t hurt, but the symptoms are very smoothed out, easily relieved with citramone, there is no vomiting, photophobia and all the other “wonderful” things that happen during a migraine attack. But this drug, at least for me, was not a pain reliever; that is, it did not relieve pain as an analgesic. It specifically affects the condition of blood vessels and, since the tablet is herbal, it must be taken daily for a long time, no less than a package.
This drug is not the only one based on pyrethrum, I looked at others, there are cheaper ones, but the frequency of administration was different, this drug is 1 tablet per day, and some 2-3
Arthritis is the most common pathology of joint structures. Depending on the cause of the development of the disease, there are 5 main forms: rheumatoid, reactive, infectious, gouty and psoriatic. The symptoms of arthritis and its manifestations in each specific case will depend on the clinical variant of the disease.
The disease can affect different joints
Reactive arthritis is a non-purulent inflammatory disease that manifests itself after an acute genitourinary or intestinal infection. Young men often suffer from this pathology.
The first signs usually appear in the form of general malaise: weakness, increased fatigue, headache. Sometimes there is an increase in general body temperature, which rarely exceeds 38°C.
A characteristic symptom of this form of the disease is asymmetrical damage to the joints of the legs (for example, ankle, knee or hip), which appears several days after nonspecific signs (that is, signs of the disease that are not associated with joint damage). Sometimes the joints between the pelvic bones are involved in the pathological process. Ligaments and tendons often become inflamed (for example, damage to the Achilles tendon). The pain varies in severity, but is rarely intense.
These symptoms may in parallel be accompanied by an inflammatory process in the organs of the genitourinary system. In this case, there is a constant urge to urinate (a feeling of a sharp desire to urinate) - a burning sensation and pain may also occur at this moment.
Soreness, irritation and redness of the eyes, as well as impaired visual acuity, are associated with the appearance of conjunctivitis (an inflammatory process of the mucous membrane covering the eyelid and eyeball), which can occur both before the onset of joint damage, and at the same time.
Red eyes may be a sign of arthritis, although at first glance the damage to the eyes and joints appears to be unrelated
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic chronic disease, the symptoms of which lead to a significant decrease in the quality of life, primarily due to pain and changes in the shape of the joints. This pathology often becomes a cause of disability.
Classic rheumatoid arthritis (it may be mistakenly called rheumatic) has quite characteristic symptoms:
The first signs: the metacarpophalangeal joints on the middle and index fingers become swollen and inflamed. This is often combined with a similar lesion of the wrist joint.
In almost every case, the joints are affected symmetrically (that is, the same ones, for example, on the right and left leg).
Arthritis pain intensifies at night, closer to morning. It is quite intense until midday, and then it almost stops. If the pathology is at an initial stage, then the pain goes away after exercise. But the feeling of relief is never long-lasting - after a few hours or in the morning, the pain attack resumes.
Body stiffness in the morning, feeling of exhaustion. The patient may complain of “a feeling of stiffness,” “tight gloves on the hands,” or “a tight corset on the body,” these are the words people use to describe their condition. These sensations disappear 1–2 hours after waking up, but in the case of a severe form of the disease they can bother a person throughout the day.
Often, along with the inflamed joints of the hands, the small joints of the feet, which are located at the base of the fingers, are also affected. The process is also symmetrical. On examination, the patient notes pain when pressing on the balls of his feet.
As the disease progresses, inflammation spreads to larger joints (for example, knee, shoulder, elbow or ankle). But it happens that at the initial stage the heel tendons and larger joints become inflamed, and after that the process spreads to the feet and hands - this form of the disease often manifests itself in older people.
Rheumatoid nodules appear - small, dense formations under the skin in the areas where the elbows, hands and feet flex. These nodules can constantly change in size, disappear, then reappear, and sometimes remain unchanged for years. They do not cause any sensation, they simply create a cosmetic defect.
With the advanced stage of the disease, the symptoms intensify, severe deformation of the hands and fingers occurs. A violation may occur when the hands and fingers begin to deviate outward, and the hand becomes fixed in the wrong position - because of this, mobility in the wrist joints decreases. As a result, blood circulation and innervation* of the hands are disrupted: they turn pale and muscle atrophy appears.
The disease is accompanied by periodically occurring signs of intoxication of the body, which include the following symptoms: weakness, chills, weakness, weight loss, loss of appetite, increase in temperature to 38.5°C.
Over time, the disease affects all articular surfaces. The larger ones may become inflamed without significant discomfort, but their mobility is noticeably impaired.
A Baker's cyst may appear, a symptom that occurs when excess fluid accumulates in the knee capsule, stretching it. If there is a lot of this fluid (exudate), this can lead to rupture of the cystic formation. As a result, the fluid permeates the tissues on the back of the lower leg, causing swelling and pain in this area.
There may also be other signs that accompany rheumatoid arthritis:
Rheumatoid joint damage differs from rheumatism in that the inflammatory process is more persistent, because pain and swelling of the tissues can bother you for many years. The disease differs from arthrosis in that the painful sensations do not intensify with exertion, but, on the contrary, subside after active exercise.
The infectious variant of the disease, which is also called septic or pyogenic, is a serious infectious disease. It is based on the penetration of microorganisms into the joint structures, followed by active inflammation of the latter. This condition requires urgent medical attention.
The most common signs of arthritis of infectious origin:
Damage to the hip joint in reactive arthritis
Gout is a disease associated with metabolic disorders and the accumulation of excess uric acid salts in the body. As a rule, the disease affects joint tissues.
This form of the disease is characterized by the following symptoms:
A typical manifestation of gout is damage to the joint of the big toe.
The psoriatic variant of the disease develops against the background of specific damage to the skin and nails. It can affect absolutely any joint in the human body, but most often its manifestations are found in the fingers.
Inflammation in the joint tissues develops gradually, with swelling and redness of the affected areas (if the fingers are affected, they take on the appearance of “sausages”), as well as a local increase in temperature. At the initial stages, pain and limitation of mobility are not typical. As the process progresses in the morning, stiffness of movements appears, which disappears within the first hour. Inflammation can spread to periarticular structures, causing damage to tendons and ligaments.
Articular manifestations of the disease are accompanied by the appearance of red flaky spots, itching and discomfort on the skin and scalp.
In addition to the common forms of arthritis discussed in this article, there are also more rare variants: for example, idiopathic, endocrine. For more information about them, see the “Arthritis” section.
As you can see, arthritis is a serious disease with a variety of manifestations. It is important to diagnose the disease on time, and treatment should be carried out under the guidance of qualified specialists. Self-medication can lead to serious complications or even disability.