The Symptoms of Arthritis

Many people live with joint pain, but just having joint pain does not mean you are suffering from arthritis. That’s why it is important to know the signs and symptoms of this debilitating disease. Once you are able to diagnosis it for sure, that’s when you can start considering methods of treatment.

Joint pain is the most common known symptom of arthritis. The pain can be mild to severe, and is typically persistent. While it may be worse when you stand, walk, run or perform other activities, this doesn’t mean it goes away when you are resting. In addition to being painful, arthritic joints tend to become inflamed, red and swollen. The pain and swelling may seem to be an inconvenience to begin with, but if arthritis is not treated they can become severe and eventually limit your physical activity.

Some arthritis actually causes bone, or calcium, build up. This causes pain and deformity to the joints and is particularly common in the fingers and hands. You may notice hard lumps start to grow on the sides of fingers or other affected joints.

Another common symptom of arthritis is a decrease in range of motion. You may not be able to bend a joint as far as you used to because of pain or swelling. While minor loss of range of motion is just a minor annoyance, if these symptoms get worse it can begin to affect your daily life and activities.

There are also other less common symptoms that plague some arthritis sufferers that have little to nothing to do with the joints at all. These include fever, fatigue, mood problems and weight loss and are only relevant to certain specific types of arthritis.

In total, there are over 100 different types of arthritis. Though two people may be diagnosed with the same type of arthritis, they almost never have the same exact symptoms. That is why for proper arthritis diagnosis, you should always see your doctor.