Do you find yourself getting a lot of pain in your joints and wondering if rheumatoid arthritis could be the cause of it? This is a very common form of the disease and has specific symptoms. Once you know these signs you can then understand how to treat this type of arthritis.
Firstly it is good to understand that this ailment is a very specific form of this disease. There is some debate over the actual causes of the problem but experts agree that it primarily stems from malfunctions in the auto immune system. This is why it affects your entire system and can become so debilitating.
5 signs of rheumatoid arthritis:
Thia form of arthritis affects the smaller joints in its early stages. Examples of these are the wrists, ankles, fingers and toes. The joints will swell, be painful to the touch and show redness.
You may also have swelling under the arms which are known as rheumatoid nodules.
You will experience swelling, and pain in the joints, when it is at its acute stage. You can also have some twisting of the fingers and deformities of the joints if you have had the disease for a certain length of time. This is a very common symptom of rheumatoid arthritis.
Rheumatoid arthritis can affect your whole system so you can often experience a fever when it flares up. This is in contrast to osteoarthritis which will just affect your joints and not cause any feelings of malaise.
You can often suffer from lack of sleep. This is not just due to the pain but is part of the overall symptoms of Rheumatoid arthritis. This may cause weakness and loss of energy. You may feel listless and disinclined to move around.
Rheumatoid arthritis comes and goes. Sometimes you will experience an acute flare up of the disease and then it can go into remission.
As with many arthritic conditions you will have some stiffness first thing in the morning. However this stiffness can last for several hours and does not wear off as quickly as other forms of arthritis like Osteoarthritis.
If you experience most or all of these symptoms you can safely draw the conclusion that you do indeed have Rheumatoid arthritis. This is when you should start to seek relief through natural treatment for arthritis. You may not cure your condition but you can certainly take steps to ease your pain and suffering.
Cathy Q is a professional writer and the author of several articles on health and wellness
For more information on arthritis treatments please visit http://www.treatment-of-arthritis.com
