What are the symptoms of arthritis_What are the general symptoms of arthritis?
In fact, the life span of a joint is limited. Once the joints have “run out of gas”, it will lead to various joint diseases! Joint pain is a common symptom, and there are many diseases that cause it, such as arthritis, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and what is commonly referred to as “rheumatism”. What are their characteristics?
How to tell if you have arthritis
In the summer, when it’s hot outside, people blow on the air conditioner indoors, and because they wear less, many people often experience joint discomfort.
The joints are a functional organ, and when you blow on the air conditioner for a long time and feel uncomfortable in your joints, you feel uncomfortable mainly because the cold air keeps blowing on a certain part, the blood vessels contract and the blood supply to the local tissues becomes poor, but you will not suffer from arthritis as a result.
After the joints get cold, activities such as sauna and hot spring can largely relieve the discomfort of joints.
The life expectancy of joints is mainly determined by genes, and the general healthy life expectancy is 60 years.
If someone lives 80 years, but the joints “die” first after 60 years, then the next 20 years will be very painful.
However, as long as the proper maintenance, the original can only “live” 60 years of joints, healthy life can be extended by at least 10 years, or even longer; but if you do not pay attention to maintenance, perhaps with a 40-year break, even walking on flat ground will be painful.
You can compare the joints to a car, “BMW and Xiali life is certainly not the same. But if you drive a BMW carelessly, and you take care of your Xiali, the BMW will not last for several years, but the Xiali may run for several years.
Therefore, the joints should be used sparingly.
So how should we determine if we have arthritis? You can identify it by five criteria, namely redness, swelling, heat, pain and dysfunction.
Redness: Acute infection with arthritis will result in redness and swelling of the joints.
Swelling: A common symptom of arthritis that does not necessarily correlate with the degree of joint pain.
Heat: Because the joints have particularly low blood flow, it is normal that they should be cool to the touch and cooler than the rest of the body temperature. If the joint is hot, or even burning, then it is evidence that the joint is producing inflammation and needs to be treated.
Pain: The most important manifestation of arthritis. The site of pain in arthritis should be clear, with pain in one joint and no pain in other parts.
Dysfunction: An arthritis attack will cause pain and inflammation, causing edema in the tissues around the joint, resulting in limited joint movement. Patients with chronic arthritis may experience permanent joint function loss due to long-term joint movement restriction.
There are 3 main types of common arthritis, all of which have very different symptoms and relief methods. You can tell exactly which type of arthritis you have by using the following methods
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease that occurs in people over the age of 50, more in women than men, and more often with osteophytes as they get older. It can develop in all joints of the body, but is more common in the knee and finger joints.
The main symptom is joint pain, often rest pain, which appears after rest and is relieved by a few moments of activity, but the pain increases after too much activity. Another symptom is joint stiffness, which often occurs in the morning when waking up or during the day after the joint has been in a certain position for a long time. Examination of the affected joints reveals swelling, pressure and pain, and a feeling of friction or a “clicking” sound when moving.
Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that is most common in middle-aged women.
It is classified according to the overall symptoms of the disease
Systemic symptoms
Patients may experience fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, weight loss, night sweats, and general discomfort.
Joint pain
At the beginning of the disease, patients often feel pain in the joints and feel stiffness in the morning, which lasts for more than half an hour before they can move freely. The affected joints are usually symmetrical, most commonly the proximal interphalangeal joints, followed by the hands, wrists, knees, elbows, etc.
Swelling of the joint
This is caused by swelling of the synovial membrane and fluid accumulation in the joint cavity, which limits both active and passive joint movement.
Joint deformity
Patients may experience dislocation or subluxation of the affected joints, which may have the appearance of joint deformity.
Other
Rheumatoid nodules” occur in about 10% to 15% of patients.
Accompanying symptoms
Anemia is the most common extra-articular manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis and is a chronic disease anemia, often mild or moderate.
It can be complicated by osteoporosis, lung disease, cardiovascular disease, depression, superficial lymph node enlargement, liver and kidney damage, etc.
Rheumatism
”Rheumatism” is a disease often mentioned in life. In fact, “rheumatism” and rheumatoid arthritis are not the same thing, but a traditional Chinese medical term for joint disease. Rheumatism is also called “paralysis” in Chinese medicine, and its causes include wind, cold, dampness, heat, dryness and so on. In Western medicine, there is also “rheumatoid arthritis”, but it is completely different from rheumatoid arthritis.
Clinical manifestations
1, most rheumatic diseases have joint lesions and symptoms, up to 70-80%, about 50% only have pain, heavy red, swelling, heat, pain and impaired function and other comprehensive inflammatory manifestations; mostly multi-joint involvement. The size of the invaded joints varies depending on the type of disease.
2, heterogeneity, that is, the same disease, there are different subtypes, due to the genetic background, different causes of pathogenesis, the mechanism also varies, and therefore the type of clinical manifestations, symptoms, severity and treatment response is not the same.
3, rheumatic diseases are mostly diseases that invade multiple systems, and many diseases have overlapping pathologies and similar symptoms, such as MCTD as a typical example of such performance.
4.A variety of antibodies and immune complexes (CIC) appear in the serum and can be deposited in tissues (skin, synovium) or organs (kidney, liver) to cause disease.
To protect the joints need to pay attention to the following points.
Weight loss
For those who are fat, the knee joint is the “jack” ah, think about it, an Alto motor, to pull the Hummer, certainly can not pull, the car will not break, but the motor will break down. For example, jumping rope, the impact is greater, plus the weight burden, the knee joint is more difficult to withstand.
Therefore, weight loss on the maintenance of joints is very important.
Swimming
For ordinary people, the most beneficial exercise for the joints is swimming. In the water, the body is parallel to the ground, the joints are basically weightless, and the gravitational force on the heart is minimal, which is also very good for the heart.
People with chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension swim more, which is good for the whole body. The elderly who can’t swim walk in the water, with the buoyancy of the water, both the activity, the wear and tear on the knee joint is also reduced.
The right amount of calcium
Milk and soy products are rich in calcium and have a high utilization rate, so attention should be paid to supplementation.
Shrimp skin, sesame paste, kelp, walnuts, melon seeds, potatoes, etc., can increase calcium intake and also help protect the knee joint.
More outdoor activities, increased sunlight exposure and vitamin D supplementation to promote calcium absorption.
Adopt good habits
Girls should not wear high heels for a long time. It is better to wear loose shoes with flexible soles, such as casual shoes with sloping heels, which can reduce the impact of gravity on the joints and reduce the wear and tear of the joints. You can change to a pair of flat shoes when you feel your feet are tired on your way to and from work or in the office.
Older people should not lift heavy objects, climb high or carry heavy objects to avoid joint damage.