Morning stiffness is a common sign in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and is also one of the important diagnostic bases of rheumatoid arthritis. Its clinical manifestation is that when patients wake up in the morning or after sleeping, they have joint stiffness and restricted movement, which can be accompanied by coldness and numbness of the extremities, and in severe cases, there can be a feeling of general stiffness, and the symptoms will be relieved or even eliminated after activities. According to the degree of morning stiffness, the joints can be divided into three degrees: 1, mild: morning stiffness mostly occurs in the finger joints, wrist joints, etc., and can be relieved or even eliminated after a few minutes or half an hour of activity after getting up or waking up. 2, moderate: morning stiffness mostly occurs in more than 4 small joints or 1-2 large joints at the same time, and the symptoms can be relieved only after getting up and moving around until late in the afternoon. 3, severe: morning stiffness involves all major joints in the body at the same time. The stiffness of the whole body is not significantly relieved despite the activities, and medication must be taken to relieve or reduce it. The time of morning stiffness should be calculated from the time when the patient wakes up in the morning and the time when the stiffness is significantly reduced. The appearance of morning stiffness indicates that the rheumatoid arthritis lesion is active, and its cause is related to muscle tissue tension, congestion, and edema. After getting up and moving, the muscles strengthen contraction, edema fluid is absorbed by lymphatic vessels and small veins, and morning stiffness is relieved. Because the degree and duration of morning stiffness is consistent with the severity of the disease, morning stiffness is often used as one of the indicators to observe the disease. In addition to rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and other diseases can also have morning stiffness, but the duration is shorter and less severe than rheumatoid arthritis. However, if you find yourself with morning stiffness symptoms, you do not need to panic, you can go to the rheumatology department and seek the help of your doctor.