What are the clinical manifestations of rheumatic diseases? How to detect rheumatic disease early? Morning stiffness refers to feeling tightness and stiffness in certain joints when waking up in the morning, or discomfort and limitation of movement without pain, and is the most important early sign of rheumatoid arthritis. The most important early sign of rheumatoid arthritis is morning stiffness. In more than 90% of people, the lesions are in the hand or wrist joints, especially the proximal interphalangeal and metacarpophalangeal joints, and often start in the second, third and fourth metacarpophalangeal joints. For example, when waking up, brushing teeth, wringing towels, etc., always feel less smooth, must first move 15-30 minutes, or even longer to successfully complete the above actions. It must be clear that some normal adults or elderly people can have mild morning stiffness, but it lasts for a very short time, only a few minutes, and is mostly limited to the lower back, while morning stiffness, which is an early sign of rheumatoid arthritis, usually lasts at least 15 minutes or more and is more severe. Other people often feel joint stiffness after one or two hours of sitting or lying in bed, which often occurs in the afternoon, so it is called “afternoon stiffness”. The significance of this is the same as morning stiffness, which has the value of an early sign of rheumatoid arthritis. Although there is no reliable cure for rheumatoid arthritis, early detection and reasonable treatment can lead to long-term remission. Morning stiffness, for our early diagnosis, sends a signal. Patients who have morning stiffness are advised to go to the hospital for relevant examination as soon as possible.