What Is Arthritis?

What is Arthritis?

Arthritis begins to show up in a variety of ways. Joints might crack suddenly, like knees upon standing. Your joints may feel stiff and even creak. Perhaps you feel arthritis pain when trying to open a jar. What is going on and what can we do about it? Let’s look at the basics and learn more.

Arthritis actually means "joint inflammation" and has over 100 related conditions or types of disease. Left untreated, it can advance, resulting in joint damage that cannot be undone or reversed. So early detection is important and the sooner you take action the better your results will be.

Osteoarthritis (OA) and Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are the two most common types of arthritis. Although both have similar symptoms, the causes for each are quite different and both happen for different reasons. When joints are overused and misused, the results can be OA. What happens is that the cushioning cartilage that protects the joint breaks down, resulting in the bones rubbing together. This happens most often in the knees, but it is also common in the hands, hips and spine. By the time arthritis pain is felt from arthritis there is already substantial damage and lost cartilage.

Rheumatoid arthritis normally occurs in people below 40 years old. Over 2 million Americans have this health problem, of which 75% are female. Juvenile arthritis is a form of rheumatoid arthritis that strikes children under 16 years of age, affecting over 71,000 young people who are mainly female. The start of rheumatoid arthritis maybe triggered by physical or emotional stress, poor diet and nutrition, or even bacterial infection. While osteoarthritis generally affects individual joints, rheumatoid arthritis can affect all of the body's joints. Joints affected by rheumatoid arthritis tend to make a sound like crinkling cellophane, and osteoarthritic joints make banging, clicking, or popping noises. Arthritis can also be caused by bacterial, viral, or fungal infection of a joint.

OA and RA generally affecting the same joints on both the left and right sides of the body. It is rare to have only the right hand impacted by arthritis or one knee, generally both sides of the body will be effected. Symptoms OA and RA share include arthritis pain, stiffness, fatigue, weakness, slight fever and inflamed tissue lumping under the skin.

A difference in OA and RA to note is with swelling. With OA, the swelling feels "hard and bony", while the swelling from rheumatoid arthritis feels "soft and squishy" swelling.

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