Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms- this is was you need to know

There are many rheumatoid arthritis symptoms but many are over looked because they aren’t that severe at first. Before we explain what rheumatoid arthritis symptoms are let’s first ask the question what is arthritis? The basic definition of arthritis is an inflammation of the joints. The inflammation occurs because the joints are in pain, therefore the joints swell up trying to heal and protect the damaged joints.

What are joints?

The joints in the body are where two bones meet that will bring about bending for movement purposes. For example your elbow, your knee and shoulder are all joint bones. The first attack of rheumatoid arthritis is usually in the hands (1% of Americans suffer from arthritis in hands), fingers or wrist. Why? Because arthritis typically starts off with the smallest joints in the body first and then it moves on to some of the larger joints. Such as your knees, shoulders, neck and elbows.

The two major signs that a person may be suffering from rheumatoid arthritis are swelling of the joints and pain in the joints. The level of pain can vary depending on how severe the arthritis is but this is the tricky part of arthritis. In its early stages the pain and the swelling can come and go at will. Sometimes the pain and swelling will last for two weeks and then disappear for months. This is why I mentioned earlier that many people will miss diagnose themselves because the pain and swelling have went away. If you have ever experienced arthritis in hands, wrist or any other small joint you should set an appointment with your doctor to be diagnosed. You should do this just to make sure that you are not suffering from RA.

Unfortunately at this time there is no cure for RA but there are treatments. So if a person is diagnosed with RA there is still hope. Rheumatoid arthritis treatment usually consists of medicinal agents (medicine). There are 3 types of drugs that are use to help the fight against RA: Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Corticosteroids, and Disease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs. These drugs work best when the disease is diagnosed in its early stages. This is why I mentioned earlier that if you have experienced the symptoms to set up an appointment with your doctor because there are rheumatoid arthritis treatments that can help you.