Three Most Common Types of Arthritis

Osteoarthritis

The most common type of arthritis. This degenerative joint disease affects over 16 million Americans. This form of arthritis is caused when the cartilage surrounding the ends of the bones begins to degenerate and the joints are no longer cushioned. This caused the joints to rub together and in severe cases, you can hear the bones grating against one another. At the onset of osteoarthritis, the symptoms are usually mild and consist of pain and stiffness of the joints. As the disease progresses, inflammation and loss of motion can occur. In some severe cases, deformity can occur if the grinding joints wear one side of the joint more than the other.

Rheumatoid arthritis

This is the second most common type of arthritis and the most severe. Symptoms usually begin appearing between the ages of 25 and 50 – however, children and senior citizens can experience the onset of this disease. Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common type of inflammatory arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is considered an autoimmune disease because factors other than wear and tear of cartilage can cause the disease and the disease can affect other organs, such as the eyes, lungs, and heart.

Rheumatoid arthritis usually affects the joints on both sides of the body – for instance, both hands will be affected, both wrists will be affected, and both legs will be affected. The most common symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis are pain, stiffness, swelling, redness of the skin, fatigue, weight loss, and low-grade fever. Not only affecting the joints, rheumatoid arthritis can give you an overall feeling of sickness. Rheumatoid arthritis can be a debilitating disease, however patients can experience periods of remission in which the symptoms disappear and they can lead a normal life.

Fibromyalgia

This is a type of arthritis that does not directly affect the joints. Rather, the inflammation and pain affect the muscles, ligaments, tendons, and soft tissues under the skin. Many patients have tender spots under the skin that are painful when any type of pressure is applied. The symptoms for Fibromyalgia include deep muscle pain, fatigue, sleeplessness, and depression. Symptoms may come and go, but the disease is long term and chronic.

Other Types of Arthritis

Anklyosing Spondylitis

A chronic, inflammatory disease that affects the spine. The common symptoms include lower back pain and stiffness that lasts for more than a period of three months, difficulty sleeping, fatigue, weight loss, and low-grade fever.

Gout

This disease usually affects the joints of the big toe, but can extend to the ankles, heels, knees, wrists, fingers, and elbow. The common symptoms are tenderness, pain, redness, warmth, and swelling of the affected joint.

Infectious Arthritis

This type of arthritis is caused by an infection, and can be caused by both bacterial and viral infections. The onset of infectious arthritis is sudden and the symptoms include swelling of the joint, soreness, warmth, leakage of tissue fluid, fever, and chills.

Cervical arthritis

This type of arthritis affects the upper back and can cause pain in the neck and arms. Cervical arthritis is caused when the cartilage protecting the discs that support the neck deteriorate. The most common symptom of cervical arthritis is chronic neck pain, but can include loss of balance, headaches, muscle weakness, and stiffness.

Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis

This inflammatory arthritis affects children. The most common symptoms of Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis are swelling, pain, and stiffness in joints. The symptoms are usually worse in children upon waking in the morning and after a nap. There is no known reason for the onset of arthritis in children and, unlike rheumatoid arthritis in adults, children sometimes outgrow the disease and the symptoms disappear.

These are just some of the many types of arthritis. In general terms, arthritis is any disease that involves inflammation – swelling and pain of the joints or muscles. If you suspect that you suffer from arthritis, you should consult your physician to determine the type of arthritis and learn what treatments are available.

As we age, our bodies are worn down, and damage is caused to these joints, thereby weakening them and causing the person to suffer due to pain and stiffness, less movement, instability and physical deformation. To help combat these issues, natural arthritis pain relief can be given to the patients.

Understanding Arthritis

As people age, they naturally grow weak and a significant damage occurs to their bones and joints, which results in pain and stiffness. The term arthritis is used to signify the pain and ache in muscles, bones and joints.

The effect of arthritis pain on the lives of those suffering from it is huge, making it extremely difficult for them to move, and therefore without any natural arthritis pain relief they are unable to perform the most mundane of tasks done every day.

People suffering for arthritis and other bone problems such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis or any other arthritis symptoms will find it a hurdle to perform simple tasks such as walking, driving, brushing their teeth or even using a computer.

When we think of arthritis patient, most of the time an old person will cross our mind, but that’s not always the case. Even though this disease is mostly common in people over 60 years of age, it is found in groups of all ages, including children and infants. That’s why most people prefer a natural arthritis pain relief as opposed to pharmaceutical medication with heavy chemical doses.

At times, arthritis gets confused with a similar disease called rheumatism, however there are a few differences which most people don’t realize. Rheumatism affects the muscles, tendons, cartilages and ligaments besides affecting joints. Along with this, internal body areas are also affected by this disease, therefore taking a natural arthritis pain relief is of the utmost importance.

Types of Arthritis

Arthritis has many different forms, where pain occurs not only to a person’s joints but other areas as well, including skin, chest, eyes, lungs, kidneys or anywhere else on the body.

There are over 100 different kind of medical conditions related to arthritis, for all of which, a natural arthritis pain relief is available. Out of these types, the two most common ones are rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. I’ll provide brief explanations on them:

Rheumatoid Arthritis

This type of arthritis causes inflammation of the joints. It’s a type of auto immune condition which means that it affects our body’s defense system from functioning properly. Rheumatoid Arthritis is the result of the body’s immune system attacking the joint lining, causes it to break down and become inflamed.

Not only does this affect joints and bones, but body organs are also not spared. The most common limbs attacked by Rheumatoid Arthritis are hands and feet. Women tend to get this serious condition more than men.

Osteoarthritis

This form of arthritis occurs when joint cartilage is lost due to wear and tear. Osteoarthritis is mostly a result of old age and directly affects the joints of hips, knees and fingers.

Other types include gout, lupus, juvenile arthritis (arthritis in children), viral hepatitis (liver), ankylosing spondylitis (spine), scleroderma (skin) and fibromyalgia (muscles).

Arthritis Symptoms

A patient is diagnosed with arthritis when they complain of any type of arthritis pain such as joint pain, joint stiffness, inflammation or swelling. Inflamed joints will have a red hue and appear to be tender, while feeling warm on touching. Besides this, patients will also experience insomnia, fatigue, depression and muscle pains.

The symptoms of this disease may appear gradually over time or suddenly at once. Doctors perform various tests, including x-rays and blood tests to acknowledge the extent and type of arthritis. Once the severity of the condition is known, a natural arthritis pain relief is recommended to help combat the disease.

Arthritis Causes

The most common factors leading to arthritis pain are age, genetics, being overweight, deficiencies in nutrition, joint trauma or stress, immune or metabolic disorders and occupational hazards such as jobs involving heavy construction.

Arthritis Treatment

There are many conventional drugs that can bring down arthritis pain, but most of them have serious side effects. And since arthritis is such a condition that its medication is taken over a long period of time, most patients prefer drugs that are more natural since they don’t have any negative effects on the patients.

More and more doctors are now also referring their patients to natural arthritis pain relief, as this provides better results while being a gentle, mild and effective solution.

Natural arthritis pain relief includes herbal and homeopathic remedies and contains Glucosamine as an ingredient. Glucosamine is a world renowned agent for repairing joint cartilages affected by arthritis pain while preserving joint mobility. Another important ingredient found in natural arthritis pain relief is Boswellia, which is a natural component used for reducing inflammation.

Alfalfa is another natural herb which reduces arthritis pain without any unwanted side effects. Patients can try another trick for a natural arthritis pain relief: rubbing a mixture of cayenne and oil over the affected area.