Signs of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Signs of Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid Arthritis is a chronic inflammation of joints, caused due to the disorder in an immune system. The disease progresses slowly in different joints of the body. It develops as the immune system begins to attack its healthy cells mistaking them as foreign cells.

Signs of Rheumatoid Arthritis:

A person suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis could bear the following signs:

1. Joints Stiffness: Stiffness comes as the earliest signs of this disease. It starts from the joints in hands and fingers and progresses further. Stiffness limits the range of movement of the affected joint.

2. Joints Pain: Inflammation and tenderness of the joint tissue lead to joints pain. Pain restrains the body joints from easy movement, making it even stiffer. Joints pain continues even while resting.

3. Morning Stiffness: This is a typical symptom of Rheumatoid Arthritis. The body feels stiff for a few minutes or hours after waking up in the morning. It happens due to inflammation developing in joints.

4. Swelling in joints: In Rheumatoid Arthritis, joints begin to swell and seem to be bigger than normal. Swollen joints feel warm to touch. One may see such swelling starting from hands to any other joint.

5. Numbness: Hands and the wrist may get a feeling of numbness. This could be caused due to the swelling which compresses the nerves in hands. The joints even give cracking or squeaking sound while movement, due to the damaged cartilage.

6. Body Fatigue: This is one of the early signs of Rheumatoid Arthritis. The patient could feel unduly fatigued and ill.

7. Hard lumps under the skin: Patient could develop hard lumps under the skin of affected joints. It could develop anywhere in hands, fingers, elbow or even eyes. These lumps are numb and don’t have any sensation.

8. Dry eyes & mouth and insomnia, loss of appetite and difficulty in healing of injuries are other symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis. When the body gives such signs, the patients go to the related doctor to get immediate relief.

The patient gets relief from a particular sign, but some other sign shows up after some time. So, the patient keeps on suffering from some of the other problems after short intervals.

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