More than 50 million adults in America suffer from arthritis. The pain, swelling, stiffness, and limited range of motion that define the disease can range from mild to severe. These symptoms are often debilitating for those who deal with them, either constantly or during flare-ups.
There are over 100 different types of arthritis and conditions related to it. While it’s impossible to know them all offhand, being familiar with the most common types can help you spot the signs if you show them, seek correct treatment, and better understand others who suffer. Let’s take a look at what they are.
1) Osteoarthritis (OA)
Osteoarthritis, also called “wear and tear” arthritis or degenerative joint disease, is the most common type of arthritis. With this disease, the cartilage between and around your joints break down over time. Eventually, it wears away entirely and your bones rub together, causing pain in the surrounding joints. OA causes symptoms like joint soreness and pain, swelling, stiffness, and restricted motion. It occurs most often in your hands, hips, knees, feet, spine, and other weight-bearing joints. This type of arthritis is usually caused by age, a joint injury, or obesity (which causes stress on your joints).
2) Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)
RA is an inflammatory autoimmune disease that happens when your body starts to attack healthy joint tissue. As your immune system attacks the “intruders”, fluid builds up in your joints, causing swelling, inflammation, and pain. Other symptoms of RA include lumps under the skin near your joints (rheumatoid nodules), morning stiffness, and trouble sleeping. You are more likely to develop RA as you age, but women are also three times as likely to have it than men, and genetics can be a factor as well.
3) Lupus
Like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus is another autoimmune disease. It affects your joints, which is why it is considered a type of arthritis or arthritis-related, but also other parts of the body as well. Lupus causes inflammation throughout your body that affects joints, connective tissue, and organs. The organs most often affected are the skin, kidneys, lungs, heart, and even brain. In addition to pain and swelling in joints, lupus can also cause fatigue, skin rashes, swelling in your feet, legs, and hands, hair loss, chest pain, and other symptoms. The disease usually cycles between flare-ups and remission.
4) Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA)
Another type that falls into the autoimmune category, psoriatic arthritis causes inflammation of the joints and skin. Typically, individuals with PsA have previously been diagnosed with psoriasis, the skin disease. Psoriatic arthritis causes the signature swelling, stiffness, and pain in and around joints, as well as patches of scaly, cracked skin (especially around joints), and pitted and discolored fingernails. It usually starts in the toes, fingers, lower back, feet, and/or ankles.
5) Gout
Gout is a form of arthritis caused by a buildup of uric acid crystals in a joint. It’s usually the result of a condition where your body has too much uric acid called hyperuricemia. Gout most often occurs in the joint of the big toe, but sometimes occurs in other toes, ankles, knees, elbows, wrists, or fingers. Symptoms usually come on suddenly and include sudden sharp pain in the affected joint, discomfort after the initial pain subsides, inflammation, stiffness, and redness. Men are more likely to get gout than women, as are overweight and obese individuals.
Any type of arthritis can make the simplest daily tasks a significant challenge, or even impossible.
At BEK Medical, we have home medical products that can help ease your arthritis symptoms and make day-to-day life easier and less painful. Be it mobility aids, orthopedic support products, or equipment to make your home safer and easier to maneuver, BEK will set you up with everything you need.
Check out our shop online or stop by one of our locations today for assistance!
