What Are The Symptoms Of Sciatica
Most commonly, sciatica is a pain that can be felt in the lower back and any part of the body below this. It tends to be a radiating pain and is often only felt on one side of the body for example, it may start in the lower back and radiate out to the left leg.Sciatica is caused by irritation or compression of the sciatic nerve which runs from the back, through the hips, and into the legs on each side. Compression affects the ability of the nerve to transmit signals correctly, resulting in the misfiring of the pain signal. When the nerve is working correctly, the pain signal is only sent when there is a problem in the body when suffering from sciatica, any location along the nerve can cause the sensation of pain even if there is nothing physically wrong with that location on the body.
Differentiating Joint Pain From Arthritis
Its important to understand that joint pain and arthritis are often intertwined.
Technically, arthritis describes any condition that causes inflammation and pain in your joints. In fact, the hallmark inflammation of arthritis is often what causes the pain.
With joint pain, you may experience an achy or painful joint without the inflammation. That often precedes arthritis and is a sign of a brewing problem that ends with inflammation.
Arthrosis Vs Arthritis: Whats The Difference
What are arthrosis and arthritis?
Arthritis and arthrosis sound similar. Both of them affect your bones, ligaments, and joints. They also share many of the same symptoms, including joint stiffness and pain. But the difference between the two is important.
Arthritis is an umbrella term. Its used to describe several conditions that cause inflammation in your joints. In some cases, the inflammation can also affect your skin, muscles, and organs. Examples include osteoarthritis , rheumatoid arthritis , and gout.
Arthrosis is another name for OA, one type of arthritis. Its the most common type of arthritis, according to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases . Its caused by normal wear and tear on your joints and cartilage. Cartilage is the slippery tissue that covers the ends of your bones and helps your joints move. Over time, your cartilage can deteriorate and may even disappear completely. This results in bone-to-bone contact in your joints, causing pain, stiffness, and sometimes swelling.
Arthrosis can affect any joint in your body. Its most likely to affect the joints of your hands, neck, knees, and hips. Your risk of developing it increases with age.
The symptoms of arthritis vary from one type to another. Joint pain and stiffness are the two most common. Other common symptoms of arthritis include:
- swelling in your joints
- redness of the skin around affected joints
- reduced range of motion in affected joints
- joint pain
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What Are The Risk Factors For Arthritis
Some factors make you more likely to develop arthritis, including:
- Age: The risk of arthritis increases as you get older.
- Lifestyle: Smoking or a lack of exercise can increase your risk of arthritis.
- Sex: Most types of arthritis are more common in women.
- Weight: Obesity puts extra strain on your joints, which can lead to arthritis.
What Are The Different Types Of Arthritis
Arthritis is a broad term that describes more than 100 different joint conditions. The most common types of arthritis include:
- Osteoarthritis, or wear and tear arthritis, which develops when joint cartilage breaks down from repeated stress. Its the most common form of arthritis.
- Ankylosing spondylitis, or arthritis of the spine .
- Juvenile arthritis , a disorder where the immune system attacks the tissue around joints. JA typically affects children 16 or younger.
- Gout, a disease that causes hard crystals of uric acid to form in your joints.
- Psoriatic arthritis, joint inflammation that develops in people with psoriasis .
- Rheumatoid arthritis, a disease that causes the immune system to attack synovial membranes in your joints.
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How Arthritis And Bursitis Are Diagnosed
Bursitis is usually diagnosed with a physical examination. If you have another bursitis flare-up or signs of an infection, your provider may order:
- X-rays to rule out other conditions, such as a fracture
- Ultrasound or MRI to examine the joint
- A blood test to look for evidence of an infection
- A sample of fluid from the bursa, to identify cells or infectious organisms
For a diagnosis of arthritis, your healthcare provider will take a medical history and do a physical exam to find the effect of the pain on your ability to function and the cause of your pain. You may have x-rays or other imaging procedures, such as a CT scan or MRI to examine the extent of joint damage.
What Characterizes Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis is far more commonand generally less debilitatingthan rheumatoid arthritis. Whereas RA typically affects the cervical spine, OA may affect all regions of the spinecervical, thoracic , and lumbar .
Unlike RA, osteoarthritis is not really a disease. It is caused by the natural aging process, and you may have heard it called degenerative joint disease or spondylosis.
In essence, OA is caused by aging. For instance, when an elderly patient develops a swollen, painful joint that causes compression on the spinal cord, we call that osteoarthritis. But some people have osteoarthritis to a more accelerated degree than others. That’s natural, really, because we all age at different rates.
There are a number of specific age-related conditions that can cause osteoarthritis. These include herniated discs and lumbar or cervical spinal stenosis.
Osteoarthritis is characterized by the breakdown of cartilage, which cushions your joints. When your cartilage begins to wear away, you lose that barrier between the bones of your joints. So your bones then can rub onto one another, which can be very painful.
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What Is Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is an extremely uncommon form of arthritis according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only about 1.5 million people in the U.S. have RA. Unlike osteoarthritis, which is caused by use and even abuse of the joints, rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease. The immune system is overly active and turns on the body its supposed to protect, mostly attacking the lining of the joints. The resulting inflammation can cause harm to the joints by eroding cartilage and bone.
What People Mean By Rheumatism
Rheumatism is a term that people often used in the past when describing pain and other symptoms affecting the muscles and joints.
Healthcare professionals do not use this term, but they use similar ones, such as rheumatoid and rheumatology. Rheumatologists are doctors who specialize in dealing with diseases of the joints and connective tissues. Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory autoimmune condition that leads to swelling in the joints. It may also cause a fever and other symptoms.
When people use the word rheumatism, they often mean rheumatoid arthritis. When people use the word arthritis, they are sometimes referring to osteoarthritis.
diseases and other health conditions.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that more than 54 million adults in the U.S. have arthritis. This is 23% of the adult population.
Arthritis often affects older people, but it can develop at any age. In fact, 60% of arthritis cases affect people aged 1864 years, the CDC estimate. Juvenile arthritis , also known as pediatric rheumatic disease, affects around 300,000 children in the country. JA is not a well-defined condition, but it usually involves inflammation and autoimmune factors.
The two most common forms of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
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Risk Factors For Tendonitis
Anyone can get tendonitis, but some risk factors make it more likely. Those include:
- Being a weekend warrior when it comes to exercise: Quickly increasing your activity level without giving your body time to adjust can easily inflame a tendon.
- Working in a job that calls for repetitive motion: Construction workers, hairstylists, and others who frequently repeat the same motions are more prone to tendonitis. Using tools that vibrate can also be problematic because repetitive vibrations put excessive stress on tendons, according to the Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety.
- Playing certain sports: Baseball, basketball, bowling, golf, running, swimming, and tennis are all on the list of activities that could put you at risk for tendonitis. The common factor: repetitive motion.
- Having other medical conditions: People with rheumatoid arthritis, gout, and blood or kidney disease may be more likely to injure a tendon, though the reasons are not well understood.
- Getting older: Your flexibility and that of your tendons decreases after age 40.
- Taking certain medications: Its not so common, but antibiotics in the fluoroquinolone class like Cipro might increase the chances of a tendon rupturing. Taking a statin also occasionally causes this issue.
How Is Arthritis Diagnosed
If you think you may have arthritis, see your healthcare provider. The provider will ask about your symptoms and learn how joint pain affects your life. Your provider will perform a physical exam, which may include:
- Assessing mobility and range of motion in your joints.
- Checking for areas of tenderness or swelling around your joints.
- Evaluating your overall health to determine if a different condition could be causing your symptoms.
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How Is Bursitis Diagnosed
If you suspect you have bursitis or if you have pain near a joint and arent sure if its arthritis or bursitis a knowledgeable doctor should be able to find an answer. The most crucial step toward getting the right diagnoses is a thorough physical exam and patient history. The number-one thing is getting a good history from the patient, including what specific movement bothers them and when it bothers them, says Dr. Huffstutter.
You doctor will likely start the physical exam by asking you to point out where your body hurts. This simple question can provide a lot of insight when it comes to differentiating between bursitis and arthritis. A lot of times a patient will say, I have pain in my hip, and when I say, Where? theyll point to the outside of the joint, says Dr. Barsoum. Thats not arthritis. Arthritis pain comes from inside the joint.
The doctor will then touch the painful area and ask you to move the joint. If you do have bursitis, your doctor may be able feel fluid in a tender spot. If it hurts when Im pressing on the area , then Ill suspect bursitis, says Dr. Barsoum. She often then uses an ultrasound to check for the presence of fluid. In some cases, an MRI might also be used to check for inflamed bursa.
Do You Have Arthritis Or Tendonitis
Both arthritis and tendonitis can cause pain, swelling, and inflammation. If you feel like thats happening around a joint, it can be hard to know what the problem is. Both arthritis and tendonitis may cause:
- Pain that gets worse when you move the area/joint
- Swelling
- Redness
Because the symptoms can be so similar, doctors may rely heavily on information about where the pain occurs and when the pain first started to determine whether your issue could be arthritis or tendonitis. For example, an achy knee thats been slowly getting worse over the years is more apt to be osteoarthritis, whereas someone who suddenly has pain behind their ankle probably has Achilles tendonitis. Your doctor should also pay attention to risk factors that might make you more vulnerable to one or the other.
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Ra Causes Symptoms And Risk Factors
Although Beverly Hills rheumatoid arthritis affects the joints and can have some overlapping symptoms with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis is caused by a malfunction in the immune system that causes it to mistake healthy cells and tissue for foreign invaders, and setting off an immune response that attacks the healthy cells. The main symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis are:
- Fever
- Unexplained fatigue and weight loss
- Pain, tenderness, warmth, stiffness, redness, and swelling of the affected joints
- Limping and limited range of motion
RA tends to begin in the smaller joints of the fingers and toes, and then progress to the larger joints. Unlike OA it affects multiple joints at once on both sides of the body. LA rheumatoid arthritis can affect other organs and tissue in the body in addition to the joints and can lead to permanent joint damage and deformity over time. Like all medical conditions, rheumatoid arthritis affects everyone differently, and the range and severity of symptoms vary from patient to patient.
Rheumatoid Arthritis And Osteoarthritis
The word arthritis simply means inflammation of the joint. The reasons for that inflammation, however, varies. In the case of osteoarthritis, the cause is wear and tear. RA is an auto-immune condition, meaning that the immune system, normally there to protect us, is attacking healthy the joints.
Until I was diagnosed, I thought that arthritis was just something that old people get.
Until you or someone close to you is diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis , unfortunately, this is most peoples perception of the disease. This is, at least in part, because many people, including some healthcare professionals, still refer to osteoarthritis as arthritis. So whats the difference?
One third of people over the age of 45 in the UK have sought treatment for osteoarthritis, whereas RA affects a much smaller number, at around 1% of the UK population.
There are also differences between the joints affected by these two conditions. Rheumatoid arthritis tends to affect joints symmetrically, most commonly the small joints of the hands and feet. Multiple joints may be affected, sometimes simultaneously, whereas OA will be isolated to individual joints. Osteoarthritis can affect the lower parts of the spine, and the finger joints closest to the nailbeds, both of which are areas of the body rarely affected in RA. RA can affect different joints at different times, whereas osteoarthritis doesnt come and go, although pain and stiffness can come and go.
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What Are The Symptoms Of Arthritis
There are many different types of arthritis with the most common being osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Whichever type of arthritis is causing the problem, the joints of the body are the target.Osteoarthritis is more common in people in their mid-40s or older, and a higher proportion of women suffer from it than men. However, it can occur at any age and may come about because of an injury or other conditions.This type of arthritis damages the cartilage in the joints, leading to swelling, stiffness, and pain.Rheumatoid arthritis once again affects more women than men, and usually begins to affect people between the ages of 40 and 50. As with other types of arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis attacks the joints, but this time it is the immune system of your body that causes the problem. By wrongly targeting the joints, the immune system causes pain and swelling. The damage can become severe over time resulting in damage to the bone and cartilage.While you may think of the joints in your body in terms of knees and hips, arthritis can also affect the joints in your hands, arms, and spine.
How is the Treatment Different for Sciatica and Arthritis?
A chiropractor can help by manipulating the bones of your spine and other joints to relieve the pressure and irritation on the nerve, effectively restoring the function of the nerve to normal.
Rheumatoid Arthritis Vs Arthritis: Whats The Difference
Arthritis is a general term used to describe joint disease. Rheumatoid arthritis is a type of arthritis in which the bodys immune system mistakenly attacks the joints, causing chronic inflammation.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the bodys immune system attacks the joint linings that produce fluid that lubricates the joints. This results in signs and symptoms of inflammation, swelling, and pain in and around the joints, and in some cases, a rash. Over time, if left untreated, RA damages cartilage and bone and causes permanent joint deformity.
RA affects joints on both sides of the body, typically the hands, feet, wrists, elbows, knees and ankles, although it can also affect other joints. It can also affect the cardiovascular or respiratory systems.
Different types of medications are used to treat RA, including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs , corticosteroids, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs , and subsets of DMARDs . Rheumatoid arthritis is diagnosed with a physical exam and history, a blood test and sometimes xrays.
Other types of arthritis include:
- Osteoarthritis the most common type of arthritis, resulting from degeneration of cartilage
- frustration, and
- social withdrawal.
Rheumatoid arthritis usually inflames multiple joints and affects both sides of the body. In its most common form, therefore, it is referred to as a symmetric polyarthritis.
Arthritis
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What Are The Symptoms Of Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis can cause debilitating pain. RA symptoms include pain, swelling, and redness in the joints. Unlike osteoarthritis, RA can affect any joint in the body, at any time. Pain often moves from joint to joint. Many people with RA also suffer from other problems such as feeling tired or having a fever.
As you can see, while osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are both conditions that cause degeneration of the joints, they are quite different. Osteoarthritis is caused by wear and tear and rheumatoid arthritis by an immune response. They both cause pain, but rheumatoid arthritis is more likely to be severe and to affect multiple joints. Also, its symptoms go beyond the joints and can cause an overall feeling of illness.
1 Lawrence RC, Felson DT, Helmick CG, Arnold LM, Choi H, Deyo RA, Gabriel S, Hirsch R, Hochberg MC, Hunder GG, Jordan JM, Katz JN, Kremers HM, Wolfe F. Estimates of the prevalence of arthritis and other rheumatic conditions in the United States: Part II. Arthritis Rheum. 2008 Jan 58:26-35.2 National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, What Is Arthritis? Fast Facts: An easy-to-Read Series of Publications for the Public, November 2014. Available at . Accessed July 15, 2015.