The symptoms of arthritis are different for the different forms, but for most your knee will be painfully stiff.
There are literally too many different forms of arthritis, rheumatic diseases and related conditions to go into here. Yet, virtually all of them have some painful affect on your knee.
The most common painful knee problems have a form of arthritis called osteoarthritis. If you are suffering from this arthralgia causing disease, the cartilage gradually wears away and changes occur in the adjacent bone.
Osteoarthritis may be caused by joint injury or being overweight. It is associated with aging and most typically begins in people age 50 years or older.
A young person who develops osteoarthritis typically has had an injury to the knee or may have an inherited form of the disease.
Infectious arthritis is a form of arthritis that is caused by infectious pathogens, such as bacteria or viruses. Prompt medical attention is essential to treat the infection and minimize damage to joints, particularly if fever is present.
If arthritis causes serious damage to a knee or there is incapacitating pain or loss of use of the knee from arthritis, joint surgery may be considered. Total knee replacement may be a surgery of the past as newer surgical procedures are continuously being developed that include resurfacing or replacing only the damaged cartilage surfaces while leaving the rest of the joint intact.
Like the symptoms, treatment varies depending on the form of arthritis affecting your knee. For osteoarthritis, treatment is targeted at relieving symptoms and may include pain relieving drugs, like aspirin or acetaminophen, NSAIDs or cortisone injection directly into your knee joint.
Other treatments for the pain of the knee osteoarthritis include injections of hyaluronic acid substitutes and the nutritional supplements glucosamine and chondroitin sulphate.
People with any type of arthritis may benefit from exercises to strengthen the muscles that support the knee and weight loss, if needed, to relieve excess stress on the joints.
Rheumatoid arthritis, which generally affects people at a younger age than osteoarthritis, is an autoimmune disease. It occurs as a result of the immune system attacking components of the body.
In rheumatoid arthritis, the primary site of the immune system attack is the synovium, the membrane that lines the joint. This autoimmune disorder causes inflammation of your joint. It can lead to destruction of the cartilage and bone and, in some cases, muscles, tendons and ligaments as well.
Other rheumatic diseases include:
Gout – an acute and intensely painful form of arthritis that occurs when crystals of the bodily waste product uric acid are deposited in the joints.
Lupus – an autoimmune disease characterized by destructive inflammation of the skin, internal organs and other body systems, as well as the joints.
Ankylosing Spondylitis – an inflammatory form of arthritis that primarily affects the spine, leading to stiffening and in some cases fusing into a stooped position.
Psoriatic arthritis – a condition in which inflamed joints produce symptoms of arthritis for those who have or will develop psoriasis.
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