DID YOU KNOW: That You Can Have Arthritis Without Having Pain?

My experience has shown me that most people think that because they have pain in their joints, that they must have arthritis. But this is not necessarily the case!

Equally, you can have arthritis, without having any pain. Did you know this?!

This surprises many people.

Having arthritis is synonymous with having pain, swelling and deformity in your joints. And these are the most common symptoms that people have. Well, the pain and swelling and stiffness and reduced movement comes WELL before there are permanent deformities in joints 😎.

But, I often see people with inflammatory arthritis, ie arthritis with fluid in the joints. where people have not been aware that they have had active arthritis. I have seen patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis who tell me that they are doing really well, and their arthritis is under control, but then I examine them and find multiple joints that are clinically inflamed, meaning that their arthritis is not controlled. This is important, because the better you control inflammatory arthritis like Rheumatoid arthritis, the better the long term outcomes are.

This is why its important for people with Rheumatoid arthritis to see a Rheumatologist regularly who gets to assess their joints, because people are not always aware that they have active ongoing disease!  And knowing that you have active disease can inform treatment recommendations and better treatment for your arthritis in the long term.

Seeing your Rheumatologist is really important, because they can spot disease in your joints clinically that you might not be able to. Some people are not aware that they have active disease for many reasons. It may be because there is no pain from the inflammation for them, or sometimes people have minor symptoms which they do not give attention to because they are so used to having a lot of pain and the minor symptoms register as being non-significant for them or ‘just part of age’!

Osteoarthritis is a different form of arthritis to Rheumatoid Arthritis. Click here to read what is Arthritis.

In the case of Osteoarthritis, it is well known that there can be clinical damage to the joints seen on radiographic imaging, such as plain x-rays and MRIs, but people have no symptoms from it.

For example, if you do MRI imaging of people’s hips and knees, the results may show changes of osteoarthritis with bone and/or cartilage damage, but people are not getting any symptoms from it. ie they are not getting pain, they are not getting swelling, they are not getting stiffness, and they are not getting reduced range of movement in the affected joints.

Osteoarthritis is a disease where there is degeneration and degradation of both cartilage and bone in joints. But we don’t treat the clinical appearance of arthritis on imaging, we treat symptoms! If there are no symptoms, then you don’t need medical intervention such as medications, surgery or injections for this type of arthritis.

If there are changes of osteoarthritis on imaging but no current symptoms, your doctor may recommend some lifestyle related measures to support your body moving forward to minimise further disease and negative impact on your body. It depends on your clinical situation, and which joints are affected, which is different in each person, and will need to be discussed with your doctor.

It’s important to see an expert in joint disease and arthritis to give you the best possible assessment and management of your arthritis. Rheumatologists are specialists in the diagnosis and treatment of all forms of arthritis!

As always, have a spectacular day!!