What is Arthritis?

My observation and experience through the number of people that have come to see me over the years, is that there is a perception in the community that pain in your joints means that you have arthritis: - and this is not necessarily the case! There are many different causes of pain in and around joints and also, even if there are changes of arthritis in the joints, it doesn’t mean that you have pain!

Arthritis is a term that means inflammation of the joint. In short, whenever there is ‘itis’ on the end of any word medically, it means that there is inflammation. ‘Arthro’ means joint.

Did you know that there are many different types of arthritis?

The most common form of arthritis is osteoarthritis. This is one which affects the most people in Australia and carries quite a cost burden to society. Osteoarthritis affects 8.3% of the Australian population!! 😱 That’s massive!!

This arthritis is thought to be a ‘wear and tear/old age wear and tear degeneration based arthritis. However, recent studies are considering that there is more to this arthritis than what we have previously thought. This is the arthritis that is thought to not be primarily an autoimmune inflammatory based condition, but rather one where there is degeneration of bone and cartilage, perhaps with secondary inflammation and fluid in the joints at times.

Another common type of arthritis is Rheumatoid Arthritis and this is the one that is synonymous with the term Rheumatology. This form of arthritis is one where the immune system attacks the joints, creating inflammation, which creates fluid in the joints and ultimately if untreated – damage to the joints. The treatment of this arthritis is very different to osteoarthritis, and they present differently.

Osteoarthritis usually is more dominant in a few joints, most often joints where a lot of weight gets put through them such as the knees, hips and feet. Osteoarthritis usually has pain worse on activity and better on resting.

Rheumatoid arthritis can affect the small joints of the hands and feet as well as other joints in the body, and often affects several joints at the same time, on both sides of the body. Osteoarthritis usually does not cause a lot of fluid in the joints, whereas the inflammation in Rheumatoid means that there is a lot of fluid in joints. Joint pains and stiffness in Rheumatoid arthritis are usually worse in the morning and better with activities and as the day goes on (ie the opposite to Osteoarthritis!).

Treatment of these arthritides (plural for arthritis) are really different, which is why it is important to be thoroughly evaluated.

Sometimes it is not clear what type of arthritis a person has. Whether it is osteoarthritis of rheumatoid arthritis, and often people have both forms of arthritis. It is important to discern which arthritis is causing symptoms. This is key to ensure that the correct management is delivered to our patients.

Your Rheumatologist will ask you questions, examine you and likely order tests to assist in making things clear.

There are also many other forms of arthritis such as:

Psoriatic Arthritis, Seronegative arthritis, Ankylosing Spondylitis, Reactive arthritis, viral or bacterial arthritis, and arthritis associated with autoimmune connective tissue diseases such as Systemic Lupus or Sjogren’s disease. There are also what are called ‘crystal’ arthritides, such as gout, where crystals of particular chemicals (such as uric acid in the case of gout) cause inflammation in the joints, amongst other symptoms.

It can be challenging at times to correctly diagnose which type of arthritis is occurring and different forms of arthritis can co -exist at the same time, each requiring their specific treatment.

This is why its important to see a specialist Rheumatologist to evaluate, investigate, diagnose and treat your joint pains and arthritis.

Have an absolutely spectacular day, and remember 😎 if you have joint pains and think you have arthritis, see a Rheumatologist for a full and comprehensive assessment.