Early Signs of Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is a disorder that affects the joints, causing them to get inflamed. It starts with the joints of the feet, wrists, and hands, and detecting the early signs of rheumatoid arthritis leads to proper treatment. Consistent treatment leads to proper management of this disease. There is no cure for rheumatoid arthritis but moderate exercise and treatment lead to the reduction of inflammation. Untreated it can damage the bones, cartilages, and joints. Herein, we take a look at the early signs of rheumatoid arthritis and what they lead up to
Fatigue
The early signs of rheumatoid arthritis include feeling extremely tired, depressed and without energy. Fatigue may have an effect on your work productivity, sex life, relationships and other everyday activities. Fatigue can be due to the inflammation of the joints.
Fever
Fatigue will make an individual feel feverish and unwell. The slight rise in body temperature along with the tiredness is seen before the effect on the joints.
Weight loss
Losing weight unexpectedly can be due to inflammation of the joints due to rheumatoid arthritis. Feeling unwell, feverish and fatigued may lead to loss of appetite, which causes weight loss.
Stiffness
Joint pain, tenderness, and stiffness are a sign of rheumatoid arthritis. The stiffness occurs in a few joints mostly fingers and lasts for a few hours or days. Some may feel a general stiffness in the entire body happens when you have been sitting or lying down stiff for a long time. This is also one of the early signs of rheumatoid arthritis, and it’s called morning stiffness. Rheumatoid arthritis leads to loss of movement in the hands and feet like bending the wrist back and forth. As the disease, progresses the ligaments and tendons get affected which makes it hard to bend and straighten the limbs.
Joint tenderness, pain, swelling, redness
Tenderness of the joints in the hands and feet is a typical sign. The middle and base finger bones feel tender on touch, also the base joint of the toes, which may lead people to walk on the heels or lift their toes up. Joint pain in the fingers and toes is caused by inflammation making the joint lining thicker causing more joint fluid to be produced. The fluid and inflammation put pressure on the joint and nerve endings, causing extreme pain.
The disease can lead to swelling in the joints of the hands and feet. The progress of the swelling is part of the progress of this disease. Inflammation gives the joint swelling redness and there is discoloration of the skin around the hands and feet. Wider blood vessels allow more blood flow here making the skin look more red. The joint can look and feel warm before the swelling and redness. Hands and feet can also feel a tingling sensation caused by compression of the nerve, resulting in sensation loss.
If the early signs of rheumatoid arthritis are left untreated, it leads to deformities of the bones, damage to the cartilage and the joints. It also causes lumps or nodules near the joints. It can cause stroke, heart attack, inflammation of the lungs, heart, eyes and carpal tunnel syndrome.