16 Early Signs and Symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)

Rheumatic Arthritis is an autoimmune disease. The relief for rheumatoid arthritis treatment is in its early detection. With early detection, exercise, and treatments one can reduce the effects of RA. Rheumatoid doctor in Pune point out RA can nearly affect and damage bones, tendons, and ligaments causing permanent damage if untreated.

We list 16 signs and symptoms of RA and seek the help of a rheumatoid doctor in Pune for further diagnosis.

1.      Fatigue:The first symptom of RA is fatigue. A person might feel weak, tired, or low in energy and also depressed.

2.      Joint pain:Pain in fingers, feet, and wrists are symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. Other areas of pain are shoulders, knee, or ankles. The person experiences pains on and off or for a continuous period.

3.      Swelling in joints:The hands and feet joints might appear bigger and painful. It is an early sign of rheumatic arthritis. The pain can last for a day or weeks.

4.      Stiffness in the morning: Stiffness in joints as you wake up in the morning is one of the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis restricting movement.

5.      Fever:  People with RA might experience a slight increase in body temperature with fatigue. The joint swelling causes fever and is an early sign of RA.

6.      Loss of weight:One of the alarms of RA is unexplainable loss of weight along with joint pain and fever.

7.      Tendernessin joints:  The base of the fingers and feet feels tender when one presses them or while in motion.

8.      Warm joints: The joints appear warmer due to inflammation.  This happens before one sees visible signs of swelling and redness.

9.      The decrease in movement range:The effected joints fail to have the range of motion and weakness due to swelling.

10.  Redness: The inflammation in the joints causes swelling and the area affected appears reddish in colour due to widening of the capillaries adjoining the joints.

11.  Movement difficulty:  RA can either affect one or more joints. This restricts movements and causes difficulty to move around easily.

12.  Deformed joints: Chronic RA can deform the joints. The unattended inflammation erodes the cartilage and bone. It can also affect the laxity of the ligaments

13.  Numbnessand tingling:It’s one of the early signs of RA. The affected joints can compress the adjoining nerves causing numbness

14.  Multiple affected joints: RA can affect multiple joints of feet or hands at the same time. Singular or more joints are involved. Its effects are seen more in joints affecting fingers and toes.

15.  Tissue bumps: RAcan cause bumps of tissues under the skin on the arms. It can be on one or both arms.

16.  Other RA symptoms:Other symptoms can be itchy or dry eyes, mouth dryness, and, chest pain while breathing.

Rheumatoid arthritis differs from one person to another. There is no cure as such for rheumatoid arthritis but not neglecting the symptoms, and early detection helps in rheumatic arthritis treatment and autoimmune diseases treatment.