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Also known as Reiter’s Syndrome, reactive arthritis is the result of an infection in another body part. This is an inflammatory condition where the prime feature is the inflammation of the joints. However inflammation can also occur in different body parts including the eyes, skin, the genitals, the bladder, and the mucus membranes. Generally, a ‘reaction’ to an infection in gastrointestinal or genitourinary tract results in reactive arthritis.

Symptoms and signs of reactive arthritis are like come and go, and they disappear in a year. To treat this disease, various therapies and medication are given to eliminate the underlying infection.

Signs and Symptoms of Reactive Arthritis:

Mostly the sign and symptoms appear after days to week after the infection affects the susceptible person. These symptoms may appear and vanish over the period of week or months. Moreover, when the symptoms are less harsh, the disease can go undetected for many days.

Common sign and symptoms of Reactive arthritis:

•    Swelling, stiffness and pain in the ankle joint, knee joint, hips and feet.
•    Results in cystitis (inflammation of urogenital tract) which cause urinary frequency and burning sensation during urinal discharge from penis.
•    Conjunctivitis (eye inflammation – redness in eye, sensitivity to light, pain and skewed vision)
•    Uveitis (inner eye inflammation)
•    Ulcers in mouth
•    Rashes in skin which appear as thickened red spot or brown spots, scaling rashes on the hands and palms or soles of the feet, or a red scaling rash on the penis.
•    Tenditis (inflammation of tendons), tenosynovitis (tendon sheaths)
•    Chills and fever
•    Loss in weight
•    Sores appearing in the genital areas scrotum or on the shaft of penis. In women in the external areas of the genitals. They are actually blisters that break open and crust over.
•    Enthesopathy (an inflammation conditions of the tendons attached to the bones)
•    Pain and inflammation in the pelvic area or lower back.

Causes of Reactive Arthritis

Various bacteria are known to cause this disease. Many forms of reactive arthritis are based on the underlying bacteria causing the infection.

•    Urogenital (genitourinary) reactive arthritis or uroarthritis
It occurs from the infections that originate in the vagina, penis urethra or bladder. The bacterium which generally results in the infection is called Chlamydia.
•    Gastrointestinal (enteric) reactive arthritis
Also called enteroarthritis, this infection is because of something that was taken, for e.g. raw meat’s carrying bacteria. Such bacteria include shigella, salmonella, campylobacter, and yersinia.

Though bacteria results in reactive arthritis, this disease is not contagious. But, the bacteria can be passed from one human to another during sexual intercourse and food preparation. However, few people only develop reactive arthritis when exposed to these bacteria.

You should at once consult the doctor, if you find the sign and symptoms of reactive arthritis within yourself. The faster you treat yourself, the more helpful it will be for you to prevent further complications.

Among the different arthritis, one that poses a maximum threat to younger children and elders due to their lower immunity power is Septic arthritis. This disease is capable of damaging the bone cartilage and creates septic shock which may prove fatal. So you should not take this one lightly.

Also called as bacterial or infectious arthritis, this one is not as the other types of arthritis. It can damage the joints in much quicker time and so it needs to be diagnosed and treated quickly.

In septic arthritis the joints get inflamed due to the reproduction of bacteria. Bacteria are mostly carried by the blood from the infectious source to another body part or are started by a cut in the skin that enters the joints. Those who have artificial joints, had a painful injury and have bacteria in their blood (bacteremia) where these bacteria spread the arthritis in other parts of the body are most susceptible to it this type of arthritis.

The symptoms of septic arthritis are intense joint pain, joint swelling in the affected joint and low temperature fever. In children, Bacilli, Hemophilius, and Staphylococci cause the septic arthritis. Children less than three years are mostly susceptible to it and hip is generally the position they are affected. These bacteria can cause life risk if they take over the joints and spread to vital organs. Staphylococci, Gonococci, and Streptococci cause septic arthritis in senior citizens. Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and group B streptococci are responsible for the acute form of septic arthritis. The rarer form of septic arthritis, the chronic form is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Candida albicans.

The major risks of this arthritis includes chronic illness, simultaneous bacterial infection, medications or diseases that overtakes the body’s immune system, intravenous drug abuse, rheumatoid arthritis, and sickle cell disease.

The tests that are used to detect septic arthritis are diagnosis of blood, analysis of synovial fluid or culture of the fluid in joints, and X-ray of joints.

What are the procedures to treat septic arthritis? The doctors start the antibiotic treatment on the basis of the organism that caused it. This may not be the actual treatment and is based on the clinical judgment. The proper antibiotic will be used after the diagnosis of the synovial fluid. The choices will also vary on how effective it will be against the bacteria and getting into the affected joint space.

Regular aspiration, i.e., using a needle and suction, may be needed in case the synovial fluids accumulate quickly due to the infection to remove the liquid. This relieves the pressure. Surgery maybe needed in severe cases to drain the fluid.

To set off treatment with pain relief measures rest, elevation, warm compression and immobilization works good. Performing correct exercises can develop the recovery process.

Psoriatic arthritis, also known as arthropatic psoriasis, is a form of inflammatory arthritis. It is a complex condition which causes pain and swelling in the joints. 20% of the people who are suffering from psoriasis (a chronic skin condition) suffer from this disease. Generally the patients suffering from psoriasis have the type of tissue HLA-B27. As a result of the disease scaly rashes are formed on their skin, generally on the knees, elbows, and scalp.

Psoriatic arthritis causes pain and swelling in and around the elbows, fingers, wrists, fingers, toes, knees, shoulders and ankles. Sometimes the spine is also affected by the disease and causes them to pain. The sacroiliac joints (joints in the lower back) can too be affected by the disease. Moreover, psoriatic arthritis can also damage the tissues (ligaments and tendons) surrounding the joints.

Who are susceptible to psoriatic arthritis?

As previously stated, psoriatic arthritis is generally connected with psoriasis. A report stated that around 80% of the people affected with psoriatic arthritis build up psoriatic nail lesions. In this case pitting of nails occurs and in extreme cases the nail itself is lost (called, onycholysis).

Similar to most type of arthritis, psoriatic arthritis knows no age bar. It can occur at all ages. However, according to laboratory reports, this condition appears after 10 years of the first sign of psoriasis. Most of the patients develop this condition between age thirty and fifty, but psoriatic arthritis can also affect children.

The disease affects both the genders equally. This means, male and female has same tendency to this disease.

Symptoms of psoriatic arthritis

The signs and symptoms of psoriatic arthritis are the following:

•    Swelling as well as pain in the joints, generally occurring first in the toes and fingers.
•    The toenails or fingernails, or both tend to lift up from their actual position and small holes are visible on their surfaces (known as pitting).
•    The ligaments and tendons pains and swell.
•    You feel tired and stiff in the mornings.

What to do when you have psoriatic arthritis?

To cure a disease, medical scientists need to find the underlying cause that causes it. It is the biggest challenge before curing any disease. Unfortunately, medical science has not yet been able to find the exact cause of psoriatic arthritis. However, various treatments are made for psoriatic arthritis and they are prepared in such a way that they reduce the unbearable pain that a person suffers due to inflammation of the joints.

The very first step to treat the condition is to do a correct diagnosis. It is important because based on the results the doctors will asses you. Moreover, the therapies that are available today work best when the disease is at its nascent stage. Consult your doctor as soon as you find symptoms of psoriasis. Correct treatment can help you to stop the disease progress.

Rheumatoid arthritis is different from the other form of arthritis that exists. It is basically an autoimmune disease that attacks the own body, especially attacking different joints and its surrounding tissues. This disease has different type of symptoms, unlike common symptoms, rheumatoid arthritis include inflammation in the joint lining and pain in the affected body areas.

Reports have revealed that rheumatoid arthritis has affected more than two million people, mostly aged between 20 and 25. The symptoms can be found in all people regardless of sex or age, races and ethnic groups. However the disease is seen to affect two to three times more women as compared to men.

Diagnosis

Because the common symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis differ from people to people, so there is no specific method to make an accurate diagnosis. Moreover, unlike other arthritis, it is not easy to identify the disease at its early stages. To identify the disease from its common symptoms, doctors need to apply various methods like blood testing and even X-rays.

The various other factors that professionals ad practitioners take into account while diagnosing rheumatoid arthritis are:

• Physical examinations
• Medical history
• X-rays
• laboratory tests

What to do after diagnosis?

After a person is diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, he should learn more about the disease in order to understand it better. The most important thing that matters is the early detection of the disease. As there is no cure for the disease, early detection from common symptoms is the key to help him live longer. The symptoms may grow worse in the passage of time. However if the disease is identified at an early stage and the patient undergoes aggressive treatment, the chance of living is greatly increased.

How to deal with the pain?

One of the most common symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis is pain in the joints and its surrounding tissues. Along with the pain, the patient suffers from some amount of depression, feeling of helplessness, and anxiety. The patients, who suffer from this arthritis, also suffer morning stiffness in and around the affected joints. At times when the pain is unbearable, the patient may refuse to walk which will only worsen the disease.

However, recent reports have shown that exercise can greatly help in alleviating the pain and some common forms of rheumatoid arthritis. Constant motion balanced and following a good diet with plenty of rest will be a great relief to this weakening disease and serve you to live a better life.

But before attempting any sort of exercise, consult the doctor. This is because there are some exercises which should not be done by arthritic patients.

Produced in the shell of chitin (shellfish), the amino acid glucosamine is a main component of the extra cellular matter surrounding the cartilage. It has been proved to accelerate joint functioning and repair and also slows down the advancement of osteoarthritis and pain, renews synovial fluid, rehabilitates cartilage, and repairs the damaged joints.

Glucosamine is particularly used for osteoarthritis and now has been proved to be effective and is the key to sufferers for alleviating the pain, in human as well as pets. Though the body produces glucosamine in a certain amount, but as the years pass, the body looses the capacity to produce the required glucosamine. Due to the lesser glucosamine, the cartilage present in the weight bearing joints of the body, like hips, hands, and knees tend to destroy, later on it hardens and forms bone spurs which results in pain, limited moving, deformed joints and limping.

Recent studies have revealed that Glucosamine for arthritis enhances the cartilage building proteins. Another research showed that chondrotin may stop production of enzymes that destroy the cartilage. It also fights inflammation. Many glucosamine trials and studies have been done. In most of the trials Glucosamine for arthritis have been very effective:

● Glucosamine eases articular joint pain
● Glucosamine eases osteoarthritis pain
•    In osteoarthritis, Glucosamine also slows down deterioration of cartilage
•    Glucosamine has been proved to rehabilitate the damaged cartilage.
● Glucosamine improves movement.
● Glucosamine enhances the production of glycosaminoglycans, proteoglycans, and synovial fluid.

The news of the effectiveness of glucosamine spread very quickly, and in no time the glucosamine industry became very large. However, in the rush to gain market share, some nutraceutical companies did not do the important testing like lab analysis of their products and releases low grade or medium quality glucosamine. In the urge to gain money, the companies also produced glucosamine in capsule or pill form.

Glucosamine products for arthritis are not similar. You need to consider six main factors before you consider or select a glucosamine product. These are:

•    The amount of glucosamine in the product per day dose.
•    Glucosamine type used.
•    Quality of the ingredients used.
•    Company’s delivery system.
•    Synergistic ingredients of the product.
•    Price of the product for daily use.

Above all the company’s delivery system is the most important factor. Most companies that market glucosamine for arthritis produce them in capsules or pill. However, these pills and capsules are not much effective. The effective glucosamine for arthritis is in liquid form. In the liquid form, glucosamine and vitamins are absorbed faster and used more effectively by the body than solids. Absorption is the most important factor, as the relief from arthritis is based on the amount of glucosamine absorption by the body. If your body cannot absorb glucosamine, no matter what amount you take, it will be ineffective.

Degenerative arthritis is nothing but just another name for osteoarthritis. Thus, it is marked by inflammation, breakdown, and eventual loss of the cartilage found in the joints. Degenerative arthritis is the most common of the more than hundred different kinds of arthritis known, and affects more than 20 million of the reported 70 million arthritic patients. It generally affects people above 45 years of age, and is more prevalent in women than in men. It chiefly affects the hands, feet, spine, and the major weight bearing joints of the body: hips and knees.

Cause

It is still not clear what exactly causes degenerative arthritis, however studies suggest aging as a major culprit. With age, the water content of the cartilage increases, which leads to degeneration of its protein.

Moreover, the repetitive movement of joints and cartilages causes inflammation and irritation, which manifest themselves in old age. This causes joint pain and swelling, and the cartilage starts eroding by flaking or forming tine crevasses. Sometimes, the cartilage may even get completely destroyed, which results in loss of protective adding around tissues.

This causes friction between the bones, and further damages joints, causing pain and reduced joint mobility. Cartilage inflammation also causes new outgrowth of bones. These outgrowths, knows as spurs, cause deformity around the joints.

It has been seen that degenerative arthritis strikes several family members, which suggests a genetic or hereditary base to the disease.

Signs

Degenerative arthritis affects only the joints, unlike other forms of arthritis like rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus, which are systemic, and affect other internal organs.

One symptom of degenerative arthritis is joint pain, which generally grows worse in the later part of the day. Swelling, warmth, and cracking of joints are some other signs.

After long periods of inactiveness, stiffness and pain may occur. If the cartilage is completely eroded, then you might experience bouts of severe pain.

The symptoms of degenerative arthritis vary from patient to patient. Some patients get completely debilitated due to the pain, while some suffer from few problems.

The symptoms of degenerative arthritis are intermittent, i.e. they reappear time and again, after few years of relatively painless periods.

If degenerative arthritis affects knees, then it is generally due to repeated injury or joint surgery. When the cartilages of the knees degenerate, then the outward curvature of the knees deform, causing “bow leggedness”. It might even lead to the patient limping.

Treatment

Degenerative arthritis, like other forms of arthritis, is incurable. Till now all medical science has been able to do for arthritic patients is invent pain reliever drugs which abate the severe pain accompanying arthritis.

Arthritis is a type of a disease that can affect anyone at anytime in their life and has over hundred of various medical conditions. A report by National Institute of Health says that around 300,000 children in America and 70 million adults suffer from this disease.

The symptoms of Arthritis are inflamed joints that are painful which occur just before rest or early in the day. A form of the disease is remissive, i.e., they go on periodic remission & flare ups actually not going away totally. In extreme cases the pain becomes so much unbearable that the person may be rendered immobile or even disabled.

But the good news is that mankind has developed various treatment therapies and remedies that help patients to counter up the pain. The remedies available may not be able to cure the disease completely but lessens the pain so that one can lead a normal life without suffering from too much pain.

Most arthritis medications and remedies are pain killers, stronger bones, promising pain relief and sound sleep. Some supplements are in the form vitamins, herbs, minerals and other natural on even manmade substances. Using these remedies and medications can really help you to cope up the pain as they contain the following:

Black Currant Seed Oil

As the name suggests, this remedy can be available form the black currant (Ribes nigrum) seeds. The oil from the seeds of this plant contains 19% GLA or gammalinolenic acid which readily alleviates the arthritic pain. But do not confuse the same with black currant berry.

You can also find them in market where Black currant seed oils are marketed in capsules which range from 500 mg to 1000 mg. Before you buy one, look at the GLA concentration. Buy only the ones which have GLA around 0.2 – 0.3 grams.

Cat’s Claw

Cat’s claw is another herb which is very much useful for arthritis remedy. It is a woody vine that is found in the Amazon rainforests of Peru. The dried root of this plant has anti-inflammatory substances that can be used to cure osteoarthritis of the knees.

Various arthritis remedies come in form of tablets, capsules or tea bags which vary in dosages. Though these remedies are good but they still have certain side effects like dizziness, headache and vomiting.

Wood Spider

This is a traditional herbal plant that is found in Namibia and South Africa and is a good treatment for arthritis. It acts as a pain reliever as well as anti-inflammatory. In market it is available in the form of capsule but you can also buy its root in powdered form on even as a tea. Specialist recommends six 435 mg capsules in a day or having daily 1-405 gm of powdered root daily or tea.

These arthritis remedy substances contain many active ingredients, for e.g. harpagoside, an ingredient known to alleviate the pain and inflammation occurring in joints. A recent study showed that wood spider can actually relieve you from osteoarthritis in knee and hip.

Several other herbs also ease the arthritis pain like- eleuthero (Eleutherococcus senticosus), fever few (Tanacetum parthenium), evening primrose oil (Oenathera biennis), and flaxsweed oil (Linum usitatissimum).

Commonly called as gout, gouty arthritis is a type of arthritis that is characterized by severe  and sudden pain attacks, tenderness and redness in joints. It occurs due to the deposits of needle like crystals of uric acid. Fortunately this complex disorder can be treated and there are various ways by which it can be prevented from occurring again.

Cause of Gouty Arthritis

Gouty Arthritis is caused due to the accumulation of uric acid crystals in the joints that result in its inflammation. Uric acid is formed as a waste product from the breakdown of purines which is generally excreted through urine by the kidneys. But when the body excretes this acid less or produces more amounts, this uric acid can start accumulating forming sharp, needle like crystals, called urate, in joints which causes pain, swelling and inflammation.

Sometimes crystals of calcium pyrophosphate dehydrate gets deposited rather than uric acid. This too can lead to another problem known as false gout or pseudogout. However, pseudogout generally affects large joints like the wrists, knees and ankles, but can also affect the big toe.

Symptoms and Signs of Gouty Arthritis

Though the symptoms and signs are acute, the person suffering from gout can feel severe pain, without any warning and often during the night in the joints.

• Severe Joint Pain
  The feet, knees ankles, wrists and hands are also affected in gouty arthritis other than the large joint of the big toe. The pain lasts for around 5 – 10 days and then it stops. It then leaves the joint as normal and pain free.
• Inflammation and Redness
  The affected joints swell, tender and become red.

Four different stages of Gouty Arthritis

Gout can be differentiated into four different stages and when the patient receives proper treatment the stages don’t progress.

1.    Asymptomatic Hyperuricemia
This stage usually does not require any treatment. The person only has high level of uric acid in blood and has no other symptoms.
2.    Acute Gout / Acute Gouty Arthritis
In this stage, the uric acid crystals get deposited in various joint spaces, increasing the chances of gouty attacks.
3.    Interval / Inter-critical
In this period of gout, the person has no gouty attacks and also no symptoms. It is between acute gout and chronic gout.
4.    Chronic Tophaceous Gout
In this stage of gouty arthritis, the disease has made permanent damage. This is an advanced stage, and if proper treatment is made in the earlier stages, the disease never reaches to this stage.

Preventing Gouty Arthritis

There is no proper and sure way of preventing gouty arthritis. If you are already under gout attack, the doctor can prescribe certain medicines to reduce the pain and lessen the risk and major future attacks. Some drugs are allopurinol (Zyloprim, Aloprim) and probenecid. These drugs reduce the rate of formation of uric acid in body and accelerate its elimination. The key to prevent gout is patience and keeping the levels of uric acid within permissible range.

When people come across back pain, the first thing that comes to their minds is what part of the back is affected. Is it the lower part of the back or the hip area? These types are the most common kind of back pain but the most recurrent problem of most people suffering from it is abdomen back pain. It can be very hard to deal with especially in the long run. A person with stomach back pain has the area at the middle of the spine where twelve vertebrae and the rib cage are affected.

Stomach and back pain are caused mostly by a strained muscle in the back area. There are also other causes such as a herniated or slipped disc. In order to diagnose these kinds of back problems, an x-ray examination must be done in which the decision will be made you and your doctor. Another possible cause of back pain is lifting heavy objects or an exaggeration of an exercise program. If this is the cause of back pain, a number of home treatment options can be considered.

Everyone will get to experience at least one kind of back pain in their whole lives. The types such as stomach pain and back pain are related to one another. The first thing that you need to know before you make a visit to the doctor is the food that you have taken before you experience the back pain. It does not necessarily require a visit to the doctor but if it prevails, then it is best to try find out what it really is.

If ever a person experience symptoms of stomach and back pain, it is best not to ignore it as if it will be gone the next day. You must know that these symptoms are the leading causes of disability in some people. Whether it is a stomach or back pain, or even any other pain related to the back, having a specialist to examine you is a must. This is to ensure your health, that you are not getting any worse but better and to be prepared for the worst things that may likely to come.

At your own, you can do a lot of things to help you avoid having stomach and back pains. One is to limit the time you spent in bed to a day or two. It is recommended to lie down on your back with your knees and lower legs propped up on pillows or you can also lie on your side with a pillow placed between your legs. But the best therapy for stomach back pain is performing in an activity. This can serve as an exercise program that can help strengthen muscles in the back and stomach area. This can also help ensure that the body is free from additional stomach back pain in the future.

Though any kind of back pain is hard to avoid, there are still treatments that can be done at home or through visits to a doctor or physician. You simply need to pay attention to back pain symptoms that may be starting to manifest and have it treated right away.

Have you ever heard of the upper back? It contains 12 vertebraes in which ribs are attached and connects it to the breastbone. This whole area is called the thoracic cage which offers protection for all the main organs of the body such as the heart and liver and surrounded by tissues and muscles in between. Only small movements are present in the higher back area. It is very flexible but the neck and lower back area has greater range of motion than the upper back area.

There are a lot of people who have problems in the upper back because of some particular conditions. Upper back pain has less pain than lower back pain or even neck pain. But situations including the thoracic area can still lead to discomfort, pain and soreness.

The upper part of the back contains two major functions in the body. Its first function is to give a protective barrier on the major organs in the body. Next is to shift the body weight between the head and the lower limits for the lower back has to remain flexible to be able to distribute weight of the body.

The main causes of upper back pain are grouped into two. First is dysfunction of the joint and the other one is soft tissue irritation.

Joint Dysfunction

The spine has many little bones and soft tender tissues in between. When the joints here stop to function correctly, distress usually begins.

Soft Tissue Irritation

The irritation of the soft tissue occurs when the tissues are over exerted or when an injury happens. These soft tissues clasp the vertebrae together and retain the flexibility of the spinal column.

Working the muscles out can also cause them to over exert. For example, working too much in front of the computer can bring discomfort to the upper back. Muscles in the upper back can also get tensed. Then they later on become tired out and rigid.

Some less common problems related to the upper back includes arthritis, fibromyalgia, a herniated disc, and osteoporosis. Because these problems are a little severe already, treating this kinds of conditions can be done through surgery.

There are also treatment for upper back pain that can be done in order to maintain the upper back healthy. Such treatment includes chiropractic treatment, upper back exercises, massage therapy and physical therapy. Exercises have to be done in order to enhance flexibility of the upper back. Physical therapy, on the other hand, has to include stretching exercise and massage to help the body in a natural way. Chiropractic manipulation can help in straightening and aligning the spine. Massage therapy, on the other hand, can be given by a therapist or a massage chair that is controlled by a machine.

As you can see, there are a lot of treatments for upper back pain. A doctor or chiropractor can help determine the cause of the pain and the proper treatment for you. Just keep in mind that diagnosis of this condition can be very complex and difficult. The test results are not always 100% accurate. In treatment, it is still best to consult your doctor and find out the best options that are suitable for you.