Diseases which cause joint pain

Examples of such disorders are bursitis Bursitis Bursitis is painful inflammation of a bursa a flat, fluid-filled sac that provides cushioning where skin, muscles, tendons, and ligaments rub over bones.

Movement is usually painful, and bursae Tenosynovitis is tendinitis accompanied by inflammation of the protective covering around the tendon tendon sheath. The cause is not always known. True joint pain arthralgia may or not be accompanied by joint inflammation arthritis. The most common symptom of joint inflammation is pain. Inflamed joints may also be warm and swollen, and less often the overlying skin may be red. Arthritis may involve only joints of the limbs or also joints of the central part of the skeleton, such as the spine or pelvis.

Pain may occur only when a joint is moved or may be present at rest. Other symptoms, such as rash, fever, eye pain, or mouth sores, may be present depending on the cause of the joint pain. Different disorders tend to affect different numbers of joints. Because of this, doctors consider different causes of pain when the pain affects one joint see Joint Pain: Single Joint Joint Pain: Single Joint Pain that is isolated to just one joint is called monoarticular joint pain.

A joint may simply be painful arthralgia or may also be inflamed arthritis. Arthritis usually causes warmth, swelling When multiple joints are involved, some disorders are more likely to affect the same joint on both sides of the body for example, both knees or both hands than other disorders.

This is termed symmetric arthritis. Also, in some disorders, an attack of arthritis remains in the same joints throughout the attack. In other disorders, the arthritis moves from joint to joint migratory arthritis. In most cases, the cause of pain originating inside multiple joints is arthritis. Disorders that cause arthritis may differ from each other in certain tendencies, such as the following:. The beginning of a joint disorder or a flare up of an existing chronic joint disorder such as rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid Arthritis RA Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory arthritis in which joints, usually including those of the hands and feet, are inflamed, resulting in swelling, pain, and often destruction of joints Joint inflammation can develop in people who have Gout Gout Gout is a disorder in which deposits of uric acid crystals accumulate in the joints because of high blood levels of uric acid hyperuricemia.

The accumulations of crystals cause flare-ups Less common causes of acute arthritis in multiple joints include Lyme disease Lyme Disease Lyme disease is a tick-transmitted infection caused by Borrelia species, primarily by Borrelia burgdorferi and sometimes by Borrelia mayonii in the United States. These spiral-shaped bacteria These gram-positive, sphere-shaped coccal bacteria see figure How Bacteria Shape Up cause many disorders Joint pain Inflammatory disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid Arthritis RA Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory arthritis in which joints, usually including those of the hands and feet, are inflamed, resulting in swelling, pain, and often destruction of joints Problems in the The noninflammatory disorder osteoarthritis Osteoarthritis OA Osteoarthritis is a chronic disorder that causes damage to the cartilage and surrounding tissues and is characterized by pain, stiffness, and loss of function.

Arthritis due to damage of joint Juvenile idiopathic arthritis Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis JIA Juvenile idiopathic arthritis is a group of related childhood diseases that begin by age 16 and involve persistent or recurring inflammation of the joints. Certain forms of juvenile idiopathic Some chronic inflammatory disorders can affect the spine as well as the limb joints called the peripheral joints.

People who play certain sports, such as soccer, basketball, or football, are more at risk of injuring their ACL. Some infections may result in joint pain. For example, the hepatitis C virus HCV can cause complications that result in joint pain. It is common for people with HCV to have related rheumatic diseases, which can cause problems, including pain in the joints.

Some diseases can cause joint pain. Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease, and common symptoms include muscle and joint pain. In fact, joint pain is the first symptom for more than half of those who develop lupus. Arthritis and arthralgia are very similar but have key differences.

Both describe joint pain, but arthralgia occurs without the distinct inflammation in the joint that characterizes arthritis. Nearly half of adults with arthritis report persistent joint pain.

There are more than different kinds of arthritis , including:. The cause of arthritis varies among the different types. OA results from cartilage loss in the joints. Calcification of the cartilage around the joints eventually makes the cartilage thinner before damaging it.

Older adults are more likely to develop OA. RA is an autoimmune response to a trigger. The body tries to fight off what it thinks is an invader but instead degrades the cartilage and bones in the joints. Gout occurs due to the crystallization of uric acid in the body. Uric acid gets into the joint spaces, causing inflammation.

In most cases, septic arthritis results from a bacterial infection. Pseudogout is similar to gout, but usually affects the knee joint first. See your GP if you think you have gout or pseudogout. Damage to the cartilage at the back of the kneecap Knee pain that feels worse when you go up or down stairs could be a sign of a damaged kneecap, called chondromalacia patellae. This should not cause any redness or heat around the knee.

The cause is not understood, but it can be linked to overuse of the knee. Bleeding into the joint space If you have recently had an injury to the knee joint, such as a torn ligament or knee fracture, it may cause bleeding into the joint spaces.

The pain may come and go in the early stages, with long periods between attacks. It can make you feel generally unwell and tired. Find out more about the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis Psoriatic arthritis Psoriatic arthritis affects up to 1 in 5 people with psoriasis. This type of arthritis is unpredictable, but flare-ups can usually be controlled with treatment.

Multiple sclerosis is another autoimmune disease which can indirectly lead to joint pain. Primary bone cancer — that is cancer that starts in the bone — is rare. Secondary bone cancer is cancer in the bone that has spread from cancer in another part of the body. Bone cancer may cause joint pain as well as aching, throbbing or stabbing pain in the bone. The pain may be worse at night or during activity. BMJ Best Practice. Assessment of inflamed joint. Last reviewed May Rheumatoid arthritis.

Published March MSD Manual. Professional version. Pain in and around a single joint. Last reviewed Sept Therapeutic Guidelines. Skip to content. Symptoms of joint pain Joint pain is a common symptom, and the pain can range from mild to debilitating. The pain may be accompanied by swelling, heat, tenderness, stiffness or inflammation.

If you have joint pain accompanied by these symptoms, you should see a doctor: loss of range of motion and difficulty moving the joint stiffness joints that are red or feel warm to the touch swelling in the joint tenderness of the joint If these symptoms are present, see a doctor immediately:. Author: myDr. Psoriatic Arthritis — Dr. Norman Swan Arthritis October 31, ,. What is so bad about codeine, anyway?

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