What Is Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis?
Arthritis is a terrible condition that affects the quality of your life. But arthritis is more complex than you think. Most people confuse the two main types of arthritis: rheumatoid and osteoarthritis.
Both have extremely similar qualities. But each has different symptoms and even require different treatment.
Experiencing joint pain as you age is unfortunately common. But to relieve yourself of pain, you need to understand if you have arthritis and what kind of arthritis.
If you’re starting to show symptoms of arthritis, it’s important to understand the differences of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. You will receive an accurate diagnosis.
Read on to find out more about osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Osteoarthritis
This is the most common type of arthritis that causes pain and inflammation in your joints.
This pain constricts movement and makes daily activities difficult to complete. Osteoarthritis mainly affects your hands, spine, hips, knees, and feet. But osteoarthritis can affect any joint in your body.
Causes
Osteoarthritis is caused by degrading cartilage in your joints. Cartilage acts as a cushion between the bones of your joints. But when cartilage wears down, the bones are forced to rub together. This is why arthritis is painful.
Anyone can be at risk of developing osteoarthritis. But those at risk suffer from osteoarthritis in their genes, are overweight, or sustained injuries to the joints.
Symptoms
There are several symptoms associated with osteoarthritis. These include:
- Pain
- Stiffness when moving
- Muscle weakness
- Deformed joints
- Reduced range of motion
- Losing use of joints
- Joints making a cracking and creaking noise
While these are major symptoms of osteoarthritis, experiencing pain and stiffness in your joints doesn’t mean you have arthritis. But you should always see your doctor when experiencing joint pain.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Unlike osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis destroys the tissue in the joints. Rheumatoid arthritis is far rarer than osteoarthritis, only affecting a small portion of arthritis victims.
Causes
The exact cause of rheumatoid arthritis isn’t known. But rheumatoid arthritis isn’t caused by wear and tear of joints and tissues. Rather, it starts as an autoimmune disease.
Your body starts to attack itself and targets your joints. This is where the destruction of tissue occurs. Since it’s an autoimmune disease, most medical professionals believe it’s genetic.
Symptoms
The symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and similar to osteoarthritis. These include:
- Pain
- Swelling
- Stiffness
These symptoms attack the hands, wrists, elbows, ankles, feet, knees, and neck.
Those with severe cases of rheumatoid arthritis may experience pain, stiffness, and swelling in the heart, lungs, eyes, nerves, and blood vessels.
Rheumatoid arthritis can also cause nodules. These are bumps that form on your elbows, knuckles, spine and lower leg bones.
Get Checked for Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis
Both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are terrible conditions that can hinder your quality of life. Fortunately, there are options when preventing and treating this disease.
You can manage the pain and strengthen your joints so you can live your life normally.
The first step to improving your joint health is becoming educated on arthritis. Visit your doctor if you start experiencing joint pain or if arthritis runs in your family.
