Determining Which Type of Arthritis You Have

If you think you are suffering from arthritis, how are you going to know which of the 100 different types of arthritis you have? The way your doctor will figure it out is by looking at your symptoms. Things he will look for include:

• * Pain or tenderness in joints
• * Joint swelling and underlying inflammation
• * Stiffness and lack of flexibility in joints
• * Warmth and redness
• * Weight loss with no determinable reason

Do You Have Arthritis?

You should know that if you feel joint pain, swelling, and stiffness for more than two weeks, you need to see your doctor right away. He has a number of different methods he can use to determine if you really have arthritis, and if you do, what type of arthritis it is. He'll start by looking through your medical history for clues, and he'll check into your family background. He may do a physical exam, lab tests, and x-rays, and he'll assess your symptoms which will also give him clues.

Your doctor will need to determine which of the 100+ types of arthritis you are suffering from in order to treat the disease properly. Arthritis symptoms can come and go over the course of time. You might find yourself being unable to sleep, being depressed, feeling fatigued, and having a general ache in your muscles.

You may start having trouble functioning normally during household, work, or leisure activities because your stiff, painful joints just won't let you do them. Certain joints may refuse to work at all. Once-simple tasks such as getting out of bed, climbing the stairs, rising from a chair, and personal hygiene functions may become very challenging for you if not impossible.

If you see these symptoms and start suspecting you might have arthritis, the sooner you get to a doctor and start on an aggressive treatment plan, the better off you'll be. By getting an early start, you'll be able to start protecting your joints from further damage. You need to try and avoid putting excess stress on problematic joints. For example, if you are overweight, start losing some pounds. You can also use devices which are sold for the purpose of making you as mobile as possible.

The symptoms of arthritis can appear so gradually that you don't even realize you have them. There are a number of questions you should ask yourself in order to make sure you aren't missing the obvious:

• Do you have pain, stiffness, and swelling in joints?
• Have you noticed any symptoms during the past year?
• Have symptoms been present daily for over two weeks?
• Do you experience pain in knee and hip joints when taking a walk?
• Are your hand joints painful and swollen?
• Are normal daily activities becoming more difficult for you?

If you find yourself answering "yes" to questions like these, see your doctor right away.

You can test yourself in small ways throughout the day in order to evaluate if you are losing any of your mobility. Think consciously about how difficult it was getting dressed. Is it hard to bend your knees when putting on your pants? Do stiff fingers make buttoning buttons a challenge? Did you have trouble standing up from the straight chair after eating breakfast? Did you have any problems getting into or out of the car? If you do a number of these mini-assessments every day or even once a week, you'll know that you're taking control of your health in a positive way.