What Causes Joint Pains?
Joint pain is a common condition characterized by pain, discomfort or soreness in one or more joints in the body. The joints affected are usually the knees, shoulders, neck, elbows and hips. The intensity and duration of pain depend on the underlying cause. The pain is usually temporary and subsides on its own.
However, if the pain is due to an underlying medical condition such as strains, sprains, arthritis, osteoarthritis, bursitis, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer in the joints. This may then require long-term treatment or pain management.
Joint Pain Symptoms Some of the most common signs and symptoms associated with joint pain are:
- severe or moderate pain
- joint stiffness
- joint immobility
- joint redness
- joint swelling
- joint tenderness
- couple heat
- joint deformity
Joint Pain Causes Joint pain can result from a number of medical conditions. The most common causes of joint pain are:
- Osteoarthritis: This is a condition that occurs when cartilage, the protective shock-absorbing cushion that surrounds the space between the ends of bones in a joint, wears away. Osteoarthritis usually affects the joints of the hands, knees, wrists and hips. Due to the breakdown of cartilage, the joints become stiff and painful. The condition usually affects people over the age of 40 and the risk increases with age.
- Rheumatoid Arthritis: RA is a chronic inflammatory condition in which an overactive immune system attacks the body's own tissues. The auto-immune disorder causes swelling, inflammation and pain in the joints. Joints affected by RA (usually in the wrists and fingers) become deformed over time. The condition can strike at any age. Women are at higher risk of RA than men.
- Gout: This is a type of arthritis associated with sudden and severe pain, swelling, tenderness, and redness in the joints. The condition occurs when there are high levels of uric acid in the blood. Excess uric acid often accumulates in the joints as sharp and needle-like urate crystals. It usually affects one joint (usually the big toe) at a time. The condition can affect people over 30 and men are at a higher risk of gout than women. However, the risk of gout increases significantly in post-menopausal women.
- Tendinitis: This is a condition characterized by inflammation in the tendons (the fibrous connective tissue that connects bones and muscles). Tendinitis commonly affects the tendons in the knees, wrists, shoulders, elbows and heels. In most cases, tendinitis causes pain. Sustains with medication, proper rest and physical therapy.
- Bursitis: This is a painful condition caused by inflammation in the bursa (the fluid-filled sac around the joint). The shoulders, hips, knees and elbows are commonly affected by bursitis. This is mainly due to repetitive and frequent movements.
- Injury: Joint pain can also be caused by injury such as a broken bone, sprain (rupture of ligaments that connect bones in a joint) or dislocation (displacement of one or more bones from their normal positions in the joint).
Other causes of joint pain include:
- Adult Still's disease
- Movement in the joints of the spine - obstructive inflammation
- avascular necrosis
- Arthritis in children of unknown cause
- psoriatic arthritis
- reactive arthritis
- rheumatic fever
- Leukemia
How is joint pain diagnosed?
The diagnosis process for joint pain usually involves a physical examination. The doctor may also ask some questions related to your history of symptoms and joint pain and other medical conditions. You may be asked to undergo a joint X-ray examination. This helps the doctor identify whether joint pain is due to damage from a condition related to arthritis. Depending on the symptoms and other factors, your doctor may order a blood test to check if joint pain is caused by an inflammatory auto-immune disorder. Sedimentation rate tests may also be requested to detect the level of inflammation in your body.
Medical clinic in Abu Dhabi
Adam and Eve Specialized Medical Centre provides treatment for joint pains and any diseases that cause this condition. Consult our orthopedic doctor so your joint pains can be treated immediately.
