StemCell Therapy

Reactive arthritis can cause painful joint swelling and in most cases it clears up completely within months..

The condition - whihc is different to osteoarthritis and rheuamtoid arthritis - most commonly develops after infections of the bowel or genital tract.

Arthritis Research UK said: Unlike septic arthritis, reactive arthritis isnt caused by an active infection within your joints.

With reactive arthritis the inflammation in your joints is a reaction to an infection elsewhere in your body. Reactive arthritis is diagnosed if you suddenly develop arthritis, especially in your knees or ankles, just after suffering an infection.

GETTY

Sometimes the infection may have been so mild that you didn't notice it.

The charity said the first signs of the condition can be pain and swelling, usually in the joints in the legs - knees ankles or toes.

It said the swelling may happen suddenly or develop over a few days after the affected joint becomes stiff.

Other joints including the fingers, wrists, elbows and the joints at the base of your spine (sacroiliac joints) can also become inflamed.

Getty

1 of 12

GETTY

ith reactive arthritis the inflammation in your joints is a reaction to an infection elsewhere in your body

Reactive arthritis can also cause inflammation of the tendons around the joints, such as the Achilles tendon at the back of the ankle.

Joint pain and swelling are often the only symptoms of reactive arthritis. But other possible symptoms include:

inflamed, red eyes (conjunctivitis) scaly rashes over your hands or feet (known as keratoderma blenorrhagica) diarrhoea, which may start some time before the arthritis mouth ulcers inflammation of the genital tract which produces a discharge from your vagina or penis a sore rash over the end of the penis weight loss and fever.

GETTY

The charity said reactive arthritis can affect people of all ages, including children.

It generally affects a younger average age group than rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis.

Although there isnt a family tendency to develop reactive arthritis, if you have a particular gene, HLA-B27, you may be more likely to develop the condition.

This gene is carried by about one in 14 - seven per cent - of the general population.

The charity said: Having the HLA-B27 gene could also make you more likely to have further episodes of reactive arthritis in the future.

To find out more visit Arthritis Research UK

Excerpt from:
Arthritis symptoms - THIS condition could be triggered by bowel infection and last months - Express.co.uk

This entry was posted on May 6, 2017 at 1:41 am and is filed under Arthritis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |