If you feel pain and stiffness in your body or have trouble moving around, you might have arthritis. Most kinds of arthritis cause pain and swelling in your joints. Some kinds of arthritis can also cause problems in your organs, such as your eyes or skin. Types of arthritis include:
- Osteoarthritis, the most common type of arthritis, which is often related to aging or to an injury.
- Autoimmune arthritis, which happens when your body’s immune system attacks healthy cells in your body by mistake. Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common form of this kind of arthritis.
- Juvenile arthritis, a type of arthritis that happens in children.
- Infectious arthritis, an infection that has spread from another part of the body to the joint.
- Psoriatic arthritis, which affects people with psoriasis.
- Gout, a painful type of arthritis that happens when too much uric acid builds up in the body. It often starts in the big toe.
Osteoarthritis (OA) symptoms range from stiffness and mild pain that comes and goes to pain that doesn’t stop, even when you are resting or sleeping. Sometimes OA causes your joints to feel stiff after you haven’t moved them for a while, like after riding in the car.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease, a type of illness that makes your body attack itself. RA causes pain, swelling, and stiffness that lasts for hours. People with RA often feel tired or run a fever.
Gout is one of the most painful kinds of arthritis. It most often happens in the big toe, but other joints can also be affected. Swelling may cause the skin to pull tightly around the joint and make the area red or purple and very tender.
Treatments can vary for different types of arthritis but often include rest, icing, hot baths, exercise, a healthy diet, use of special shoes or a cane, and medications like ibuprofen, naproxen, and acetaminophen.
