Speaking of Pain with Your Doctor | Arthritis Information

Rheumatoid arthritis is a systemic, inflammatory, autoimmune disorder. Inflammation causes redness, warmth, and swelling of the joints. Pain comes from the inflammation of the joints and tendons. Physicians seek to combat the inflammation at each phase of the immunologic process with:

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to control inflammation and pain in general; and
Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) to combat the overactive cells and their history and to alter the natural history of RA, possibly even halting the development of joint damage.

It's important that the cause of any pain be identified, if possible. People with RA can have pain from many other causes, just as anyone without RA does, and those causes need to be identified and treated, in hopes of curing or controlling the problem without long-term pain medication.

Nonetheless, people with RA still may have chronic pain, as well as acute severe pain episodes, either due to flares or to post-surgical pain. However, pain is often under-reported by patients and/or trivialized as a symptom by physicians.

http://www.hss.edu/conditions_14499.asp