I wanted to ask you if any of your joints with Osteoarthritis swell, even a little? It drives me nuts trying to discern RA from OA as I supposedly have both. Also do any of those joints turn red?
Thanks for your help.
Absolutely they swell - all of them. It's a little harder to tell with my hips, cause I have a lot of "natural" puffiness, LOL. But my hands, elbows, feet and ankles swell up and down. My knees are swollen all the time. I do not have any redness, however.
I don't know if that helps, or if it confuses things more, LOL!
Only the most distal finger joints turn red from OA for me. They have to be in a sharp flare to do so.
My RD says that RA does not attack those joints as a rule. I think he has this one right because they have the knotty 'bumpy' look of an 85 yr olds. They have been that way since age 40. Thanks Hillhoney it does help.
Marian the second joint on my fingers are the red ones of mine and they have hard knots as well.
Bonny this stuff is really confusing - the 2nd joint is typically red from RA, but hard knots belong to OA (usually). I'm sure you know this but you can have more than one kind of arthritis in the same joint and at the same time.
I can't tell if my knee and elbow pain is from RA or the OA or both at once.
OA can be inflammatory too. My brother has 'only' OA but both hips hit an extreme level of inflammation, after a year of this agony, he had both hips replaced last year at age 47, one in Jan the other in Oct. Got a letter from him this week. He bragged of no hip pain at all, some knee and some foot pain, but no hip pain. He is thrilled.
These days I think of the never ending aching, and puffy swelling, and tendonitis, and fatigue as RA. The grinding, catching, locking up, and the just letting go thing as OA. I don't think it matters very much when both are present as to which is acting up the most - but I do find a shot of cortisone in the 'loudest' joints shuts them all up.
Marian glad to hear that your brother is doing so well. I plan to get a cortisone shot in the rear in early June so I can be outside in my flower beds this summer.I have a ??? about OA of the hips. Is the pain in the groin area or on the
lateral aspect of the hip area? I have bad groin pain on the L and it hurts to
walk. Does this sound like OA?
It depends on where the damage is. If you look at that joint, it does circle around. If you have pain in the groin they worry about a fracture. It might not be. It could also be fluid.
Best thing to do is get it checked out. Especially the hip because you don't want to risk a fall. And, they can do so much with shots and PT. Don't just live with that pain. It's very likely they can find a treatment to make it better.
I get fluid on my hip when it rains and it really hurts. That's forced me to use a cane. But that and PT has made that one pain quite manageable.
"I have bad groin pain on the L and it hurts to
walk. Does this sound like OA?"
I was told that was fibro. It is one of the pressure/whatever they call it points for fibro.
I was told by my rheumy that groin pain is a very clear sign of damage to the hip joint. Most people don't expect that, and honestly before I was diagnosed I would ask myself what the heck could be giving me groin pain, LOL. Lifting your leg and moving it to the side unsupported, such as when you are getting in a car or the bed causes the groin pain the most for me.For me no meds or cortisone shot, not a single drug
The colours of swell can be red initially, and then may turn into blackish/ blueish/purpleish. The surrounding veins surface, skin is tight and of course pain and immobility set in. Any hard knot formed is thru' years of suffering. In the past I tackle the problem with appropriate herbs.
Deanna, when it rains it hurts because the body is weak and is afraid of cold especially the body feeling the chill within. Especially the lips are dry, feeling thirsty, feverish and indigestion. Watermelon juice can help but for pain, herbal wine or herbal drink can help. This is the approach I solve the problem.
I have both OA and RA and have trouble discerning what pain is from what type. I was always told that my knees were OA because I had OA damage but when the surgeon did my knee replacements he said it was definitely not OA and definitely an inflammatory form of arthritis. Even then it took 4 years for anyone to diagnose RA. I have OA damage at the base of both thumbs but the wrist is definitely RA. My knees were always HOT and RED but still no one picked it up. I dont tend to worry so much about which is which I just treat them pretty much the same although when I am in a flare I know which ones are flaring at the time and figure they are for sure the RA joints.