Rheumatoid Arthritis Knee Pain

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Knee Pain

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) knee pain is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disorder that causes painful swelling and can eventually cause joint deformity and bone erosion.

rheumatoid arthritis knee

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can affect many joints in your body even your knees. This awful  disease is an immune system disorder in which the body attacks itself, and especially the joints. Knees are one of the common joints affected by rheumatoid arthritis pain. RA can occur at any age and can affect both knees.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune condition, which means it’s caused by the immune system attacking healthy body tissue. However, it’s not yet known what triggers this. Your immune system normally makes antibodies that attack bacteria and viruses, helping to fight infection.

rheumatoid arthritis knee

What Is Pannus formation?

Pannus is a type of extra growth in your joints. In addition, it can can cause pain, swelling, and damage to your bones, cartilage, and other tissue. Pannus is an abnormal tissue growth in the joints. This tissue can spread to your bones and cartilage, causing cartilage destruction, bone deterioration, pain, and inflammation. It most often results from rheumatoid arthritis, an inflammatory disease that affects your joints.

What are the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis in the knees?

Symptoms

  • warmth around the joint.
  • stiffness or locking of the joint, especially during cold weather or in the morning.
  • weakness or instability of the joint when you put weight on it.
  • difficulty moving or straightening your knee joint.
  • creaking, clicking, or popping noises when the joint moves.
Stick with low impact workouts

Walking is a excellent option for many patients with knee arthritis because it is a low-impact activity. Importantly low impact exercises don’t put undue stress on the joints. Furthermore, walking can increase the knee’s range of motion and keep it from becoming overly stiff.

Sadly, stiffness in the joints can be life changing. For instance, you may have difficulty getting out of bed or walking in the morning because of stiff and painful ankles, knees, or feet. It has been written that this stiffness is usually worse in the mornings and can last for 45 minutes or more. RA can also trigger swelling in the affected joints.

 RA commonly affects joints in the hands, wrists, and knees. In a joint with RA, the lining of the joint becomes inflamed, causing damage to joint tissue. This tissue damage can cause long-lasting or chronic pain, unsteadiness (lack of balance), and deformity (misshapenness). 

References-

Jeffrey L Jackson Patrick G O’MalleyKurt Kroenke 2003 Oct 7;139(7):575-88. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-139-7-200310070-00010. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14530229/
1998 May;27 Suppl 1:S18-24.  doi: 10.1016/s0720-048x(98)00038-2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9652497/
2017 Jun;31(3):319-333. doi: 10.1007/s00482-017-0199-9. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28293735/