Arthritis: It hurts, like... really hurts

What is Arthritis?
The term "Arthritis" in literal definition means inflammation of the joints but is more commonly used to describe any condition regarding severe pain in the joints. Arthritis is a condition that affects your joints. There are more than 100 different types of arthritis and closely related conditions that anyone of any age can suffer from, and can involve almost any part of the body; knees, hips, spine, and other joints that bear heavy weight. This can also include smaller joints such as fingers and toes.  This condition occurs when your joints become damaged or worn out. The actual cause of Arthritis will be explained further later in this post as well as the different types of Arthritis. 

The joints in your body...
Almost every day, you move your arms up and down, exactly how is this possible? Most people don't give it much thought, however, moving your arms or legs in this manner would not be possible without specialized structures called joints. The most common joints are freely movable joints in the body called Synovial joints. Synovial joints are the most movable part of the body. In the human anatomy, a joint is a physical connection between two bones. For example, the knee joint is the point of connection between the femur, or thigh bone. There are six types of synovial joints, without these joints, your body could not move like it does today. 

The Pivot Joint

The Pivot joint is also known as the rotary joint and allows for rotational movement. This type of joint can be found between your neck vertebrae. When you turn your head side to side, its due to the rotary movement allowed in the Pivot joints. 





The Hinge Joint
These joints can be found between your upper and lower arm bones, aka your elbow, as well as your ankles, fingers, toes and feet. Hinge joints operate like hinges on a door. They allow for a swinging motion, where bones can either flex towards each other or extend apart. If you twist or overextend these joints, it can result in injury. 





The Saddle Joint
Saddle joint is similar to the Hinge joint, but provide more range of motion. In the Saddle joint, the bone sitting on the saddle can move in an oval shape relative to the other bone. Our thumb is a classic example of a Saddle joint, thumbs can move using a hinge-like motion but can also rock from side to side. This is because of the Saddle joint. It's the Saddle joint that makes our thumbs opposable. Human thumbs are called opposable thumbs because they can be moved around to touch the other fingers, which gives people the ability to grasp onto things. 







The Plane Joint
Plane joints, sometimes called gliding joints, are probably the most difficult joint type to visualize. They are usually associated with the small bones of your wrists and ankles. In this type of joint, bones slide along beside one another. This allows for movement in many directions, hence the flexibility of the wrists. These bones also are in your spine and ankles.  






The Condycloid Joint
Next, we have the Condocloid joint. These joints form where the head of one or more bones fits in a cavity of another. You'll find this type of connection in your wrists where it connects to the radius, or lower arm, and carpel, or wrist bones. These are characterized by one bone having an outwardly curved end while the other end is inwardly curved. The shape allows us to move the joint in two different ways, side to side, and up and down. 




The Ball and Socket Joint
This type of joint allows for a wide range of rotation and movement. Your hip and shoulder joints are the only Ball and Socket joints in the body, due to the need for great motion at the end of the bodies limbs and the vast amount of muscles needed to move and support such flexible joints. Two main compartments make up a Ball and Socket joint: a bone with a spherical head and a bone with a cup-like socket. In the shoulder joint, the spherical head of the humerus bone fits into the cavity of the scapula. The hip joint is somewhat less mobile than the shoulder but is an overall stronger and more stable joint. The added stability of the hip joint is necessary to bear the weight of the body resting on the legs while performing actions such as walking or standing. 



The Anatomy of a joint 
The joints are where the ends of two of your bones meet. The Cartilage is a type of tissue that covers the surface of a bone at the joint. Cartilage helps reduce the friction of the two bones, reducing the risk of wearing of the bones. The Synovial Membrane lines the joints and seals it into a joint capsule. Not only does it do that, but the Synovial Membrane also creates a clear, sticky fluid called Synovial Fluid. The job of the Synovial Fluid is to lubricate the cartilage. Strong Ligaments surround the joint to give support and hold everything together. 

The different types of Arthritis

As there are hundreds of different types of Arthritis, I will only include three in my list... 

Osteoarthritis

Sometimes called degenerative joint disease or degenerative arthritis, Osteoarthritis is the most common chronic condition of the joints. Osteoarthritis can affect any joint, but it occurs most commonly in knees, hips, lower back and neck, small joints of the fingers, and bases of thumbs and big toe. In normal joints, cartilage provides a smooth, gliding surface for joint motion and acts as a cushion between the bones. In cases of Osteoarthritis, the cartilage breaks down, causing pain, swelling and problems moving the joint. As Osteoarthritis worsens over time, bones may break down and develop growths called spurs. Bits of bone or cartilage may chip off and float around in the joint. In the body, an inflammatory process occurs and proteins and enzymes develop that further damage the cartilage. In the final stages of Osteoarthritis, the cartilage wears away completely and the bones rub against each other leading to joint damage and more pain for the patient. There are many reasons why someone might develop Osteoarthritis, such as excessive exercise, very little exercise, being overweight, or commonly, aging. Symptoms of Osteoarthritis include swelling around the joint, stiffness of the joint, weakness in the muscles, and painful cracking of joints. There are many different forms of treatment for Osteoarthritis, but most include some sort of painkilling pills. 

Gout Arthritis 
Gout is a form of inflammatory arthritis that develops in some people who have high levels of Uric acid in their blood. Uric acid comes from a protein called Purines that come from food. Usually Uric acid just passes through your body, but in certain circumstances, such as being overweight, the uric acid builds up. The acid can form needle-like crystals in a joint and cause sudden, severe episodes of pain, tenderness, redness, warmth and swelling. These crystals damage the cartilage. There are many stages of Gout. Asymptomatic hyperuricemia is the time prior to the first Gout attack. There are no symptoms, but uric acid levels are high and crystals are forming in the joint. Acute Gout, or a Gout attack, happens when something causes uric acids to spike or moves crystals that have formed in a joint, triggering the attack. The resulting inflammation and pain usually strikes at night and intensifies later. The symptoms ease after a few days and likely go away after 10 days. Interval Gout is the time between attacks. Although there's no pain, the Gout isn't fully gone. Low-level inflammation may be damaging joints. Chronic Gout develops in people with Gout whose uric acid levels remain high over a number of years. Attacks become more frequent and the pain may not go away as it used to. Joint damage is a common thing, which can lead to a loss of mobility. This stage is commonly preventable. 


Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation, pain, and swelling in the joints. It can occur at any age but most often develops between the age of 25 and 50, and affects women more commonly than men. Rheumatoid Arthritis typically starts in the small joints of the hands and feet but it can also affect other parts of the body as well as causing fatigue. The normal role of your body's immune system is to fight off infections. In an autoimmune disease, your immune system attacks healthy tissue instead, causing inflammation. In Rheumatoid Arthritis, the immune system attacks the synovium, a thin membrane that lines the joints and makes a fluid that helps them move smoothly. Inflammation thickens the synovium, resulting in swelling, and pain in and around the joints. Rheumatoid symptoms include swelling, stiffness, joints feeling hot and painful, fever, fatigue, weight loss, and decreased appetite. Rheumatoid Arthritis usually starts slowly and affects joints symmetrically. For some people, it develops very quickly.



Common Myths about Arthritis

1. Arthritis can't be prevented 
False, while it's true that you can't completely prevent arthritis, but there are ways that you can reduce the risk of getting it. You cannot do anything about some risk factors, such as being female. However, maintaining a healthy weight, staying physically healthy, not smoking, avoiding strain on muscles does somewhat decrease other risk factors. 

2. All Arthritis is the same
False, as mentioned many times in this post, there are more than 100 different types of arthritis, ranging from Osteoarthritis to Gout, there are many different types.

3. Popping your knuckles gives you Arthritis
False, this is one of the biggest myths. The reason you knuckles pop is because when you pull your bones, by stretching or cracking them, bubbles in the synovial fluid pop. This by no means increases the risk of getting arthritis. But can damage your hands in different ways. 

4. Only old people get Arthritis
False, as I have stated multiple times, arthritis can happen to anyone. 

5. Arthritis consists of minor aches and pains
False, If you read this post thoroughly, you would understand that arthritis is a very painful disease that many people around the world have to live with.