{"id":5419,"date":"2019-04-08T08:12:46","date_gmt":"2019-04-08T08:12:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simplyhealth.today\/?p=5419"},"modified":"2021-03-30T15:54:39","modified_gmt":"2021-03-30T15:54:39","slug":"14-early-signs-of-rheumatism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplyhealth.today\/14-early-signs-of-rheumatism\/","title":{"rendered":"14 Early Signs of Rheumatism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The most easily recognizable early indicators of rheumatism are stiffness and localized or widespread joint pain that lingers for more than just a few days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The overall wellbeing of a person, including how they feel psychologically and emotionally can contribute to recognizing the early signs, but some of these indicators are specific to certain joints throughout the body. Starting to feel like a robot without any oil is a good way of looking at it, even if humor provides little by way of consolation to the person suffering the symptoms.
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When a person’s joints are affected by symptoms like stiffness and pain, rheumatism is more likely to be indicated than when psychological and emotional indicators are presented. These are more subjective early signs that shouldn’t necessarily be discounted but are only really valuable when experienced with more common indicators of rheumatism.
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Some of these early signs of the condition are listed below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.  Fatigue<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A long time before any other symptoms or early indicators start to develop, a person with rheumatism may start to feel extremely fatigued. This extreme tiredness and gaping lack of energy or motivation can lead to the person feeling depressed. Everyday activities such as going to work or taking the kids to the park can be hit hard by fatigue<\/a>, with the person feeling absolutely no \u2018get up and go’ spirit, whether they’re usually a couch potato or an ultra-runner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rheumatism doesn’t care about your daily activities. Relationships are frequently tested by fatigue, as when one person is not able to hold up their end of the bargain or live up to expectations, tensions mount and communication breaks down. Relationships are about all about giving and taking, rheumatism simply takes all your energy without giving anything back. Unsurprisingly, sex drive is affected by fatigue as well, only serving to exacerbate any negative effects on a relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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2.  Slight fever<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

No one likes a fever<\/a>. The excessive shivering and constant insistence that the house is freezing, whilst everyone around you is telling you to keep cool. How can you possibly be burning up when you feel like a block of ice? It all seems so alien until you find yourself sweating profusely just moments later and throwing the bead sheets off like a crazy person. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fever that is an early indication of rheumatism is a little more sneaky than the above example portrays, a little more slight. It comes in on the quiet, in the form of an ever so slightly raised temperature that can often be missed, overlooked or ignored. This early sign of rheumatism often sneaks in the back door with its similarly disguised accomplice, fatigue, and may well be attributed to something nowhere near as serious as rheumatism, until the effects on the joints start to manifest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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3.  Weight loss<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is an early sign that some people mightn’t consider being too much of a negative. It could be a quick fix solution to the weight problems you’ve been having. Unfortunately, weight loss that comes as an early indicator of rheumatism <\/a>is nothing to celebrate. The unexplainable weight loss, which is the third early warning sign of rheumatism, could be an indirect effect of the inflammation occurring in the body. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More research needs to be conducted in order to certify this, however, whilst there is another theory that requires little further research at all. When we are feeling full of a fever, as with the second symptom in this list, or unusually fatigued, as with the first, one of the first things a person is likely to lose is their appetite, given that the body’s demand and need for energy is lessened significantly. Consuming fewer and fewer calories as fever and fatigue persist will unsurprisingly cause a person to shed more than a few pounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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4.  Stiffness<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Joint stiffness <\/a>could be yet another early indicator of the development of rheumatism. Stiffness which occurs in a couple of small joints, sometimes the fingers, can come on slowly before lasting for a period of around five to ten days. Localized stiffness can be one indicator for sure, however, when this is combined with an overarching, more general feeling of stiffness, throughout the body, the symptom may be more easily determined to be an early indication of rheumatism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being still for long periods can cause this particular type of stiffness for most people, but it is how long it persists and how much it affects everyday functionality which should help a person decide whether or not it is merely stiffness, or stiffness associated with rheumatism. One frequent complaint from people living with rheumatism is the experience of morning stiffness, which obviously comes from having been still overnight. If a patient feels well enough to keep moving, they should try their best to stay on the go to keep stiffness at bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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5.  Joint tenderness<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One further typical early sign of rheumatism is joint tenderness <\/a>that affects the hands, feet, fingers, and toes. The hands are most commonly affected at the joint in the middle of the hand, as well as towards the bottom of the fingers, where the skin may feel sore and tender when pressed or during movement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where the feet are concerned, it is the base of the toes which may feel the most tenderness and pain, as it is here where the pressure is absorbed, causing people to walk on their heels or raise their toes ever so slightly as they walk. Whilst these changes in gait and stance happen as a subconscious reaction to pain, the knock-on effects can be damaging. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The joints of the fingers and toes may also experience a sense of numbness or tingling that a person is not familiar with. This is brought about by the inflammation and only serves to make the joint tenderness and associated pain all the more acute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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6.  Joint pain<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Pain <\/a>is a very strange and complex thing that is still widely misunderstood both in a medical context and in the eyes of an untrained public. Usually, though, pain is a sign that something is wrong and certainly in the case of rheumatism, joint pain in the wrists, fingers, and feet can be an early indication of the presence of the condition. The associated inflammation of rheumatism causes the lining of the joints to thicken, resulting in extra joint fluid being produced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These factors on their own are problematic, but when they combine forces they can really irritate the nerve endings, triggering pain sensors and really adding injury to existing injury. The maneuverability and manipulation of a person’s wrists and ankles can be difficult as the disease progresses, meaning that ligaments and tendons can be affected. Usually, the wrists and ankles become stiff, painful and awkward to bend or straighten.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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7.  Joint swelling<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The appearance of swollen hands and feet, either unilaterally or bilaterally, is a very common indicator of the presence of rheumatism. In fact, swelling<\/a>, on top of pain, may well be the most commonly mentioned indicator that people bring up with medical professionals. The reason for this is simple. If it doesn\u2019t look right, the chances are that it isn’t right, and so even when swelling is fairly subtle, people tend to act on it and seek advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people with rheumatism notice that the swelling occurs on both legs or both arms at the same time and symmetrical occurrence of swelling with no obvious reason could well be a good indicator of rheumatism, as symmetry is fairly typical with this disease. Caution is best exercised here though, as not everyone with the condition experiences symmetrical swellings. The symptoms have common traits throughout every person they affect, but the disease manifests differently in every one unfortunate enough to develop it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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8.  Joint redness and warmth<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A red appearance in the joints can tell a person that they are suffering from inflammation, with no need to seek medical advice to confirm that fact. Discoloration of the skin that surrounds an affected joint as it happens, particularly when that joint is in the hands or feet, is a very useful early sign of rheumatism. The red coloration happens as the inflammation sets a chain reaction into motion, where blood vessels<\/a> try to widen in the skin surrounding the joint. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stretched, but wider vessels mean that more blood is able to flow to the affected area, bringing with it the means to repair and oxygenate. The color that comes with it is avoidable and so much like with a bruise, the blood under the surface of the skin causes a change in the color of the skin externally. The warmth that is experienced in partnership with this redness can also be used as an early sign of the presence of rheumatism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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