How to Recognize Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms

About 1.5 million people in the United States have rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an autoimmune disease in which your own body’s immune system attacks your joints and organs. Nearly three times as many women have the disease as men.

“RA often begins between ages 40 and 60, but it can occur later in life too,” says Veena Ranganath, MD, MS, a rheumatologist with the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

Typical RA symptoms include pain, fatigue, and warm, swollen, reddish joints most often in the wrists and hands. Roughly one-third of patients have pain and swelling in the foot’s MTP joints, like the big joint of the big toe. The severity of RA varies and symptoms can change daily. A sudden increase in symptoms is called a flare, which can last days or even months.

RA has no cure, but medication helps to ease symptoms, reduce inflammation, and slow its progression.

RA can sometimes be tough to diagnose. People often ignore early signs as part of aging or forget about them after symptoms fade. Yet the earlier you can identify RA, the sooner you can begin treatments to help manage the condition and avoid permanent damage. “About 60 to 90 percent of RA patients develop destruction of the joints within two years without treatment,” says Dr. Ranganath. Consult with your doctor about possible RA if you have any of these signs:

• Firm lumps that grow under the skin near the affected joints and often appear on the back of the elbows.
• Numbness or tingling in the hands. A symptom of RA is carpal tunnel syndrome, which is marked by tingling in the wrist and hands. The sensation is often worse at night.
• Pain or inflammation in the forefoot or plantar fasciitis, a common disorder caused by swelling of the tissue on the bottom of the foot, near the heel.
• Joint-related injuries, like a sprained ankle that takes longer than usual to heal.
• Difficulty with everyday tasks, like opening bottles, doors, or faucets due to loss of dexterity.
• Dry eyes, mouth, nose, throat, or skin. This may be related to Sjogren’s syndrome, another RA symptom, which is caused by inflammation that prevents glands from releasing moisture.
• Morning stiffness that lasts for several hours and improves with activity.

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