There are over one hundred different types of arthritis that have been classified and the list just seems to be growing. While many of them have very similar lists of symptoms, there might be a few differences. In most cases, inflammation of the joints and the pain and stiffness that arises from this is the main factor that distinguishes it as some type of arthritis. Let’s take a look at the main types of arthritis that people suffer from today. Arthritis can be broadly classified into two categories under which most of the types fall. These are the degenerative and the inflammatory category. While in the first, wear and tear causes the inflammation and the pain, in the second, the inflammation causes the pain and the stiffness.
Some of the common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, cervical spondylitis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, gout, and lupus. There are of course many more but these are the more common ones that affect people around the world.
Osteoarthritis is a condition where the cartilage that is found between the joints to cushion them wears away and this degeneration makes the bones to rub against each other causing inflammation and pain. This condition can happen in the knees, the hips, the fingers and the spine.
In rheumatoid arthritis which is an autoimmune disease, there is inflammation in the joints which can spread to the tissues around as well. This is also called a systemic disease and very often it spreads to various organs in the body if it is not detected and treated. The trouble is, there may be long spells when there are no symptoms whatsoever and then suddenly, the pain can come on strong. Even when there is no pain, the inflammation can cause degeneration of the cartilage and the tissues. Rheumatoid arthritis affects many more women than men.
Cervical spondylitis happens when there is a degeneration of the disks in the neck. What begins as a stiff neck can progressively become, literally, a pain in the neck that is unbearable. Very often, the pain travels to the head and the shoulders down to the arms. If left untreated, this could lead to muscle weakness and even a loss of balance. The condition can degenerate very quickly to a point when movement becomes painful and very difficult. Further down the spine, a condition called ankylosing spondylitis is also a difficult type of arthritis to control. It affects the spine and the pelvis and the degeneration can cause the fusion of the vertebrae in the spine. This could be the cause of a lot of pain for the person who suffers from it. It affects young men usually and starts off as a low back pain which gets worse as the disease progresses.
Another type of arthritis is called psoriatic arthritis where the person suffers from both psoriasis as well as arthritis. In this case, it affects both men and women but while women usually develop rheumatoid arthritis, the men develop spondylitis.
Gout is also a form of arthritis where the uric acid in the body is deposited in some joints, especially the big toe and it can be very painful. Yet another type is called lupus, an autoimmune form of arthritis which affects various parts of the body like the joints, the heart, kidneys and the lungs and it occurs more in women than in men.
There are many more types of arthritis including certain types that affect children. For all types, medical help should be sought as soon as possible as an early diagnosis means hope of controlling and even eliminating the inflammation, the degeneration and the pain.