Pain in all joints of the body

Joint problems often occur locally when a person has pain in a specific joint and can determine the location of the pain. But sometimes joint pain cannot be localized because all or some joints hurt at the same time. It is premature to talk about rheumatoid arthritis in this case, because, in addition to this pathology, there are other diseases in which the pain covers all the joints of the musculoskeletal system.

An attentive physician who will analyze patient complaints and identify cause-and-effect relationships can identify the reasons why all joints hurt at the same time. Far from so easy to determine the diagnosis, and with the most common general symptoms, it is not possible to isolate a specific pathology immediately, after a series of examinations. Therefore, if systemic joint pain occurs, do not delay the visit to the doctor.

If all the joints of the musculoskeletal system are severely diseased, there may be the following reasons:

• Pathologies of autoimmune origin and systemic allergic reactions.
Rheumatoid arthritis.
• Osteoarthritis.
• Chronic fatigue, increased physical activity.
• Body intoxication.
• Blood diseases.

When pain appears in some or all of the joints, you should immediately remember that such a situation is only a reaction to certain diseases, but not independent diseases. The only exceptions may be pathologies such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, when the immediate cause lies in damage to the cartilage itself.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

The disease refers to chronic autoimmune pathologies in which mainly the joints throughout the body are affected. A distinctive feature of rheumatoid arthritis is the involvement of many joints in the pathological process.

Cytokines, metalloproteinases and chemotactic cytokines play a key role in the inflammatory process. These are anti-inflammatory elements that activate the activity of immune cells of the human body. As a result, they move to the site of inflammation, i. e. to the joints of the human body and provoke a typical inflammatory response.

A typical manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis is damage to peripheral and symmetrical joints. When the disease worsens, the pathology affects the larger joints. The pathology mainly affects women, in men it occurs three times less often. It is diagnosed between the ages of thirty and fifty, but can sometimes appear in adolescents - this disease is called juvenile arthritis.

Despite the fact that scientists have clarified the immune nature of the disease, it is still not possible to determine the exact cause of rheumatoid arthritis - why anti-inflammatory cells acquire such pathological activity. To date, a genetic predisposition to rheumatoid arthritis has been proven, and it is also shown that negative factors such as smoking, transmission of viral diseases, etc. , Affect the occurrence of pathologies.

The course of the disease is due to the activation of immune complexes, which are produced by the synovial membrane and found in blood vessels. A rapid reaction to them is the rheumatoid factor - antibodies produced in these complexes. And in some cases, they appear on their own, without the presence of provocative factors.

HELP!At an early stage of pathology development, macrophages migrate to the affected areas, after a while the number of lymphocytes increases there. Release of inflammatory mediators and provokes the development of pathological process throughout the body.

If a chronic lesion of the synovium occurs, then instead of its usual thickness it becomes denser and thicker, grows and forms folds in the form of clumps on its surface. Synovial fluid cells produce stromelysin and collagenase, which contributes to destructive processes in cartilage tissue. The inflammatory process is improved by the production of prostaglandins, fibrin deposits appear and necrotic processes.

Overcrowded synovial tissue provokes inflammatory mediators that contribute to the destruction not only of cartilage but also of bone tissue, ligaments and joint capsule. In the joint fluid itself, the number of leukocytes increases.

Small joints of the body become covered with characteristic rheumatoid nodules when the nodule changes shape and becomes ugly in appearance. The content of such rheumatoid nodules is the necrotic part of macrophages, fibroblasts and plasma cells. Similar nodes can be found in internal organs.

The disease progresses gradually. Patients suffer from general and local manifestations of the article - there is a characteristic stiffness in the joints in the morning, fatigue is observed, appetite is lost, body temperature rises to subfebrile. The condition of the joints becomes much better about an hour after waking up. The joints are affected symmetrically and usually rheumatoid arthritis affects the following joints:

• wrist.
• Second and third metacarpophalangeal.
• Supin.
• Knees.
• Kaviljet.
• Hip.
• Elbows.

In fact, the disease threatens every joint of the musculoskeletal system. The distal joints of the phalanx, as well as the axial skeletal elements, are the least involved.

The joints remain sore, swollen and red and become hot to the touch. To minimize painful sensations, patients try to keep their joints bent - this way they hurt less. Progression of the disease occurs in the first 5-6 years after the onset of the first pathological changes. And already ten years after the development of pathology, patients appear irreversible changes.

During this time, patients develop significant joint deformities and instability may occur. When the nerve branches are compressed, patients suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis of the knee joint, patients are threatened with Baker cyst, deep vein thrombosis, etc.

In parallel with the articular changes, extra-articular manifestations of the body are observed, which develop with the progression of the pathology in every third patient. An example of such manifestations may be rheumatoid nodules in the lungs, vasculitis, Felty syndrome, myocarditis.

Diagnosing the disease is not that difficult. Typical clinical criteria for rheumatoid arthritis are demonstrated in the blood, increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein and rheumatoid factor are found in significant quantities.

Patients' health status is specified on an X-ray image, which is done if rheumatoid arthritis is suspected. The disease is differentiated from osteoarthritis, sarcoidosis, psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, arthritis developed against the background of hepatitis C.

IMPORTANT!When making a diagnosis, it is necessary to take into account that the disease has a fairly high lethal outcome, but in rheumatoid arthritis is not associated with joint damage, but with pathological changes in the heart, internal bleeding.

Treatment of the disease is performed with supportive therapy, as well as powerful NSAIDs. It is recommended to give only an adequate load on the joints, add exercise therapy. If necessary, surgery is performed.

Osteoarthritis Osteoarthritis is another common pathology that can affect large and small joints. Various factors can provoke osteoarthritis, which, first of all, has a negative effect on the cartilage tissue of the ankle. Cartilage throughout the human body performs several functions and mainly becomes a shock absorber in the process of various movements. Constant stress leads to increased consumption in cartilage.

If people with good health and strong immunity have a chance to recover damaged tissue, then in elderly patients as well as in patients with increased joint stress, the synthesis of new fibers is almost non-existent and tissueof cartilage are not restored. Traditionally, osteoarthritis is considered to be a consequence of mechanical effects on tissues, but now doctors are considering previously transferred inflammatory diseases as factors in the development of systemic osteoarthritis.

A typical symptom of the disease is pain in all joints, as the matrix loses extremely important substances - glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate. The lack of these elements leads to the so-called displacement of the joint, i. e. cracks of different depths appear in the cartilage tissue.

Inflammatory processes can also disrupt the normal structure of cartilage tissue, therefore, when localized in the subchondral part of the bone, doctors often diagnose microfractures in patients. The ends of the bones in the joints are covered with growths - osteophytes. They serve to compensate for the consumed part of the cartilage, but in fact they bring even more negative sensations to patients.

Menopausal women are more susceptible to osteoarthritis.

Since the true cause of osteoarthritis has not been clarified, doctors identify several factors that contribute to the development of the disease:

• Congenital insufficiency of cartilage tissue, in which it is very easy to damage. For example, patients with such a pathology develop flat feet, and dislocations are often diagnosed - complete and incomplete.
• Gender is also one of the factors in the development of the disease, as according to statistics, osteoarthritis is twice as common in women than in men.
• Age characteristic - the disease usually develops in patients over forty-five years old, in women it coincides with the menopausal period.
• Mbipesha.
• Metabolic problems.
• Increased sports load on the joints.
• Traumatic joint injuries.

The disease develops in every joint, but usually the initial node is the one with the most physical activity. It can be localized in the knee joints, hip, elbow, etc.

The symptomatology of the disease is very obvious, so osteoarthritis can not be absent. In a person, with increased stress, the joints immediately begin to hurt, while the strength of the discomfort can be different: from a slight lowering in the joints to strong sharp pain in the joints. With movement, the pain increases, and at rest it becomes less pronounced.

In parallel with grief, patients suffer from cracking in the joints, the appearance of stiffness. Patients have limited movement. Especially in moments of disease progression, when reflex muscle spasms add to the pathology.

At a later stage in the development of the disease, patients develop a characteristic blockage of the joint - this is a sharp pain when the joint suddenly stops moving due to the appearance of severe joint pain. This is due to the entry of fragments of cartilage tissue into the cavity, blocking movement. If the disease is accompanied by inflammation, then there is swelling of the synovium, which is easy to visualize.

The development of osteoarthritis is quite individual. In some patients, X-rays show signs of pathology progression, but according to the sensations, the appearance of the disease does not change. At the same time, other patients feel severe pain, inflammation, and limited movement when the node itself in the picture appears satisfactory, according to the stage of pathology development.

Diagnosis of the disease is based on X-ray data and clinical signs of the disease. In parallel, you can do an ultrasound or magnetic resonance scan if there is a need to assess the presence of complications.

Doctors try to treat the disease taking into account the maximum preservation of mobility in the joint and the patient's ability to work professionally. Therefore, in therapy, it is extremely important to stop the progression of the disease, eliminate joint pain and alleviate inflammation.

At the moment, the treatment options for osteoarthritis are not limitless and treatment tactics are difficult to recognize as successful because it is not possible to recover joints. The disease passes into a chronic stage and you have to fight it constantly.

KIPSHILLA!However, such unsatisfactory predictions do not punish patients with disabilities - with successful therapy, you can learn to live with osteoarthritis and even maintain physical activity.

For treatment, doctors use the following sets of funds:

• Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
• Glucocorticosteroids.
• Chondroprotectors.
• Means for activating blood circulation.
• Muscle relaxants.

The therapy of the disease consists mainly of drugs that can maximally restore cartilage tissue and create metabolic processes in the joints. Therefore, the main emphasis is on chondroprotectors, the use of which begins immediately after the removal of inflammation. Treatment with chondroprotectors is long-term and the best result appears only with the start of timely treatment.

Other diseases

Rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis are the most common pathologies in which the joints ache and ache all over the body. But in addition to leaders in morbidity, there are other conditions that provoke pain in the articular joints.

Joint pain can be a manifestation of leukemia.

Joint pain can be a manifestation of blood disorders. Hematological pathologies today are the most difficult not only in diagnosis for the attending physicians but also in therapy. Often they are joined by an oncological factor and the diseases take on a completely different meaning for the patient. Usually joints all over the body are injured with leukemia - acute and chronic. At the same time, patients do not even suspect what this means, as blood test results show no abnormalities.

Arthralgia is not isolated, not only the articular elements are affected, but also the bones and muscles. Therefore, doctors advise patients with long-term painful sensations, it is necessary to consult not only with a traumatologist or orthopedic surgeon, but also with a hematologist, who may suspect a pathology and send the patient for additional research.

Body intoxication is another cause of joint pain. The fact is that the joints react extremely harshly to the uptake of toxins into the body, and if the joints begin to hurt and twist, then the impact of hazards at work, household waste intoxication, smoking and alcoholism may be to blame. Patients suffer from extremely unpleasant symptoms - all joints ache, as with the flu, the general condition of the body suffers.

Improving patients' health is possible after diagnosis. Detoxification therapy is performed, the blood is cleansed and, consequently, the joint fluid is free of toxins.

Most importantly

Pain in all joints of the body is not always associated with the pathology of the joints themselves. If the joints of the body are affected, then usually rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis is the cause. Symptoms are increasing rapidly, and the pathological process in the joints progresses.

In other cases, when joint pain is not accompanied by joint damage, discomfort may be a manifestation of systemic diseases, for example, blood leukemia, as well as osteoporosis, intoxication of the body, infection. Coping with the disease is not so easy, but it is much more difficult to diagnose the disease. Patients with the onset of joint pain should contact the clinic in a timely manner in order to begin treatment at an early stage.