Why are my joints sore?

Symptoms:

You’re middle aged and you wake up each morning with stiffness in the joints of your hands, and the first joints in your fingers are swollen and tender.

You’ve got an illness which feels like flu but also pain in your joints and a fever. You think it’s just a virus.

You’ve had psoriasis in your skin for several years now and you’ve developed pain and swelling in the joints of your hands and feet. You get flare-ups which settle after a few weeks.

It could be:

Rheumatoid arthritis

which often stars off in the hands, feet and wrists. The pain may come and go with long periods between attacks but it can leave you feeling unwell and tired.

It is a virus! Viruses such as glandular fever and viral hepatitis quite commonly cause inflammation in the joints which usually gets better in a few weeks.

which affects up to one in five people with the skin condition psoriasis. One or more of your joints become swollen, stiff and difficult to move.

Stop it:

This is an autoimmune disease and you need specialist treatment so see your doctor for tests and referral to a rheumatologist. We now have drugs that can prevent the arthritis getting worse.

See your doctor to confirm the diagnosis and have tests to exclude anything serious. Take NSAIDS, like ibuprofen, for the pain and inflammation. See a doctor for a check-up if arthritis doesn’t subside.

Flare-ups need rigorous treatment so see your doctor/specialist in order to try and bring the arthritis under control.