Among the elderly, inflammatory disease of the cartilaginous tissue such as polyarthritis is often found - the symptoms of the disease resemble arthrosis or ordinary arthritis, but differ from it in that the disease consistently or simultaneously affects several joints at once. It is important to take up the treatment of pathology in time, as it has the property of rapidly progressing.
Disease of polyarthritis
As already mentioned, the disease in question is characterized by inflammatory processes in the joints and periarticular bags. Depending on the reasons that provoked this phenomenon, the clinical manifestations of the disease are different.
There are such types of polyarthritis:
- psoriatic;
- rheumatic or rheumatoid;
- exchange or crystalline;
- infectious;
- allergic.
Psoriatic polyarthritis - symptoms
From the name of the form of the disease it is clear that its cause is psoriasis. In addition to the signs of this disease, the following manifestations are observed:
- pain in different joints in the morning;
- lack of flexibility and mobility of limbs, fingers;
- redness and swelling of the skin around the affected joints;
- a strong inflammation of the digital tendons, an increase in their girth;
- pain in ligaments;
- anemia ;
- fatigue and weakness in the limbs;
- exfoliation of the nail plates;
- inflammatory processes in other parts of the body - conjunctivitis, dermatitis.
Signs of rheumatic polyarthritis
The main symptoms of this type of disease:
- sharp pain in the joints of both extremities (upper or lower), which has a symmetrical character;
- deformation of the joints;
- swelling of surrounding tissues, accompanied by reddening of the skin;
- increase in body temperature in the area of the region adjacent to the patient;
- the disappearance of these signs within a few days and their occurrence in other joints.
Exchange and gouty polyarthritis of the legs - symptoms
This type of disease is called crystalline because it is characterized by the deposition of salts in the cartilaginous tissue of the joint. A vivid example is gout, which begins as a result of the violation of purine metabolism in the body and leads to the growth of crystals of uric acid and salt. Most pathology affects the feet near the thumb.
Clinical symptoms:
- acute pain syndrome;
- swelling of the foot to the level of the ankle;
- hyperemia of soft tissues;
- the appearance of tofus (nodules) on the leg;
- rise in temperature to 38 degrees.
Infectious polyarthritis - symptoms
Depending on which infection caused the progression of the disease (tuberculosis, gonorrhea, syphilis, dysentery, brucellosis), its signs can be expressed in different ways. Common symptoms:
- pain that occurs, as a rule, under heavy loads and after a long stay at rest;
- deformation of affected joints;
- increased body temperature;
- redness of the skin;
- swelling;
- infringement of flexibility and mobility of joints;
- swollen lymph nodes.
It is worth noting that some infectious diseases that cause polyarthritis, practically do not affect the functionality of the joints.
Allergic polyarthritis - symptoms
The described form of the pathology arises from the ingress of an allergen into the body, usually after the injection of a vaccine or a drug provoking an immune reaction of the cells of the body.
Symptoms of the disease:
- pain syndrome in large joints;
- edema;
- urticaria ;
- feverish conditions;
- nausea with vomiting;
- spasms of the bronchi;
- increased heart rate;
- red spots on the skin.
With the removal of histamine from the blood, manifestations disappear after 5-10 days.