Rheumatoid Arthritis

What is Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune condition. Instead of wear and tear, the problem is the immune system mistakenly attacking the synovium, the thin lining that wraps each joint. This drives persistent inflammation that can, over time, damage cartilage and bone.

It typically affects the same joints on both sides of the body, often starting in the small joints of the hands, wrists, and feet. The inflammation is not limited to the joints: it is a systemic disease that can cause fatigue and affect other organs.

Early diagnosis matters a great deal. The right disease-modifying medication, started early, can slow the disease and protect the joints. Pain management runs alongside that treatment, not instead of it.

Symptoms

• Pain, swelling, and warmth in several joints, often the hands and feet
• Stiffness that lasts more than an hour in the morning
• Symmetrical involvement, with the same joints affected on both sides
• Fatigue, low-grade fever, and a general feeling of being unwell
• Firm lumps under the skin near affected joints
• Gradual loss of grip strength and joint function

How We Treat It

Our role focuses on controlling pain and inflammation while you remain under rheumatology care for your disease-modifying treatment. When a single joint flares and stays inflamed, a targeted steroid injection can calm it quickly without raising your whole-body medication dose. For a persistently affected joint, an intra-articular injection delivers the medication exactly where it is needed.

We work in coordination with your rheumatologist, not in isolation, so that pain relief supports the larger plan to protect your joints. Keeping flares under control helps you stay active, and staying active helps preserve joint function and reduce stiffness.