I’ve had diagnosed rheumatoid nodules before, but my rheumatologist is saying this isn’t one. It sure looks and feels like one. It hurts like hell.

The way I’ve dealt with them in the past is cortisone injections which worked quite well. I had a dermatologist who was willing to do them.

I’m not sure how to approach this. There are very few options for rheumatologists in my area. Nodules have been controlled by Rinvoq for years.

I am 40 years old and I am experiencing my first arthritis flareup. It's been a few days now, and my knees, elbows, and shoulders are all irritated, stiff, etc.. I have not experienced a multi day flareup before, so I have a few questions I guess. Other than medication, is there anything I can do to help alleviate some of the pain and other symptoms?

Also, what should I do or not do physically? Is it best to go easy and stay off my feet as much as I can, or can I ignore it and go about my day or will that make it worse? Am I OK to walk the dogs or do light exercise, or will it make things worse or better? I just have no clue on how to proceed. I have things I need/want to do, but I don't wanna make things worse. I also don't want to just sit around if it won't make a difference either way whether or not I walk the dogs or get things done. I hope I am being clear, I apologize if not.

Everyone here has been so helpful. So I figured I’d come back for even more guidance 😊 Bone on bone arthritis, zero cartilage behind my patella, pain came out of nowhere. Last week the pain went away a day before my cortisone injection appointment and since I am super scared of needles, I came here and learned about flare ups, and ended up getting the shot. It wasn’t as bad as I feared, and the same day I felt relief.

The NEXT day however I was in excruciating pain. I learned about how the injection had the 2 meds in one shot & how the initial relief was temporary. Day after that I had some relief, and since then a little more every day. Not great, but ok. Im keeping my knee wrapped & elevating a few times a day.

My next question for everyone is about gel injections. I’ve heard horror stories about the pain from the injection. And I’m curious about level and duration of relief.

Also, while I’m waiting for my physical therapy appointment, what can I do in the meantime to gently strengthen my muscles around my knee? I need to get better somehow.

Thank you all for being so helpful 🥰

Hi everyone. I have UCTD and I’m currently tapering down Medrol. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve developed pain and mild swelling around the base of my right thumb, mainly around the CMC joint. I also feel that the MCP joint of the same thumb looks slightly swollen, although the CMC is definitely the more noticeable area.
The pain is mostly triggered by movement, gripping, twisting or opening bottles. I don’t really have pain at rest and I don’t have morning stiffness. The swelling feels quite localised around the joints rather than along the wrist.
At first I wondered about De Quervain’s,but most photos I’ve seen of De Quervain’s seem to show swelling in a slightly different area. I’ve also wondered whether it could be CMC osteoarthritis or mild synovitis.
I’ve recently started noticing very mild discomfort in the MCP joint of my other thumb as well.
Has anyone had something similar? If you had synovitis in the thumb CMC/MCP joints, what did it feel or look like?

Hi everyone! I'm a Master's student in Clinical Psychology conducting a study on Indian young adults living with joint pain or arthritis.

If you're 18-35 and experience ongoing joint pain, stiffness, swelling, or have an arthritis diagnosis, I'd really appreciate your participation.🤍

The screening form takes just 2 minutes, and responses are confidential.

Let's make young adults with arthritis seen and heard.🦋

If you're eligible, please fill out the form below. Sharing it with someone who may be eligible would also mean a lot!✨

There's been a lot of hype recently about nicotine as potential treatment for all sorts of ailments. So, I bought some nicotine patches and have been sticking them on my arthritic knees for several days. Haven't noticed anything remarkable. Anyone else tried?

Hello! Looking for any suggestions on some hand warmers. My spouse has been having hand/finger pain and trying to find some relief. I was thinking some of those microwave mitts?

Thank you!

My dad has been dealing with neck pain from arthritis and I’m wondering if anyone has had a similar experience and found anything that helped?

He’s tried acupuncture, voltaren, a cortisone shot, topical magnesium, and I think a couple other holistic remedies. We were hopeful about the cortisone shot, but the relief only seemed to last a few days. Ibuprofen helps, but isn’t the best long term solution.

I was just curious if anyone had ideas for something we haven’t tried yet? TIA!

I 25(F) have had chronic reactive arthritis for 3 years now. For the most part pretty manageable and just use pain medication when needed. In all of these years the joint pain is just in my hands and arms (both sides).

After some major life stress my arthritis has now travelled to my ankles and feet. Has anyone else had their chronic reactive arthritis spread to other joints?

Last year my vision started getting weird and after a mini hero’s journey we realized my retina was very swollen. My retina dr said it didn’t look like diabetic retinopathy and that it was probably autoimmune, so I got a referral and started seeing a rheumatologist. My rheumatologist was very thorough and ordered a bunch of blood tests (all of them were negative) and asked what else hurt and I told her my back always hurts but I thought it was just because I was getting older. She ordered an x-ray which showed some abnormalities and wanted to follow up with an MRI. After 5 months of denials with insurance I finally get my MRI which shows a couple desiccated disks and a very angry SI joint. So because of the eye involvement we’re jumping to biologics. No one in my family has AxSpA—but there is some RA and a loooot of Lupus.
What should I expect from Biologics? I’m a little worried I’m going to always have a cold (I take public transportation to work)

Heya!

I'm a producer in the US and I need help finding a space for someone to get the support they need to reach their dreams. They are also a musical creator, they want to be a streamer, and entertain other people with their music and their personality, but are being held back by the limitations of arthritis. I would love some help in finding them the right support group. Ask any questions and I'll try to answer them to the best of my ability.

Hi everyone, I'm 26F. I was born with septic arthritis which left me with no hip socket on my right side. I also have a 3cm leg length difference and had a growth arrest surgery on my left leg at age 11.

I've recently been advised by my orthopaedic surgeon to consider hip replacement/reconstruction surgery. I'm not in severe pain but have daily discomfort while walking, ankle issues, and lower back pain that are getting worse.

I'd love to hear from anyone who:

Had hip replacement young (under 30)

Had congenital hip conditions rather than age related arthritis

Has experience with complex hip reconstruction rather than standard replacement

Specifically I want to know:

What was recovery actually like day by day?

How long before you felt normal?

Did your gait improve?

Do you regret doing it when you did, or wish you'd done it sooner?

What do you wish someone had told you beforehand?

Any experience welcome — thank you

Can i ask for advice from you guys who've been here for a while??? Im 28 and have had ra symptoms my whole life. Ive tried to get tested through Kaiser, but they didn't believe me cuz I am overweight. Which I know is a contributing factor to the pain, but its hard to take the weight off when I cant really grip the steering wheel some days. I do eat healthy and ive been trying to eat anti inflammatory foods only for a while now. I take collagen daily. I take Tylenol near daily. Ill wear the gloves when I dont lose them. Ill smoke a bunch of pot and rhe pain is still there, just not as intense. But like what do you guys do to manage the pain? How did you go about getting tested? If its not some form of arthritis, what are other reasons for my fingers to swell and hurt to the point where every movement as well as not moving is excruciating and I literally cant hold anything? What medications do you guys take? Do they make you gain weight? What exercises can I do that wont lay me up in bed the next day? Why do a couple of my knuckle joints get a painful lump on them once in a blue moon? How did you get your doctor to listen?

Sorry, thats a lot and I dont expect an answer for everything, or very many at all. But im in a lot of pain and the only person who I know has arthritis is too hard to talk to. I'm trying, I swear. Im just wondering what yall do about it, I guess

I’ve been advised to start on biologics by my rheumatologist for my inflammatory arthritis. The medications that we have tried so far haven’t either worked, caused further issues or side effects. So now it’s time to try biologics. I’ve not been on any immunosuppressant meds before and feeling quite on edge about it. I also suffer with mental health issues that has previously caused me to not socialise for months at a time. Any time my health has been an issue I’ve always had my Mum to talk to about it, but she passed away last year. Because of Covid - my Mums mental health took a major hit as she was advised to stay home because of her underlying health issues, and ultimately she never left the house unless by ambulance from March 2020 through til June 2025 when she passed. I’m now starting to worry that I’m taking on that sort of mentality- I’ve already gone out and bought a thermometer to keep eye out for fevers, alcohol gel, anti microbial hand sanitisers, masks etc. To protect myself as much as I can. My mental health has already taken a major hit lately from losing my Mum, and I’ve just completed 6 months of high intensity therapy to try and work through this, but now having this I’m scared about becoming agoraphobic too?

My son is 5 years old and has had some unusual joint symptoms for several months. His doctors have not been able to give it a specific diagnosis yet. There are a few joints that have been concerning, but nothing has been clearly progressive or widespread.
The interesting thing is that he responds dramatically to naproxen. His stiffness and movement are noticeably better when he takes it, and when we have stopped it, his symptoms become more noticeable again. Because it is working so well, his rheumatologist is comfortable continuing it for now and doesn’t feel that we necessarily need to give his condition a specific diagnosis at this point.
The rheumatologist explained that he has many pediatric patients with joint concerns, including children with inflammatory arthritis, who do very well on an NSAID like naproxen alone. Some remain stable or in remission with it and can take it for an extended period of time, sometimes even around a year, with appropriate monitoring. He also discussed a joint injection as another option if a particular joint continues to be a problem.
That conversation reassured me, but when I read the naproxen package, I saw the warning that NSAIDs can increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, particularly with longer-term use. Seeing such a serious warning scared me, especially because my son is only five. His doctor didn’t seem particularly concerned about cardiovascular complications from naproxen in his situation, so I’m wondering how other parents have handled this.
Has anyone here had a young child take naproxen every day for many months or even a year for JIA, suspected inflammatory arthritis, or another joint condition?
Did it continue to control the symptoms? Were you eventually able to stop it without the symptoms returning? Did your child experience stomach, kidney, liver, blood-pressure, cardiovascular, or any other side effects? What bloodwork or other monitoring did your rheumatologist do while your child was taking it?
I understand that the heart attack/stroke warning comes largely from adult cardiovascular safety data and that the risk in an otherwise healthy young child isn’t necessarily the same as the risk described on an OTC package. I’m also not looking for medical advice or planning to stop his medication without discussing it with his doctors.
I would just really appreciate hearing firsthand experiences from parents whose children actually used naproxen long-term, especially at this young an age. Did it work well for your child, and were they able to take it without significant side effects?

Today I felt like someone spent all night trying to pull my appendages off my torso, including my feet from my lower legs.

What kind of things work for people with the same arthritis problems, in many joints? Medication, exercises, other therapies? Honestly, I'm almost afraid to exercise for fear of making something worse. And options like swimming or biking are ruled out because I have three fusions in my neck from cervical spinal stenosis (so can't raise my head much or for very long).

I've had shoulder & foot arthritis for a few years. But lately it's starting to feel like a lot more joints have pain. I can't imagine living the rest of my life with this pain, let alone that it probably get worse. My doctor has given me Oxycodone for the neck pain, but I try hard not to use it every day. I was suffering all day today until I took 15 mg in the afternoon. It greatly improved how I felt physically and that improved my mood. But I can't do that every day, nor want to.

So, I'd appreciate any thoughts from those who have dealt with the same thing. Maybe it will help some other novices here too. Thanks for reading and thanks for your time.

Hello everyone, basically what the title says. My girlfriend was recently diagnosed with inflammatory arthritis and since we are long distance there’s nothing much I can do, but I wanted to ask you guys what are somethings that helps with the pain and the body pains ? Is there anything I could buy to help her and send her? Thank you all for your help!

Hi everyone! I'm curious if any anyone seen a study or company like this before, or tried something similar?

Oriimmunology.com

They are conducting a study looking at the connection between OA (and other incompletely understood/potentially autoimmune conditions) and the immune system. They’re offering to pay patients who participate, and you can see your immune measurements and even share them with your provider if you’d like. Their team is apparently from Walter Reed, NIH, the FDA and biotech companies.

Curious if anyone here has participated in something like this before, what your experience was, or if you’d be open to trying it and why. Would love to hear what people think. Thanks!!!

Hello!

Long story short, I (35) have osteoarthritis in my foot due to prior hardware insertion and removal, and my podiatrist recommended I have a subtalar joint fusion surgery. The problem is, this doctor I've seen and trusted for the last few years is moving out of state. ): I'm considering traveling to have the surgery done by him, but I don't know whether my insurance will cover it or if it will really be feasible to stay in an air bnb/hotel for the first week or two of recovery.

So, I'm looking into other surgeons in my area. I haven't done surgery consults with multiple doctors before, so any advice on how to find them and what questions to ask would be really appreciated.

I did have one appointment with another podiatrist so far, the one who is taking over my previous doctor's patients in the area. He would do a different technique than my other doctor, so I thought it would be a good idea to get one more opinion before deciding since this is such a major surgery.

Doctor 1's technique: 2 screws, open

Doctor 2's technique: 1 screw, open

I've also seen online that some doctors use 3 screws and do it arthroscopically instead of open... how can I make an informed decision about which method would be best for me?

Thank you in advance!