Over 10 million people in the UK are living with arthritis.
It is a condition that affects your joints, it makes them stiff, and this can cause pain and inflammation. Many still believe that it is an elderly condition but it is known to be diagnosed in those as young as 30.
Sadly, there is no known cure but there are ways to help you treat and manage it so that you can still enjoy life to the fullest. Knowledge is power and understanding the type of arthritis you or a loved one may have has you on the right track for the best treatment plan.
Today, we want to build awareness on arthritis, get people talking more and ultimately help make your life and your loved ones’ lives that little bit easier.
There are over 200 types of arthritis but we wanted to focus on the big 3:
- Osteoarthritis
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Psoriatic Arthritis
Osteoarthritis:
Develops in those aged 50+ and this can be a result of daily wear and tear. Osteoarthritis affects your cartilage and not the joint. Cartilage is a flexible connective tissue found all over the body. It’s there to connect your bones together. Think of it as the shock absorber of the body.
How Will It Affect Me?
Osteoarthritis can stiffen your cartilage and this makes it lose some of its elasticity. In some cases, it can even be worn away, causing your tendons and ligaments to stretch. This in turn causes pain, inflammation, and stiffness which reduces your level of mobility.
Symptoms:
Your symptoms can come and go (flare-ups) and this could be because of your level of activity or even the weather. In the more severe cases, the symptoms are continuous. Symptoms you may experience could be:
- Limited mobility: reduced range of movement in your joints
- Your joints appearing slightly bigger or more ”knobbly”
- A grating/crackling sound from your joints
- Pain and stiffness when you haven’t moved in while
- Joint tenderness
Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA):
Rheumatoid arthritis can develop in those as young as 30. It’s nothing like osteoarthritis with regards to wear and tear. Rheumatoid arthritis is what’s known as an autoimmune disorder. This means that your own immune system mistakenly attacks your body’s tissues.
How Will It Affect Me?
This type affects the lining of your joints that can cause pain and swelling. Eventually, this can result in bone erosion and joint deformity.
Symptoms:
With rheumatoid arthritis, you can have flares and remission periods. It is important to know not to overdo it during your remission periods as this can trigger a flare-up. Symptoms you may experience could be:
- Fatigue/tiredness
- Weakness
- Stiffness in more than one joint
- Painful aching joints
- Tenderness and swelling in your joints
Psoriatic Arthritis:
Psoriatic arthritis is the reason we are here today. Our founder and creator Andy was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. Being a lover of coffee, operating an average kettle was painful and near impossible for him. It is because of this that he set out to design a kettle that would no longer cause pain and bring him more independence and confidence in his kitchen. From this, our Uccello Kettle was born.
Psoriatic arthritis affects some people who already have psoriasis. Just because you have psoriasis, does not mean you can develop psoriatic arthritis and vice versa. Almost 1 in 3 people with psoriasis also have psoriatic arthritis.
How Will It Affect Me?
Similar to RA, psoriatic arthritis develops when your own immune system mistakenly attacks your healthy cells and tissues. This is an abnormal immune response in your body that then causes inflammation in the joints and you overproduced skin cells.
Symptoms:
Symptoms can vary from person to person and they can go from mild to severe. There are times where your symptoms will disappear completely and other times they can worsen. These symptoms can as well depend on the type of psoriatic you have:
- Skin rash
- Fatigue
- Painful muscles and tendons
- Swollen fingers and toes
- Flaky scalp
- Nail pitting
- Nail separating from your nail beds
- Swollen tender joints
- Stiffness in the morning
For more support and information there are a number of amazing charities happy to help here in the UK. Charities such as:
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