About Rheumatoid Arthritis
What is Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)?
- RA is an autoimmune, inflammatory arthritis that affects your whole body.
- To learn more about it you can find our RA resources linked below.
What are the common signs and symptoms of RA?
- RA commonly affects your joints with pain, tenderness, swelling, and stiffness. Symptoms often occur in the same joint on both sides of your body, and the most common places affected are the hands, knees, or ankles.
- Other common signs and symptoms include fatigue and weakness.
- There may be times when your symptoms get worse (flares), and times when your symptoms are better (remission).
How Do I Best Manage My RA?
- The current clinical guidelines recommend active medical management with a rheumatologist to minimize your disease activity. The rheumatologist will monitor your disease and prescribe medications, including disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Together, you will find the best management plan for you.
- Regular exercise is strongly recommended to improve physical function and reduce pain for adults with RA.
- To learn more about the benefits of exercise for RA, explore our “Why does exercise matter?” page!
Where can I learn more about my RA?
The following resources provide reputable and up-to-date information and resources about RA.
Resources:
- Information from the American College of Rheumatology, with topics including signs and symptoms, common treatments, and a summary of living with RA
- Information on RA from the Arthritis Foundation, with topics including causes, symptoms and other health effects, diagnosis and treatment, and self-care
- Information on RA from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), with topics including an overview on the impact of RA, signs and symptoms, risk for RA, diagnosis and treatment, and self-care
- Information on RA from the National Institutes for Health (NIH) and the National Institutes for Arthritis, Musculoskeletal, and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), with topics including what happens in RA, who gets it, symptoms and causes, diagnosis, treatment, and steps to take, and new research progress and resources