Call (310) 245-0332 to speak with a licensed insurance agent.

Call (310) 245-0332 to speak with a licensed insurance agent.

The Five Major Types of Arthritis

Posted by Janice Wood, August 27, 2019

We tend to accept some amount of aches and pains after age 60 or so. But at what point should you be concerned about arthritis? And what can you do about it?

It might surprise you to learn that there are over 100 different types of arthritis. However, most fall into one of the following five categories:

  • Osteoarthritis
  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Psoriatic arthritis
  • Lupus
  • Gout

Osteoarthritis is the most common form, and you could think of it as “wear and tear” on your joints. It’s common with age,because the cartilage in joints simply become damaged over time, but injury and obesity can also over-stress joints. With osteoarthritis, you will experience joint pain and stiffness, but it is not an overall systemic disorder like the other forms of arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and lupus are autoimmune diseases. You will experience pain in the joints, along with other symptoms related to your immune dysfunction. With psoriatic arthritis in particular, a skin disorder (psoriasis) will be quite noticeable.

Gout isn’t commonly viewed as a form of arthritis, but technically it is. A buildup of uric acid can cause stiffness, pain, redness, and difficulty moving the affected joint. Often gout strikes the big toe or another part of the foot. Several different underlying causes can trigger a buildup of uric acid in the body, such as dietary choices or a kidney problem.

As you can see, the types of arthritis can vary greatly, and they can be caused by different malfunctions in the body. The bottom line is that if you experience joint pain or swelling, don’t write it off as just “aches and pains”. See your physician, so that they can rule out other problems in your body that might be triggering a form of arthritis.

Need more information?

Contact us online to learn more

Contact Us

Close Accessibility Tools
Accessibility Controls Reset
Content Adjustments
Font Size

Default

Line Height

Default

Content Scaling

Default

Highlight Titles
Highlight Links
Highlight Forms
Align Left
Align Center
Align Right
Focus Mode
Color Adjustments
Desaturate
Monochrome
Contrast

Default

Saturation

Default

Accessibility Statement

Despite our attempts to make this website accessible for everyone, there may still be some pages or sections that are not completely accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or do not have a suitable technological solution to make them accessible. Nevertheless, we are always striving to enhance our accessibility by adding, updating, improving its options and features, and incorporating new technologies.

We want to provide our users with the best experience possible, so we strive to support as many browsers and assistive technologies as possible.

If you wish to contact this website's owner, please use the contact form on the website.

Our User Interface Adjustment Options

Font adjustments - With this tool, users can modify font size, style, letter spacing, and line height for improved alignment and readability.

Color adjustments - Users can customize their color contrast profiles to light, dark, desaturated, and monochrome.

Content highlighting - Users can prioritize key elements such as links, forms, and titles.

Content focus - Users can enable focus mode to highlight the current page information based on their mouse movement.

Close