I have arthritis. It came on slowly. Or else I chose to ignore it. Arthritis is a disease that causes damage in your joints, that is, places in your body where two bones meet. Some joints wear down as you age naturally. Plenty of people develop arthritis, also called wear-and-tear disorder. I use a different name, just to myself: F***in’ joints.
Various types of arthritis happen after injuries that damage a joint. Arthritis can affect any joint, but is most common in people’s hands and wrists, hips, knees, shoulders, lower back, and feet and wrists. Some people with severe arthritis eventually need surgery to replace their affected joints, but first, healthcare providers will help you find ways to manage symptoms like and stiffness or pain.
Research shows a higher percent of arthritis in TBI patients, involving complex brain changes that affect pain, fatigue, and overall well-being, suggesting that inflammation and central nervous system changes play a significant role in both conditions. For stroke patients, a stroke can lead to arthritis-like joint pain and stiffness like spasticity, or conditions like frozen shoulder, especially in the affected limb, often due to nerve damage and disuse, making rehabilitation harder.
Some types of arthritis include these:
- Osteoarthritis, the most common type, comes from wear and tear on your joints and can eventually wear down their cartilage cushioning. With osteoarthritis, genes affect cartilage strength, inflammation response, and joint shape. Family history raises risk, but lifestyle matters more. If you have a parent or sibling with osteoarthritis, your risk increases about 2-3 times.
- Rheumatoid arthritis that happens when your immune system damages your joints accidentally. This autoimmune response treats the body’s own tissues as threats, leading to a cycle of inflammation that damages the joints, often starting in the hands, wrists, and feet, and can also impact other body parts. If you have a mother, father, sister, or brother with RA, your risk is about 3-5 times higher than the general population.
- Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) affects joints near your lower back, but can also cause inflammation, pain, and stiffness in other areas of the body such as the shoulders, hips, ribs, heels, and small joints of the hands and feet. Sometimes, the eyes can become involved known as iritis or uveitis, and rarely, the lungs and heart can be affected.
- Gout causes sharp uric acid crystals to form in your joints, known as hyperuricemia and gout is strongly hereditary. Gout leads to sudden, intense flares with redness, swelling, and warmth, manageable with diet changes (for example, limiting red meat, alcohol, sugary drinks) and medication to lower uric acid, though many people with high uric acid never get gout.
- Juvenile idiopathic arthritis affects in kids and teens younger than 16. The word “idiopathic” means unknown. JIA types are autoimmune or autoinflammatory diseases. That means the immune system, which is supposed to fight germs and viruses, gets confused and attacks the body’s cells and tissues. This causes the body to release inflammatory chemicals that attack the synovium (tissue lining around a joint). It produces fluid that cushions joints and helps them move smoothly. An inflamed synovium may make a joint feel painful or tender, look red or swollen or difficult to move.
- Psoriatic arthritis affects people who have psoriasis. There’s a strong hereditary component and more likely if psoriasis runs in the family.
- Certain viral infections (including COVID-19) can trigger viral arthritis.
Or look at the graphic below which explains it a different way through “hereditability” (how much of the risk comes from your genes) and it varies significantly depending on which type of arthritis we are discussing:
| Type of Arthritis | Genetic Influence | What is Inherited? |
| Osteoarthritis (OA) | 40% – 60% | Genetics affect the shape of your joints, the thickness of your cartilage, and/or how your body repairs joint tissue. |
| Rheumatoid (RA) | Strong Link | Specific genes (like the HLA-DRB1 gene, that is, crucial for immunity from arthritis), control immune system responses. |
| Ankylosing Spondylitis | Very Strong | Over 90% of people with this condition carry a specific genetic marker. |
| Gout | Significant | Genes control how your kidneys process uric acid or how your body triggers inflammation in response to crystals. |
Arthritis can break down the natural tissue in your joint called degeneration cause inflammation known as swelling. Experts says that more than one-third of Americans have some kind of arthritis in their joints.
The Cleveland Clinic provides the following chart:
Scientists explain arthritis as a “multifactorial” condition, meaning it’s a mix of your family history and your lifestyle. Some factors may make you more likely to develop arthritis, including people who have physically demanding jobs or do work that puts a lot of stress on their joints, people older than 50, females are more likely to get arthritis, and smoking and using other tobacco products increases your risk of getting arthritis.
Also, people whose biological family members have arthritis are more likely to develop arthritis, you might be more likely to have arthritis if you aren’t physically active regularly or late in life with intense physical activity, and athletes who play contact sports because even though arthritis is not contagious, cartilage can wear away to the extent that bone rubs against bone. When the joint moves without enough cartilage as a cushion, it can itself become damaged.
The most common arthritis treatments include over-the-counter (OTC) anti-inflammatory medicine like acetaminophen, cortisone shots, physical or occupational therapy which can help you improve your strength, range of motion, and confidence while you’re moving, or surgery only if nonsurgical remedies don’t stop your symptoms.
Some people find that their arthritis feels worse during certain types of weather. Humidity and cold are two common joint pain triggers. A variety of reasons why this might happen people tend to be less active in rainy seasons and winter and the cold and damp can also stiffen your joints and aggravate arthritis. Other theories suggest that barometric pressure, the pressure of the air around you, may have some effect on arthritis.
Arthritis can’t be completely prevented, but many forms can be delayed, reduced, or milder with the right regimen, especially important if you already have joint stress, diabetes, or a history of brain injury that limits movement.
