7 Textbook Signs Your Joint Pain is Rheumatoid Arthritis

if your joint pain feels like more than simply losing some of your youthful agility and nimbleness, there might be another cause. One possibility has little to do with how hard you stressed your body yesterday.

Rheumatoid arthritis, or RA, is an autoimmune disease that causes the immune system to turn against the body’s joints. The inflammation caused by this attack leads to a unique type of joint stiffness and swelling.

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Written by:

Lauren Smith, MA

Lauren Smith, MA, has worked in health journalism since 2017. Before joining GoodRx, she was the senior health editor and writer for HealthiNation.

Reviewed by:

Mandy Armitage, MD

Mandy Armitage, MD, has combined clinical medicine with her passion for education and content development for many years. She served as medical director for the health technology companies HealthLoop (now Get Well) and Doximity.

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