Information in simple English

What is joint pain?

Any portion of a joint, including cartilage, bone, ligaments, tendons, and muscles, can cause discomfort,  pain, or inflammation. Joint pain, on the other hand, most frequently refers to arthritis or arthralgia,  which is inflammation or discomfort within the joint. 

Joint discomfort can be minor, causing soreness just after specific activities, or severe, causing even  modest movement, especially while bearing weight, to be excruciatingly painful. 

Causes 

Causes of joint pain include: 

  • Adult Still’s disease 
  • Ankylosing spondylitis 
  • Avascular necrosis (death of bone tissue due to limited blood flow)
  • Bone cancer 
  • Broken bone 
  • Bursitis (joint inflammation) 
  • Complex regional pain syndrome (chronic pain due to a dysfunctional nervous system) • Fibromyalgia 
  • Gonococcal arthritis 
  • Gout (arthritis related to excess uric acid) 
  • Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) 
  • Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (formerly known as juvenile rheumatoid arthritis) • Leukemia 
  • Lupus 
  • Lyme disease 
  • Osteoarthritis (disease causing the breakdown of joints) 
  • Osteomyelitis (a bone infection) 
  • Paget’s disease of bone 
  • Rheumatoid arthritis (inflammatory joint disease) 
  • Rickets 
  • Sarcoidosis (collections of inflammatory cells in the body) 
  • Septic arthritis 
  • Sprains 
  • Tendinitis