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The most common symptoms experienced are:

• Inflammation, pain, warmth and tenderness in and around the joint.
• Stiffness in the joint, particularly in the morning or after sitting inactive for a long period of time, with stiffness lasting for half an hour to an hour.
• Usually rheumatoid arthritis occurs symmetrically, in the same joints on both sides of the body.
• Small lumps under the skin near the joints, called rheumatoid nodules. (however, these usually occur later in the disease)
• Sometimes a low-grade fever, weight loss and fatigue can accompany other symptoms, due to rheumatoid arthritis’ affect on the entire body.

Generally rheumatoid arthritis affects the smaller joints of the hands, wrists, ankles and feet initially, and as the disease develops, your larger joints will also become affected, such as your knees, shoulders, elbows, hips, jaw and neck.

These symptoms come and go, you may experience ‘flare-ups’ where your symptoms are much worse than normal, and other periods where the symptoms subside, and you feel much better.

Rheumatoid arthritis can affect other parts of the body, since it is an autoimmune disease, it can affect the lungs, heart, liver and eyes. It is essential that if you experience any other symptoms, such as difficulty breathing, or eye pain, that you see your doctor immediately.

Over time rheumatoid arthritis deteriorates the cartilage and the bone within the joint, and after 10 years, permanent disfiguration to the joints may occur causing pain, lack of mobility, flexibility and with deformities severe enough to cause permanent disability. The symptoms experienced will vary for every individual, these complications may occur, although it is completely arbitrary.

In severe cases of rheumatoid arthritis, ulna deviation and Boutonniere deformity can occur. These are the technical terms that refer to the curled and deformed hands and feet we are familiar with when we think of severe arthritis. Also rheumatoid nodules can become large around major joints such as the knee, and elbow. Nodules predominantly occur at areas experiencing pressure and unremitting irritation.