Chapter 1: Clinical Overview
Joint pain may be short term (an acute condition) due to a physical injury, such as a fall causing stress on a knee or wrist, or an impact injury such as hitting a knuckle with a hammer.
The symptoms are:
pain
swelling, which may restrict movement.
Joint pain that is long term (a chronic condition) is frequently a symptom of an underlying health condition, such as osteoarthritis.
The symptoms are:
pain and stiffness in the joints – it can affect any joint in the body
difficulty moving joints and doing certain activities
tenderness in the joints
grating sensation when moving joints
clicking noises when moving joints
reduced movement in the joints.
The symptoms may come and go, which can be related to activities (for example climbing stairs or opening jars) and the weather; while for some patients the symptoms are present all the time.
The severity of the symptoms can vary from mild to severe and be very debilitating.
