Reactive arthritis
রিঅ্যাক্টিভ আর্থ্রাইটিস
Common Symptoms
Emergency Warning Signs
Speak to an eye specialist or go straight to a hospital emergency department if:
- one of your eyes becomes painful and your vision starts looking blurred or misty
Speak to your doctor if you have:
- joints that are painful and swollen, especially if this follows an infection such as diarrhoea or a burning feeling when you pass urine
⚠️ This symptom list is for educational purposes. Having these symptoms does not mean you have this condition. See a doctor for proper diagnosis.
Medicines Commonly Used
⚠️ These medicines are commonly used for confirmed diagnoses of this condition. This is NOT a recommendation or prescription. Treatment must be determined by your doctor.
No medicines have been linked to this condition yet.
Reactive arthritis causes inflammation, which means redness and swelling, in different parts of the body. It usually develops after an infection. In most cases it clears up within a few months and doesn't leave any long-term problems.
The condition can happen at any age, but it often affects young adults aged between 20 to 40. Men are generally affected more than women.
Causes of reactive arthritis
Reactive arthritis is usually linked to an infection. This includes:
- sexually transmitted infections (STIs), like chlamydia or gonorrhoea
- gastrointestinal infections, like food poisoning
The body's immune system seems to over-react to these infections. It then starts to attack healthy tissue, and this leads to inflammation.
People who carry a gene known as HLA-B27 are also more likely to develop reactive arthritis. But it's not clear why this is the case.
Read more: Chlamydia · Gonorrhoea · Food poisoning
Symptoms of reactive arthritis
Reactive arthritis most often affects three parts of the body:
- joints and tendons, causing pain, stiffness and swelling, often in the knees, feet, toes, hips and ankles
- eyes, causing eye pain, redness, sticky discharge, conjunctivitis and sometimes inflammation
- urinary system, causing pain when peeing, or discharge from the penis or vagina
Most people won't have symptoms in all of these areas.
Other symptoms you may have
Reactive arthritis can bring other symptoms too, and these may include:
- feeling unusually tired
- a high temperature (fever)
- weight loss
- mouth ulcers
- painless white patches inside your mouth
- a rash
- thick and crumbly nails
- abdominal (tummy) pain
- diarrhoea
Read more: Mouth ulcer
See an eye specialist or go to a hospital emergency department if you have:
- pain in one of your eyes, and your vision becomes misty
See a doctor if you have:
- Painful and swollen joints, especially after symptoms of an infection like diarrhoea or pain when urinating
How reactive arthritis is diagnosed
There's no single test for reactive arthritis. Instead, your doctor may use different tests to look for infection and to rule out other causes of your symptoms. These include:
- blood tests
- urine tests
- genital swabs
- X-rays
- samples of fluid from a joint or joints
- stool sample
Your doctor will also want to know about your recent medical history, for example whether you may have recently had a bowel infection or an STI.
Treating reactive arthritis
There is no cure for reactive arthritis, but the condition is usually temporary. Symptoms can often be controlled using:
- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
- painkillers like ibuprofen
If your symptoms are severe, you may need disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) to manage them.
Antibiotics don't treat reactive arthritis itself. But your doctor may prescribe them to treat an infection like an STI.
Things to do
- get plenty of rest
- avoid using the affected joints
- apply ice to swelling (don't place ice directly on the skin)
Once your symptoms get better, it helps to start some gentle exercise with reactive arthritis. Aim to strengthen the muscles and improve how far your joints can move.
Speak to a doctor about which exercises suit you. You may be referred to a physiotherapist.
Preventing reactive arthritis
STIs (sexually transmitted infections) are a common cause of reactive arthritis. To help prevent it, you should always use a barrier method of contraception during sex, a condom for example.