What causes pain in multiple joints?
There are multiple issues that can cause pain in multiple joints.
Joint pain can range from acute (short term) to chronic (long term) and from mild to severe; it depends on what is causing the joint pain.
This is no way intended to be a diagnosis. Only your physician can give you a diagnosis after a physical assessment, lab work, imaging, or a combination of both. This is merely intended to show possible causes for pain in multiple joints.
Health issues that cause pain in multiple joints
The following health issues can cause pain in multiple joints:
- Arthritis – several forms
- Fibromyalgia
- Autoimmune diseases
- Lyme disease from ticks
- Bursitis
- Injuries
- Infections
- Tendonitis
- Rickets
- Fractures
- Sprains or strains
- Dislocation of joints
- Bone cancer – please don’t jump to this conclusion. It is merely a possibility like the others.
These are the basic causes of pain in multiple joints.
Now, let’s look at each one individually as some can come in more than one form.
Arthritis comes in several forms and each can cause inflammation and pain in multiple joints. Symptoms include inflammation, stiffness, and pain. With some forms of arthritis, these symptoms can be accompanied by a slight fever.
- Osteoarthritis – The most common form of arthritis in which the protective cartilage around the joint wears down.
- Rheumatoid – A chronic inflammatory disorder that affects not only the joints but can also affect the skin, eyes, lungs, heart and blood vessels.
- Gonococcal – A complication of gonorrhea caused by the bacteria Neisseria. Gonorrhea affects women more often than men.
- Psoriatic – Affects people who have psoriasis. This type of arthritis features red patches of skin topped with silvery scales. Generally, psoriasis begins first then psoriatic arthritis follows.
- Reactive – Activated by a contagion in another part of your body, most often your intestines, genitals or urinary tract.
- Septic – The result of infection in a joint/joints which comes from germs that travel through your bloodstream from another part of your body or a puncture wound directly to the joint.
Autoimmune diseases
There are many autoimmune diseases and each has different symptoms. Several of the autoimmune diseases can mimic arthritis symptoms and include stiff, painful joints, a low-grade fever, and others.
- Lupus – An autoimmune disease that causes the immune system to attack normal, healthy tissue including the joints.
- Systemic sclerosis or scleroderma – Affects connective tissue and is chronic.
- Polymyalgia Rheumatica – An inflammatory illness that causes muscle pain and stiffness, particularly in the shoulders.
- Polychondritis – A rare autoimmune rheumatic ailment that causes painful, destructive inflammation of the cartilage and other connective tissues.
- Hypothyroidism – An underactive thyroid gland.
- Hashimoto’s disease – An autoimmune disease that damages the thyroid gland.
Rickets – The softening and weakening of bones in children, usually from extreme and prolonged vitamin D deficiency.
Bursitis – The bursae become inflamed causing pain and stiffness.
Fibromyalgia – A chronic illness that affects muscles, connective tissues, and joints causing widespread pain.
Tendonitis – Tendon inflammation that is caused by performing repetitive tasks for a job or hobby and sometimes by a sudden injury.
Of course, there are other reasons for pain in the joints, such as dislocation, fractures, strains, sprains, infections, and injuries. These will cause pain in the joints, muscles, and other symptoms.
Factors that can contribute to multiple joint pain
In addition to the reasons listed above, there are other factors that contribute to or aggravate pain in multiple joints.
For instance, there are foods that can trigger inflammation so diet plays a vital role in pain severity. While some foods can trigger inflammation, others can reduce it, thereby reducing the amount of pain you feel in your joints.
Lack of sleep can also make pain worse. That is why it is important to get a sufficient amount of sleep at night. During sleep, the body repairs and restores itself so do not skimp on sleep.
Get into a routine where you go to bed and get up at the same time every day, including weekends. The more routine you have, the better able you are to reduce stress. This is important as stress causes many issues in the body and can intensify the pain that you feel.
Reducing stress and getting proper sleep is extremely important for people with Fibromyalgia, as is a constant routine. This helps reduce pain, allowing them to perform the day-to-day tasks of life easier.
Exercise is important as well. A minimum of three times a week will help promote flexibility and range of motion. Low to no impact exercises like walking, swimming, and yoga are all good forms exercise that can help reduce or maintain weight, tone and strengthen the muscles.
Drink plenty of water to flush toxins out of the body that could exacerbate inflammation and pain. You should also reduce the intake of sugary beverages and caffeine that can cause irritation and keep you from getting proper sleep.
Give essential oils a try. Massage some nutmeg like MegRelief, peppermint, or others that are used for inflammation and pain on the joints that hurt. This can be done several times a day and may be able to be done in conjunction with hot and cold therapy, but check with your doctor first to make sure. Also, if you have never used essential oils, do a test on your forearm with a drop or two of the oil to make sure you will not have any kind of allergic reaction.
To find what is causing pain in multiple joints
Again, we cannot stress this enough, see your physician first. He or she will provide a proper diagnosis and go over treatments that are available to you. You should speak with him or her about homeopathic remedies as well that may work or at least work in conjunction with traditional therapies for the best results.
If you do wish to combine homeopathic and traditional therapies, ask the doctor if there are possible side effects that can come with the combination. It is important to know if there are side effects or if the combination may cause traditional medications not to work as well.
As this article has shown, there are many causes for pain in multiple joints and this article is not meant to be used for diagnosing your particular joint pain. You need to see your doctor.
