Rheumatoid Arthritis & Wrist Pain

Rheumatoid arthritis can strike with no rhyme or reason. RA strikes individual pairs of joints, typically striking smaller joints first. Unfortunately, a common target of RA--the wrist--may be a small joint, but it is also one of the body's most important and heavily used joints.

Description of The Wrist Joint

• A joint typically comprises two bones coming together, with synovial membranes between, allowing for free movement. The wrist is made up of eight carpal bones contacting the radius and ulna of the forearm, meaning ten bones can be affected.

Description of RA

• Rheumatoid arthritis, or RA, is an autoimmune disease where the body's immune system attacks the synovial membranes in the joints. RA strikes bilaterally, meaning the joints on both sides of the body (both wrists, for example) will be affected.

Why Does RA Focus On Smaller Joints?

• There is no clear answer what causes RA or why it tends to strike smaller joints first. A report by the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons says arthritis tends to strike joints which often carry loads, such as the knees, ankles, hips and wrists.

Why The Wrist Is A Target

• The wrist is one of the body's most frequently used joints. It is used to pick, lift, grasp, examine, carry, turn and twist objects around us. The wrist bones include several synovial membranes, giving RA several targets in which it can develop.

Symtoms of Wrist RA

• Common symptoms of wrist RA include pain, stiffness, heat, redness, swelling and loss of motion. Diminished grip strength is also a symptom, caused by the tendons that control the fingers crossing over the painful wrist bones.