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Signs of juvenile arthritis
Arthritis is characteristically connected with the elderly ; however, children also experience the pain and limitations in function that arthritis poses.
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Juvenile arthritis describes the presence of arthritis in children. It comprises a number of conditions which affect children who are 16 years old or younger.
There is no specific cause ascribed to juvenile arthritis. There are various types each with its own distinct symptoms.
There are certain types which affects the child’s eyes. Some also affects the muscles and joints of the child which may or may not be painful. Another type affects the skin and may cause it to harden.
It’s vital to recognise that juvenile arthritis may cause functional limitations in children and hence it’s crucial that your child is accurately diagnosed and begins treatment early.
What are the symptoms?
Every child is different and the frequency and severity of the symptoms also remain varied depending on the type and severity of the condition.
While some children may have their symptoms flaring up constantly, others have just a few symptoms showing up and then disappearing.
There are various symptoms for the different types of the condition which includes constant joint swelling and pain. Your child may also experience stiffness which is usually worse in the morning or after he/she wakes up.
This may result in a reduction in joint movement in the hands, ankle and knee joints. Some children may always limp in the morning due to pain in their leg joints. Some may also have a rash and a high fever which may emerge suddenly and disappear quickly.
Sometimes the child may experience bone growth problems in which the development of the bone at a particular joint may be fast or delayed.
This may result in the child having a slight hand or leg length discrepancies or one joint may be unequal in appearance to the other joint.
The following are some of the common symptoms of juvenile arthritis which may persist for several weeks:
- Swelling around the heel cord/ Achilles tendon
- Joint pain which occurs in both hands
- Muscle aches
- Itchiness in the eyes
- Swelling of an entire finger or toe
- Unexplained clumsiness
- Nail pitting or splitting
What are the causes?
There is no known cause attributed for the types of the condition. However, some children may be predisposed to the condition if there’s a family history of the condition.
Some types of the condition result when the body’s immune system which is supposed to assist to fight infection erroneously attacks the healthy body parts.
This results in swelling, pain, joint damage etc. There is no known reason why the immune system attacks the healthy body parts. However, children who also have a family member with an autoimmune disease - where the immune system attacks healthy body parts - may also be predisposed to having juvenile arthritis.
An example of an autoimmune disease is rheumatoid arthritis.
How is juvenile arthritis diagnosed?
An accurate diagnosis of the condition is essential to receive the appropriate treatment. The symptoms should be present before the child is 16 years old for a diagnosis of juvenile arthritis to be made.
Enquires are made whether the child is hesitant to use hands to write or draw etc, whether joints remain stiff after waking up from bed or whether suddenly become less active.
Children, who present with joint pain and swelling, peculiar skin rashes etc for several weeks, undergo a thorough physical and medical history and various tests to confirm diagnosis or rule out other conditions.
X-rays may or may not be conducted to check for bone abnormalities, joint injuries or damage.