Arthritis is a group of more than 100 conditions with many different possible causes. It can involve inflammation of one or more joints, joint injury, infection, or autoimmune disease (an attack on the joints by the body itself). Symptoms of arthritis can include:

• Joint pain
• Joint swelling
• Early morning stiffness
• Warmth around a joint
• Redness of the skin around a joint
• Reduced ability to move the joint
• Unexplained weight loss, fever, or weakness that occurs with joint pain.

Often, the inflammation goes away when the injury heals, the disease is treated, or the infection is gone. Sometimes, the inflammation does not go away, or damage causes long-term pain and deformity. Types of arthritis include, but are not limited to:

• Osteoarthritis (wear and tear on a joint—the most common type of arthritis)
• Autoimmune disorders, such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, and scleroderma
• Gout (the formation of crystals in the joints with subsequent inflammation)
• Psoriatic arthritis (associated with psoriasis of the skin)
• Arthritis associated with infections such as Lyme disease, tuberculosis, and gonorrhea
• Ankylosing spondylitis, which affects the joints of the vertebrae

MedStar National Rehabilitation Network offers comprehensive, interdisciplinary inpatient and outpatient services for persons with arthritis. These services may include medical evaluation and care, rehabilitation nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, therapeutic recreation, rehabilitation engineering, vocational rehabilitation, social work, and psychology.