Arthritis is a disease of joints. Joints become stiff, swollen and there is a lot of pain involved. There are different types of arthritis.
Reactive arthritis is one of the types of arthritis that can affect the human body. Reactive arthritis causes inflammation which is a result of some infection present in some other part of the body.
If your body comes into contact with a kind of bacteria, an infection develops and as a reaction to the infection reactive arthritis develops. In reactive arthritis inflammation of joints is very much present but with that other parts of the body including skin, eyes and urethra can experience inflammation.
Most significant differentiating factor in case of reactive arthritis is the signs and symptoms come and go. In other types of arthritis the signs and symptoms do not go away. If the root cause of reactive arthritis, the infection is treated then the signs and symptoms also vanish completely.
Reactive arthritis usually occurs in ankles, feet, hips and knees. Your urological tract may have inflammation so the frequency of urination increases. You may experience irritation and burning sensation during urination. You may suffer from inflammation of eyes. You may experience mouth ulcers or develop skin rashes. Soreness of the vertebrae or spondylitis is also called reactive arthritis. Inflammation of the prostate gland and the cervix is also a symptom of reactive arthritis.
If your signs and symptoms are mild the reactive arthritis may go undetected for a long time. Reactive arthritis is a by product of some infection, but it is not contagious. There are different forms of reactive arthritis. The names suggest the origin of the infection. Gastrointestinal arthritis is a result of infecting yourself while eating something. Food borne bacteria such as salmonella, Yersinia can cause reactive arthritis.
Urogenital arthritis is called so because the infection originates in the vagina, urethra or penis. Chlamydia bacterium is often responsible for reactive arthritis.
As with other types of arthritis, reactive arthritis also has risk factors. Men are more likely to suffer from reactive arthritis in response to sexually transmitted infections. Genetic components are also found to be responsible for developing reactive arthritis. Though you have the genetic make up, that makes you more at risk of developing reactive arthritis.
The signs and symptoms of reactive arthritis disappear within 12 months from the initial out break.