Reiter’s syndrome is also known as reactive arthritis as it occurs as a reaction that originates in the genital or intestinal tract. There are two forms of this disorder such as one that occurs due to sexually transmitted infections including Chlamydial infection and other resulting from the intestinal infection such Salmonellosis or Shigellosis. The Reiter’s syndrome may affect various body parts and cause the inflammation of joints, eyes, skin, genitals, bladder and mucus membranes. The diagnosis of this disorder is based on the symptoms, physical examination, medical history of the patient and some laboratory tests performed to detect the infections.

There are various options of the treatment for Reiter’s syndrome including medications, rest and exercise. As this disorder affects various body parts, it is recommended to consult with different specialists such as a rheumatologist for the treatment of arthritis, ophthalmologist to treat conjunctivitis, urologists to treat the urogenital symptoms in men, dermatologist to treat the skin problems and gynecologist for the treatment of urogenital symptoms in women.

Although there is no cure for this disorder, the treatment for Reiter’s syndrome is meant for relieving the symptoms. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen and aspirin are effective to reduce the joint inflammation due to Reiter’s syndrome. If NSAIDs are not effective for the people having severe joint inflammation, then the corticosteroid injections are found to be advantageous. They can be directly injected in the affected joint to decrease the inflammation. These injections are most frequently applied to cure severe ankle or knee inflammation.

Use of topical corticosteroid is another effective medicine that can be directly applied on the skin lesions resulted from the Reiter’s syndrome which helps to decrease an inflammation and enhance healing. As the bacterial infections act as the triggering factors for the Reiter’s syndrome, antibiotics are prescribed by the doctor to eliminate the infections. The antibiotic to be used for the treatment is decided on the basis of a type of infection. In few cases, the patients with Reiter’s syndrome may have severe symptoms that cannot be cured by above mentioned medications. In such cases, the medicines which suppress the immune system including methotrexate or sulfasalazine are found to be effective.

In addition to medications, exercise is another beneficial option of the treatment for Reiter’s syndrome. Some gentle range-of-motion and strengthening exercises are helpful to maintain or improve the functioning of joint, build up the muscles, decrease the stiffness and improve the flexibility of joints. Besides this treatment option, short-term bed rest is advantageous to reduce the inflammation and pain of arthritis.

In most cases, above mentioned treatment options are sufficient for cure. However, in some cases of severe joint damage, the surgical reconstruction of the joints like total knee replacement or total hip replacement performed by the orthopedic surgeon is necessary to restore pain-free function.