Rheumatism, Articular
Most kinds of arthritis cause pain and swelling in your joints. Joints are places where two bones meet, such as your elbow or knee. Infectious arthritis is an infection in the joint. The infection comes from a bacterial, viral, or fungal infection that spreads from another part of the body. Symptoms of infectious arthritis include:
- Intense pain in the joint
- Joint redness and swelling
- Chills and fever
- Inability to move the area with the infected joint
One type of infectious arthritis is reactive arthritis. The reaction is to an infection somewhere else in your body. The joint is usually the knee, ankle, or toe. Sometimes, reactive arthritis is set off by an infection in the bladder, or in the urethra, which carries urine out of the body. In women, an infection in the vagina can cause the reaction. For both men and women, it can start with bacteria passed on during sex. Another form of reactive arthritis starts with eating food or handling something that has bacteria on it.
To diagnose infectious arthritis, your health care provider may do tests of your blood, urine, and joint fluid. Treatment includes medicines and sometimes surgery.
Physician's Therapeutics Memoranda on Rheumatism, Articular
Acute attacks call for aconite as a cardiac sedative with one of the following antiarthritic agents; salicylic acid (best in form of sodium, strontium or methyl salicylate and accompained by sodium bicarbonate), aspirin, acetanilid or antipyrin (some prescribe phena cetin or salol). Acetanilid is best prescribedjn the form of Acetanilid Compound, Special (see p. 8). In the subacute stage, Potassium iodide is the leading remedy, potassium bicarbonate being an alter. native. Vegetable remedies of importance are black cohosh. rhus toxieodendrou and manaca. Locally, apply alkaline solutions (sodium bicarbonate, sodium salicylate, of each 20 grs. to the oz.)or ointments of ichthyol or salicyl ic acid; later, tincture iodine, stimulating liniments, fly blisters. In Chronic Rheumatism, the most useful remedies internally are potassium iodide, colchicum and cod liver oil. Locally, stimulating liniments are to be applied with friction.1