Juvenile Arthritis - From Early Symptoms to Treatment

Introduction

Juvenile arthritis (JA)is a disease that causes the pain & swelling in the kids below 16 years of age. It causes Synovial membrane inflammation in kids, i.e. the tissue which lies inside their joints. When a kid gets hurt while playing, we just find it a growing process and rebuff the kid's complaint of feeling a severe pain. We just pamper him/her by making them involved in some other activity so that they get involved and forget about the pain.

Juvenile arthritis
is an auto-immune disease, which happens when the immune system gets impaired, which is there to protect the body from harmful toxins  that enters the body and causes disease, but due to some impairment in immune system, it mistakenly begins killing the substances that have no harm on the body. Such attacks cause swelling, joint pains and stiffness. Streptococcal bacteria can cause such problems.Most of the researchers believe it to be genetic,  due to some infections or environment changes are guilty of doing all this.

Your child can have such attacks for a single time or its symptoms last for a long time, maybe years. If such a symptom lingers on for more than 3 months, the condition is considered chronic and it is usually only then that we take the kid to the doctor.

It's symptoms appear like waves, sometimes high & sometimes low and are often described as flare-ups. When the symptoms appear it deteriorates the condition of the kid's body and when they go into remission, they become mild or simply disappear into the thin air.

Such flare ups are different in every kid. Your kid might get some flare ups that vanish very soon. Your kid can have some flare ups that keep recurring and happen quite frequently or your kid might experience these symptoms keep hanging on, these never vanish and might get used to keep lingering with your kid's body and you get habitual to them.

Some kids don't get any symptoms, but still may have juvenile arthritis . Symptoms might include:

• Joint stiffness, mostly in the morning.
• Joints getting tender, swelling and pain.
• The kid begins limping (during the initial childhood, we begin thinking that the kid has forgotten all the tricks that he/she has learnt. 

Children with juvenile arthritis can have no symptoms at all. Symptoms may also vary depending on the type of arthritis .

Some of the common sign and Symptoms of juvenile arthritis may include:

• Joints become stiffer, mostly in the mornings.
• Joints become tender, swelling and pain in them and burning sensation.
• Red Rashes appear on the kids skin.
• Persistent fever.
• Fatigue.
• Getting irritated easily.
• Weight Loss.
• Lack of appetite.
• Pain  or redness of the eyes The vision gets blurred.
• Uneven growth of the joints.
• Anemia.

In this growing age, the kids are developing their bodily structure and juvenile arthritis can alter their normal growth. Well, most of the kids do well in the long run, but the inflammation caused by juvenile arthritis can bring in serious consequences to the kid's body, such as:

• Bone structure can become too tiny  or too massive.
• Joints can become weary or can also get destroyed.
• Overall growth is halted.
• Trouble in the jaw line making brushing and flossing rather difficult.
• Chronic eye inflammation (uveitis) can cause loss of eye sight.

Occasionally immune system becomes hyperactive, is called macrophage-activation syndrome, though such cases are once in a blue moon.

Joint pain and other problems:

• The first and foremost case is that  the joints begin paining or they become tender. The joints also become red and feels hot when you touch them. They can become hard & stiff and lose their mobility. The kids lose their skill to move hands and most of them begin limping due to the pain in their knees and ankles.

Fatigue and loss of appetite:

• The pain your kids feel from arthritis can disrupt while the kids are sleeping, making them feel tired. They get fatigued due to inflammation also. This process might kill their hunger and they can't gain weight as they lack the appetite, their normal growth will suffer a lot if they lose their appetite. They might even lose weight.

Don't let pain & fatigue deteriorate your kids body.

• Let your kids stay physically active to reset the cycle of their sleep. Certain exercises can help in maintaining their muscle strength around the joints. It's not easy for you to handle the kids, but just pamper them and make them realize that this exercise will help reduce their pain. Make them stretch their legs and arms, to find more flexibility and eliminate the pain.

Not a Normal Growth:

• If the arthritis  lingers for a long time, can bring damage to your kid's joints. All the kids who are still under development and are growing up, have growth plates at the end of their bones. These help the bones to become longer & stronger. Arthritis , if it prolongs, can hinder these plates & the surrounding cartilage. This can have an impact on the kids growth, making the joints to grow a little differently.
• For example one leg or arm differs in size than the other. So better go to a clinic and get your kid treated, never be late,  than better.

Fever and skin rashes

• When your kid gets infected by a systemic JA, your kid might get high fever and red rashes appear on his/her skin.

Mostly these rashes appear on the following body parts:

• chest
• abdomen
• back
• hands
• feet

Both rashes & fever appear simultaneously, the fever can be high up to 103º F and will linger on for quite some time, longer than the fever that comes along with cold.

Note

• Before this JA turns its ugly head, better visit a doctor. We prefer an Ayurvedic doctor as their medicines are made from natural ingredients that are bestowed by the nature and have no side effects.