First off I’m 18 and I have really mild plaque psoriasis and I think I may be developing psoriatic arthritis eventually as well due to joint inflammation and pain I have occasionally. I rarely get psoriasis anywhere besides inside my ears though because of the climate I’m in right now.

Two days ago I was out shopping when a spot on my wrist began to itch. I saw no bumps of any sort to indicate that it was a bug bite but after I continued scratching it, it started to look like it might be just a bug bite as it started to have a bump. I got another one later that night on my finger but this one had no bump and it still doesn’t. It’s just a little swollen, red, and extremely itchy. Both of them have gotten unbearably itchy. If I don’t touch them for a while it goes away but just the slightest touch brings it back. Scratching it at all makes it so much worse and makes it swell more and burn. I got another one on my leg and a small one (that looks more like a bug bite) on my arm as well that day. But all at different times and not always when I was in the same place which makes it hard for me to believe that they’re all really itchy bug bites. I thought it might be related to my psoriasis but they’re not usually on joints. (not that my psoriasis is always on joints) I suppose it’s possible that it’d be bed bugs or something but I have trouble believing that one of them followed me to the mall all day before biting me on the wrist. lol I keep expecting them to get better but they only show signs of getting worse. It’s probably not as big of a deal as I’m acting like it is but I just wanted to be sure that it wasn’t a sign of any other psoriasis related condition or anything. Oh and anti itch cream does absolutely nothing.

Can I take 100mg of ibuprofen everyday for a few months or so to help my knee pain. X-rays showed early signs of arthritis int he knees.

I have a 2 year very active male blue heeler. He shows signs of what lameness kind of like "walking on eggshells," on days of exercise. Sometimes even days when he hasn’t been. At first I thought it was juvenile arthritis, but he doesn’t show any more stiffness in the mornings unlike our other dog we had who had arthritis. In fact, he seems better in the mornings.

He is very uncomfortable with us touching right behind where the ends of his pads of his front feet are. If you look at http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8d/Paw_and_pads.jpg/250px-Paw_and_pads.jpg
Between the hair area of C and E is where is pain appears to be. He shows no discomfort around his joints at all. Sometimes there is minor swelling, but nothing excessive.

He’s the kind of dog who jumps 5 feet in the air all 4 feet off the ground.(I’m not exaggerating here.) I am wondering if he has pulled his tendons, and they haven’t had recovery time.
Oh, and he was on shark cartilage/msm for a month, and I saw no improvement. This is why I am thinking this isn’t arthritis.

I’m thinking he pulled something and he hasn’t had the time to recover. It hasn’t gotten better, so hes going to the vet Monday.

My mam is 51, not working but signs on. Gets working tax credit because husband works but is there anything else she might be entitled to. She has rheumatoid arthritis in both hands and one knee so there are not many jobs she can do. She used to be a cleaner but can not do this now because of the pain she gets. Any help much appreciated. U.K

Hi

I have a dull pain in my left knee, and it sometimes buckles

I am unsure wether it was caused by shin splints (as I sometimes have a pain in my lower leg) or from my job which is very labour intensive and often involves working in the cold kneeling down. Or is it early signs of arthritis?

Other than the pain, the problem is I love my job, and I want to keep working in it. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to support my knee and protect it from the cold so it doesn’t get worse and I can keep working?

Also I have an irrational fear of the doctors, so I won’t be going to them for my knee.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated! thank you!

Almost all vertebrates are susceptible to OA(osteoarthritis). Fossilized vertabreates from fish to mammals show signs of it, as do marine mammals, even though their joints bear less weight than those of terresreial mammals. However bats and sloths, which spend most of their lives hanging upside down, do not exhibit OA

Wondering if anyone can provide me with some help/answers. I have a son who is almost 13 yrs. old who ha been diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis(JRA). He was DX when he was very young-probably about 10 yrs. ago when he used to cry in the morning because his knees would hurt and I could feel "heat" coming from his knees, back then it was just pain in the knees in the mornings and the heat-NO SWELLING. So, his Dr. recommended physical therapy which I used to take him to a few times a week, and I believe I used to also give him some type of RX,although I don’t recall which one it was. Anyhow, his condition improved within a year and it NEVER bothered him again, we moved out of state and switched Drs. and I always thought maybe he was misdiagnosed to begin with since there is no definitive test for JRA, and he never had any signs or problems for almost 10 years.
Until recently, since mid 2008 he sometimes complained of his right knee hurting him sometimes, especially in the AM. His last Dr. thought nothing of it, she said it was probably just "growing pains", although I told her about the JRA when he was younger, she said she didn’t think it was that & unless it started to REALLY bother him, I wouldn’t worry about it.
Then, Sept2008 we moved back to NY and in October he started to complain of the pain in his right knee just about every morning,& sometimes at night and even during the day when he was performing physical activities or simple things like walking up/down stairs. I would give him ibuprofen which had no effect & then one day he says to me that he thinks one leg looks bigger than the other, so I look at his right knee & I couldn’t believe my eyes, his rigth knee was EXTREMELY SWOLLEN and puffy-TWICE the size of his left knee, and even the area above the knee (like the thigh area) looked bigger. I immediately got on the phone to call Drs., but I don’t have insurance for him right now and don’t have lots of extra money, although his health is very important so I tried to do all I could do. I got him an appt. the next day at a pediatrician who looked at the leg and I told him about his previous JRA & asked if that is what this was? Like I said before, when he was younger, his knees NEVER got swollen, only pain and heat in both knees in the morning but NEVER swollen. The pediatrician referred me to a pediatric rheumatologist but they told me they couldn’t give me an appt. for 3 months, I felt this was an emergency and couldn’t wait 3 months so I called around to every pediatric rheumatologist I could find & every one either could not give me an appt. that week or gave me the run around since I had no insurance. So, then I started calling regular rheumatologists and found a compassionate one who said I could come in right away. He examined my son & determined that he would need to see a pediatric rheumatologist since the course of treatment is different for children than for adults, he said if my son was 40 yrs. older he would have stuck a needle in his knee and drained the fluid out that was causing swelling, but this was not done to children so he made calls for me to get me an appt. with a pediatric specialist and got me an appt. a few days later (and told me to continue giving ibuprofen-WHICH NEVER HELPED).
So, we see the PR (pediatric rheumatologist) who first orders blood tests to rule out other things (ie: lyme disease & other possible causes). After waiting a week for the test reults, they all came back negative, even his "rheumatoid factor" was negative, but they say that there is no definitive test for JRA and it is diagnosed by a determination of factors and symptoms and not one test alone. Since he had been dx with it when he was younger, and he has a cousin who has it, this is what she determined it to be and she recommended an injection into his knee which was supposed to reduce swelling and relieve the pain, this was supposed to take full effect in about 3 days. During this time now (since October) the PR gave him a note excusing him from playing gym in school until January since he was now haviing bad pains EVERY DAY and the knee was severely swollen and large, he missed school a few times because the pain was so bad in the morning that he could not get up and get ready for school in the morning & in school it hurst him to walk up/down stairs & walk to and from classes.
She also told me to continue giving him ibuprofen (which still never helped). My son has also gained weight, almost 10 lbs. in the last 3 months because he is no longer active at all, he just sits in the house playing games because he no longer likes to play outside with friends (he used tobe very active playing football, riding his bike, etc, etc. etc.). His appt. t have the injection was in November (the earliest appt. they could give me) So, once he got the shot I thought he would be better. Well, he got the injection on a Friday, then on Saturday he said he said ne noticed a slight improv
slight improvement in his pain level. Sunday he said it was a little better, but on Monday he said he was having pain on the other side of his knee, he says the pain used to be mainly on one side (where he got the injection) but now it seems to have moved over to the other side, and the swelling never went down. My son says he feels "fluid" in his knee and it sometimes feels like it is going to burst.
We did not have an appt. to see the Dr. again until about a month after the injection (December), so it had been over two months since we first noticed the swelling, and in all this time, there was no improvement, if anything, it may be getting worse. Also, it is only the right knee, and he does not have any pain or swelling or anything in ANY of his other joints (as many children with JRA have MANY joints affected). I still wonder if it is even JRA, since so far the treatment has not worked and the swelling and pain have not subsided (where from what I read, most people with JR
slight improvement in his pain level. Sunday he said it was a little better, but on Monday he said he was having pain on the other side of his knee, he says the pain used to be mainly on one side (where he got the injection) but now it seems to have moved over to the other side, and the swelling never went down. My son says he feels "fluid" in his knee and it sometimes feels like it is going to burst.
We did not have an appt. to see the Dr. again until about a month after the injection (December), so it had been over two months since we first noticed the swelling, and in all this time, there was no improvement, if anything, it may be getting worse. Also, it is only the right knee, and he does not have any pain or swelling or anything in ANY of his other joints (as many children with JRA have MANY joints affected). I still wonder if it is even JRA, since so far the treatment has not worked and the swelling and pain have not subsided (where from what I read, most people with JR
have flare ups from time to time, but this has been continuous). I should also mention though that when it is a rainy day, his knee hurts EVEN MORE than usual (just as adults with arthritis), on days with bad weather, he has a really bad day.
So, we saw the Dr. for a follow up in December & I explained how he has not improved and he doesn’t want to go to school in the mornings and does not want to be active & isn’t there something else we can be doing to help him? She said he should not be missing any school because of this, that if anything, he should wake up earlier if he needs the extra time to get ready in the morning, and that he should not be sitting around all day, he should exercise and be active to help strengthen the leg (but the problem is that he cries and some mornings can’t even stand in the shower because he says the pain is so bad) and also says he gets embarassed when he is walking up/down the stairs in school and holding on the rail and walking slow because of h
I can’t believe this, I typed out such a lengthy question and it cut half of it out, and my question is all messed up, basically my son is now taking Mobic every day which has not been helping and is very expensive and my questions are to you:
-can anyone recommend anything else?
-does anyone know of any websites where I can learn free physical therapy exercises that I can do at home with my child?
-does anyone think this can be something other than JRA?
-anyone have a similar experience and any advice?

THANK YOU
To Brandy-you recommened a foot specialist, but I’m not sure if you misread, his problem is in his knee, not his ankle or foot, would the foot specialist have anything to do with helping in a problem of the knee? Also, what would a neurologist do? I thought that was for nerve disorders? I just don’t want to bring him to a bunch of Drs. who are not going to be useful since I have to pay out of pocket each time, and this prescription medicine is already costing me now over 0 a month, I want him to get help but don’t want to keep paying people who aren’t really helping, you know?
To Carol H-I am alwasy hesitant about these non FDA approved medicines (I have had no luck in trying various vitamins & supplements for my own ailments in the past), just wondering though-when you suffered with this ailment when you were younger-did the inflammation remain for MONTHS? That is what does not make it seem NORMAL to me and makes me wonder if he was misdiagnosed, I mean, his knee is EXTREMELY HUGE AND SWOLLEN for THREE MONTHS now even with the injection he received, the prescription meds (Mobic), the ibuprofen, etc. etc.-I do have his first PT appointment tomorrow but not sure I can even afford it now, would love to try a sample of that stuff online but dont’ even have a credit card number to give them for the shipping charges, so not sure how I will even do that?

My dog is a papered Blue Heeler who will be two in February. I saved him from an abusive owner when he was 6 months old.

He is very active; plays ball for hours, goes swimming, jumps for frisbee 5 ft. in the air.
In the mornings he's stiff in the shoulders/front feet. I've noticed when he doesn't get exercise it is worse. I don't think most people would notice this but I do because I have horses and I notice early signs of lameness.

I think he might have juvenile arthritis. He is too young to have bad joints so this could be genetics or youth injury related. His bones could have been severely damaged because he was abused physically until he was put into a kennel at 4 months old. I don't think he got proper nutrition at puppy growth age. He is now fed a no chemical all natural bi-product free diet.

He is not suffering and will be going to the vet on monday. I want ideas to bring up to my vet. What do you think could be causing this?
I can't contact the breeder to ask about genetic defects. He was in an abusive drug house situation. I do not have the papers.

I am only 23 and injured my knee. It is sometimes swollen in the morning. What are some of the signs of this

My dad has been complaining about his knee, today when he got home from work he showed both my mother and I his knees and I could see the swelling right away. He says that he cant bend his knee all the way because it hurts. Are these signs of arthritis? He's scared and a bit discouraged he tells my mother and I that he isnt any good anymore. Im worried about my dad because he has never been sick or had any kind/type sickness……..Can anyone please tell me if this is an early sign of arthritis? Thank you for your answers!!