Rheumatic diseases

The umbrella term of rheumatic diseases summarises different painful musculoskeletal diseases. In the narrow sense of the term, rheumatism is characterised by joint inflammations, the induced chronic disease of multiple joints – so-called inflammatory rheumatism or more often articular rheumatism. This includes rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis arthritis and Bechterev’s arthritis. Other inflammatory joint diseases from different sources as well as degenerative joint disease (osteoarthritis) are often classified under the generic term of rheumatism. As most of the symptoms can also point to other diseases, the affected person often carries the disease for a long time before the correct diagnosis is made. Long-term, chronic inflammation leads to cartilage damage and with it, osteoarthritis.

Symptoms: The first symptoms are usually nocturnal and morning-time joint pains, morning stiffness, swelling of the joints, fatigue and exhaustion. In advanced stages, severe pain usually occurs alongside restriction of movement and joint deformities, which significantly affect the daily lives of those affected.

Therapy: In the early stage, the treatment of rheumatism usually consists of conservative therapies such as physiotherapy, cold and hot applications, medication and physical therapy. In some cases, surgical measures are necessary, e.g. the removal of the inflamed synovium (synovectomy), which often take place by means of arthroscopic operations. At an advanced stage, operative joint stiffening and joint replacement operations are considered, such as hip and knee prostheses. At the same time, all operations are aimed at providing patients with the ability to deal with their everyday lives as painlessly as possible.