Clinical Features

· Joint pain can be acute (lasting days) or chronic (lasting months or even years).
· Depending on the underlying disease pain is felt only in one joint (e.g., after trauma or during
osteoarthritis) or in several joints (e.g., during rheumatoid polyarthritis).
· Pain is usually localized to the afflicted joint or joints, but it can also be referred (e.g., hip OA may cause
knee pain).
· Joint pain is often dull and aching and thus different from cutaneous pain, which is sharp and more
precisely localized.
· The pain usually appears as hyperalgesia (or allodynia): in a normal joint only movements against the
resistance of the tissue cause pain, whereas pain occurs in an injured or inflamed joint during movements
within the normal working range.
· Pain in the joint often leads to physical impairment, limping, restriction of movement, and loss of force.
· Joint pain is usually worsened by use (weight-bearing or movement) and relieved at rest, but it may also
be constant.
· A particular quality of osteoarthritic pain is resting pain at night.
· Pain can be associated with other symptoms such as stiffness, instability, or warmth.