I am not sure if have arthritis or not. I have noticed a lot of unusual, and sudden, joint pain and tightness. I hear clicking in my joints from my elbows, hands, knees. All are sporadic. My hands feel uncomfortable, tight and the joints get stuck in motion as I move them. My knee gets sharp pain when I move it into a crossed leg position. It seems like all of this has happened in a matter of a month or two. I also have stiffness all over and headaches. I am not really sure what is wrong and am hesitant to go to the doctor. I am 29 and thought I was a little young to be experiencing this sort of discomfort.

I was in an auto accident years ago. I didn't think anything was wrong with me other than the normal whiplash problems. About 2 hours after accident I began having pain in my thumbs. I went to the emergency room. They assumed it was caused from whiplash of my neck. I went to chiropractors, Physical Therapists, Doctors. I finally went to a Doctor that said I had arthritis and it was due to the accident and he could do surgery on my thumbs. I checked with the Arthritis Foundation and what the doctor said was true. I had surgery on the right thumb with a ceramic ball. It was good for a while. I went back to the doctor and now I have tendonitis in the joint. I can't believe the difference. I have no pain at all. During physical therapy a ganglion cyst came on a tendon on the back of my right hand at the wrist. I had it drained by my primary physician, but that didn't work so back to the surgeon. I would be interested in hearing of anyone who had or has a similar problem.

I have just been told by my doctor I have a mild case of shoulder arthritis and my doctor has recommended physical therapy.

English is my second language, so I have difficulty discussing my arthritis in detail with my doctor, since I have limited medical terms. After reading your article, though, it is so helpful in helping me understand my situation and now I know more correct words to find what situation I am in, just one day before my knee surgery which is scheduled tomorrow at noon. Thanks for your website and this particular article.

I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). Early treatment with sulfasalizine was effective. Now Humira is doing an amazing job controlling the disease.

This has been a very educational and informative material on arthritis. I had a heart bypass surgery a few years ago and now, I have been having chronic pain on my left chest around the breast area. I have undergone many tests (chest X-ray, CT scan, echo stress test) and luckily it is not my heart that's causing the pain. The lungs are normal. I was asked to see a chiropractor and have been undergoing treatment for 3 months. He also gave me a topical lotion to use for the affected area. I do feel better. However, the pain and discomfort comes back often especially on days where I have to do some lifting (grocery bags) and doing chores or sitting too long at work in front of the computer. I feel the tightness of the chest to the point where breathing is tight. I would like to be able to breathe better again even when the discomfort is there. I don't want any more surgeries or some invasive tests if possible.

In 1992, I fell off a horse, landed on my right hip and had to have a hematoma drained. A few years later I started to have severe pain in the hip. I struggled with it. In 2001, I was in an automobile accident and hurt my left hip, no broken bones, just bruised. A couple of years later with pain in both hips, hardly able to get out of bed in the morning, and then bent over in pain for a half hour or so before I could get going, I went to the doctor. He checked me out, asked a lot of questions, and said I had arthritis; he told me to take Motrin or one of the OTC drugs to alleviate the pain. I hated to be dependent on drugs. I thought maybe if I lost weight it would help. I was about and still am 15-18 lbs. overweight. I don't know why I chose the Atkins Diet, but I did. Four days into the diet all my hip pain went away. I stayed on the diet another 1 1/2 weeks, and then went off it. I was pain-free for about a year. The pain started to return and I went on the diet again. Sure enough 4 days and the pain was gone. When I got sciatica on the right side, I tried the diet again, and it took 5 days. A year later, I got it on the left side. This time it took 12 days till the pain was gone. I have had no sciatic trouble since. How wonderful it is to jump out of bed in the morning without pain. I don't know why it worked. They don't make any claims or even suggest the diet be used for this purpose. I can't seem to stick with the diet long-term, but for a few days, it has done wonders for me. All people are different, but it's something that might be worth trying.