Osteoarthritis
vs
Rheumatoid Arthritis

It's the Osteoarthritis vs Rheumatoid Arthritis showdown!

No, it's not a competition, we're just going to compare the two.

If we were going to compare between Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis, we'd probably have to see which one was 'worse'.  

But the good news is, neither of them are worse.  They're both caused by predictable factors, and they can be reversed by dealing effectively with those factors.

Which isn't to say they're not bad if you're suffering from one or both of them, but is to say that A. they're not diseases and B. they can be eliminated or symptoms diminished (depending on how far the mechanisms have progressed....there's no coming back from deformed joints).




Osteoarthritis vs
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Symptoms

Osteoarthritis Symptoms

Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms

  • muscle pain/ache
  • joint pain
  • stiff joints
  • loss of range of motion
  • grinding/squeaking feel
  • grinding/squeaking sound
  • Pain when using and/or pain when at rest
  • redness at/around affected joint(s)
  • heat at/around affected joint
  • swelling at/around affected joint
  • Tendonitis symptoms
  • joint degradation
  • joint deformation
  • doctor will basically tell you there's no cure other than surgery, but will prescribe rest and anti-inflammatories and rest/immobilization, etc. 
  • muscle pain/ache
  • joint pain
  • stiff joints
  • loss of range of motion
  • grinding/squeaking feel
  • grinding/squeaking sound
  • Pain when using and/or pain when at rest
  • redness at/around affected joint(s)
  • heat at/around affected joint
  • swelling at/around affected joint
  • Tendonitis symptoms
  • joint degradation
  • joint deformation
  • doctor tells you there's no cure and will prescribe you pharmaceutical drugs and immuno-suppressants


Notice any similarities so far?

They share all the above symptoms in common, with small variation.

Below are symptoms that set the two types of arthritis distinctly apart.


Osteoarthritis  Symptoms

  • no fever symptoms
  • no general malaise/feeling bad
  • no compromised immune system
  • no flare ups of joint pain/problem
  • no fatigue
  • no weight loss
  • no bumps/lumps/nodues in/under the skin, most commonly around the elbows.

Rheumatoid Arthritis  Symptoms

  • fever symptoms
  • general malaise/feeling bad
  • compromised immune system
  • flare ups of joint pain/problem
  • fatigue
  • weight loss
  • bumps/lumps/nodues in/under the skin, most commonly around the elbows.




Osteoarthritis vs.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Causes

While Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis share many factors of cause and effect, there are two main categories of cause of arthritis rheumatoid and 'osteo'.

The primary categories are 'inflammatory agents' as the cause of Rheumatoid Arthritis and 'the tendonitis dynamic' as the cause of osteoarthritis.


Cause Of Osteoarthritis

Cause Of Rheumatoid Arthritis

The Tendonitis Dynamic is the primary cause of Osteoarthritis.

The following ALL work together to cause Osteoarthritis:

  • progressive muscle tightness
  • progressive connective tissue tightness
  • progressive and/or chronic inflammation in the affected area
  • nutritional insufficiency
  • chronic and progressive compression of the joint


See:  The Pain Causing Dynamic

See:  What Is Osteoarthritis

See:  What Is Tendonitis

See:  Joint Pain Causes

Inflammatory agents like gluten, sugar, processed foods are the primary cause of Rheumatoid Arthritis.

  • gluten
  • sugar
  • processed cooking oils (carcinogenic and inflammatory) (yes, this includes vegetable oils)
  • Leaky Gut, which is Increased Intenstinal Impermeability
  • chemicals in food
  • heavy metals in food (or other intake avenue)
  • various inflammation-causing viruses or diseases

All the factors of Osteoarthritis (symptoms and causes) can be involved with Rheumatoid Arthritis, but they are NOT CAUSES of Rheumatoid Arthritis, they are symptoms of RA.


See:  Rheumatoid Arthritis Help 

See:  Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms


Osteoarthritis vs
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Treatments

Like most all physical issues of this nature (as opposed to, say, a gun shot wound or life threatening pneumonia), the 'treatment' is to remove the factors that are causing the pain and problem in the body.

While Arthritis Medication is a multi-billion dollar business, it can only (at best) treat symptoms (reduce symptoms).  It is not possible for pharmaceutical drugs to cure either RA or osteoarthritis.


Doctors like to call RA a disease, but then, they also think that auto-immune responses just show up out of nowhere and have no cure.

What's important to know about RA and Osteoarthris is that they are processes that can be reversed by removing the causative factors.


Osteoarthritis Treatment

Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment

  • reduce muscle tightness
  • reduce connective tissue tightness
  • reduce inflammatory process
  • decompress affected joint(s)
  • replete nutritional insufficiency


As one does that, the pain signal will be produced less and less, and to the extent the body needs to heal it can.

Even bone on bone can heal, but when the dynamic has progressed that far, it's going to take a lot of work, focused attention, and time to 'heal'.
  • stop putting inflammatory agents into the body
  • give the body necessary nutrition so that it can heal

On one level, yes, it really is as simple as that.  Having said that, if there is joint deformity, there's no reversing that, but one can stop the auto-immune response and reduce pain and other symptoms.

Most people's RA is a function of the foods/drinks they put into their bodies.  That's the easiest scenario to deal with.



When comparing Osteoarthritis vs Rheumatoid Arthritis once can clearly see some similarities, and some differences.

It's important to know that one can have BOTH at the same time.  So then it's important to understand how each of them work, the causes and symptoms of each, and how to treat them.

Ironically, treating one gives benefit to the other.  But with RA specifically, you MUST remove the inflammatory factors if you want to have any chance of recovery.







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