Joint pain can range from mild pain to chronic pain. Every person has at one time, or the other experienced pain in their collective, which may have been caused by several factors. Areas, where these sorts of pains occur, include shoulders, elbows, knees, hips, wrists, and hands. Before considering what the causes of the joint pain might be, it is vital to establish the fact that joint pains don’t just begin for no reason, it is usually a pointer that there’s something deeper than just the pain itself.
Here are the causes of sudden joint pains
Arthritis
Another known cause of joint pain is arthritis. This is one of the most common causes of joint pains. Under the subject of arthritis, there are two major forms which are Osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). For adults over age 40, Osteoarthritis affects them more as compared to rheumatoid; this report is according to the American College of Rheumatology. Joints pains associated with this kind of arthritis mostly affect the hips, knees, wrists, and hands. The second variant of arthritis is Rheumatoid Arthritis, which is common in females than in males, causing pains and inflammation in the joints. It also causes the immune system to attack the membranes that line the joints.
Gout
One of the causes of joint pains is Joint Crystals; gouts usually cause this. Characteristics of gouts include pain, tenderness, redness, and inflammation in some joints, often likened to crystal arthritis, which forms in the joint space. Also, there are underlying triggers of gouts, namely: a. Injury to a joint b. Chemotherapy c. Having too much alcohol d. Having too much of wrong foods
e. Surgery
Viral Infection
Another cause of joint pain is a Viral Infection. This cause is related to diseases associated with viruses such as HIV, Enterovirus, hepatitis B and C.
Joint Overuse
Overuse of a joint can also be the reason for sudden joint pains experienced by many people. This is a common cause for people that engage in sporting activities such as Tennis, athletics; also in repetitive activities like paining, typing, video games. Joints that are prone to overuse are wrists, ankle, and shoulder. A practical example of joint pains causes by overuse are pains you experience in your wrists and shoulders, if you engage in activities that involve swinging your arms, constant throwing of objects, typing on a computer, etc. Over time your joints begin to feel the impact of these activities, which causes severe pains around your joints.
Injuries
Another leading cause of joint pains is associated with injuries around the joints. For example, if you get injured somewhere around your ankle, it is not uncommon to feel soreness in the joint around there. Also, injuries not properly treated cause pain. You may have been injured a few weeks back, and the injury was not properly taken care of. When pressure is exerted in the area, it can cause sudden pains, especially if the area of the injury if close to a joint.
Musculoskeletal disorders
The major areas affected by this kind of disorder are the muscles, bones, and joints. Another thing worthy of note with this cause is that the risk of developing them progresses with age. Areas that can be affected by this nature of pain include shoulders, back, wrists, hips, neck, legs, feet, knees. It is worthy of note that some activities can lead to this. Some of these activities are lifting heavy objects, poor body posture (usually affects necks, shoulders, hips), and a poor sitting position, especially for people who have to sit for lengthy hours, or in front of a screen.
Sprains
An established cause of joint pains is a sprain, where the ligament that connects two or more bones at a joint is injured or torn. While this is being discussed, note that anyone can be a victim of sprain, the joints can also become stiff, or there may be swellings in that area. When an individual experience sprains, they must take appropriate measures to heal up and not return to normal activities too soon as this may cause pain to the injured area again.
Rickets
The next cause of joint pain is Rickets, commonly associated with children between 6 months and three years of age. This is a situation that arises when a child lacks vitamin D and poor dieting. It causes poor bone formation in children and of course aches and pains are associated with this kind of deficiency.
Rubella
This also is referred to as German measles, a known cause of sudden joint pain. The rubella virus causes this pain, and it is common in children, although it can affect anyone. The joints pain associated with this cause is common in adults, and it may linger on for a few days.
Chondromalacia
Runner’s knee medically known as Chondromalacia is a cause of sudden pains in the joints, usually associated with athletic individuals. Symptoms of this condition include pain in the knees and grinding sensations. While the major cause of this condition is associated with athletics, other causes are improper knee alignment and arthritis of the knee, stress to the knee joints from activities like running and jumping. Some causes of joint pains are as a result of autoimmune conditions, as in the case of Lupus. This causes inflammation in different organs and tissues of the body, mostly in the joints. It is important to note that there is no known cure for this condition. The symptoms of this condition can suddenly appear as well as suddenly disappear; at other times, it is permanent. Joint pain is one of the numerous symptoms of Lupus. Other symptoms are fatigue, body aches. Lupus is caused by some factors, which include Genetics, Infections, Hormones, and even medications; this condition appears more in females than in males.
Bursitis
This condition, which is also a known cause of joint pain is an inflammation of the fluid-filled sacs known as Bursae found in the joints. This condition can be limiting because it affects how you move your joints. Other symptoms associated with bursitis, aside from joint pains are swellings, redness, and thickening of the bursae. Common areas this affects are the knee cap, the elbow, the heel, hips. Infections can also cause bursitis.
Tendinitis
Another widespread cause of sudden joint pain is Tendinitis, which is referred to as the inflammation or irritation of a tendon –the thick cords that attach a muscle to a bone. Other names that Tendinitis goes by include Tennis elbow, Pitchers shoulder, Jumper’s knee, Golfer’s elbow, and Swimmers shoulder. Although Tendinitis can occur in any of the tendons, its occurrence is common in shoulders, wrists, heels, elbows, and knees.
Although the primary cause for sudden joint pains can be traced to arthritis and overuse of joints, this article has revealed other cases associated with joint pains, while some might be acute pains, others can be pretty severe and chronic.