DANVILLE, Pa. — Arthritis is when the joints are swollen, stiff, and tender. It affects nearly 60 million adults, but many people do not realize that it also affects around 300,000 children.
There can be a delay in diagnosing juvenile arthritis because there is a misconception that you must be older to have the condition.
"There will be swelling, there will be warmth, there will be decreased range of motion, but kids aren't going to verbalize their symptoms as they do in adults. And pain is actually not as common as you might think," said Dr. Emily Brunner, a rheumatologist at Geisinger.
Dr. Brunner says while pain is not a major symptom of juvenile arthritis, kids may have a hard time walking or getting out of bed.
There are many medications to treat juvenile arthritis.
"It can just be taking things like scheduled NSAIDs like ibuprofen to get things started, but oftentimes we will do other things like targeted joint injections with steroids. Then there are medicines that work on different parts of the immune system."
Dr. Brunner says juvenile arthritis is a treatable condition.
"Some kids can be cured and grow out of arthritis and not have the requirement for any medications. Some kids need medicines for a longer period of time, and some kids might need medicine for a period, come off, and may flare in the future."
Identifying inflammation and getting treatment early will help kids lead a normal, healthy life.
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