Oral ulcers, joint pain...may be a problem with the autoimmune system

"The weather has changed a lot recently, and my knee joints are always a little painful."

"Maybe you have rheumatism?"

I believe everyone is familiar with such conversations, but the question is, is joint pain always rheumatic? In fact, there are other possibilities, such as autoimmune diseases (i.e., autoimmune diseases).

Autoimmune diseases are a group of diseases caused by autoimmune disorders that can affect multiple systems throughout the body. In layman's terms, it is a disease caused by the body not being able to distinguish between friend and foe and "fighting" with itself. Autoimmune diseases can affect multiple tissues, organs and systems throughout the body, and different patients have different clinical manifestations. In particular, the following symptoms are a reminder for everyone to check whether they have an autoimmune disease.

Recurrent rashes, oral ulcers, hair loss, joint pain

Systemic lupus erythematosus is the most common autoimmune disease, which often occurs in women of childbearing age. The main clinical manifestations are facial butterfly erythema or irregular rash, photosensitivity, oral ulcers, hair loss, fever, joint pain, etc. When these symptoms appear alone or together and recur repeatedly, you should go to the rheumatology and immunology department for screening.

Hair loss and alopecia areata can be caused not only by genetic factors, endocrine factors or life stress, but also as a manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus. If young people have multiple systemic damages of unknown causes, they should also be checked for systemic lupus erythematosus.

If you have recurrent oral ulcers or vulvar ulcers accompanied by eye inflammation, blurred vision, decreased vision, etc., you should be alert to the possibility of Behcet's disease.

Recurrent dry mouth, dry eyes, and tooth decay

Many people may wonder: How can common symptoms such as dry eyes and dry mouth also be autoimmune diseases?

In fact, problems like dry eyes, in addition to indicating some bad eye habits and eye diseases themselves, can also be a manifestation of rheumatic autoimmune diseases.

For example, Sjögren's syndrome mainly affects the lacrimal glands, salivary glands and other exocrine glands, often manifested as dry mouth, dry eyes, no tears when crying, parotid gland enlargement, rampant dental caries (manifested as multiple teeth turning black, falling off, leaving only residual roots in a short period of time, etc.). Many rheumatic immune system diseases can also cause eye inflammation, such as Behcet's disease, ANCA-associated vasculitis, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, etc.

Pale or cyanotic, pitted ulcers on the fingertips

Raynaud's phenomenon, also known as intermittent finger skin color changes, extremity artery spasm, and secondary extremity artery spasm, refers to the whitening of the extremities, such as the fingers, due to stimulation such as cold, and then turning into cyanosis and flushing, which may be accompanied by pain, numbness, etc.

Systemic sclerosis can affect the skin, joints, internal organs, etc. The main clinical manifestations are hardened skin, inability to pinch, depressed ulcers on the fingertips, and involvement of other organs.

Raynaud's phenomenon is also common in other connective tissue diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus.

Recurring joint pain and swelling

If the interphalangeal joints of the hands are painful and swollen, and the pain is symmetrical (i.e., on both hands), and accompanied by morning stiffness (joint stiffness for more than 1 hour after getting up in the morning), then you should be alert.

If young people experience recurrent low back pain or pain in the sacroiliac area, which is more severe in the morning or after rest and is relieved or alleviated after activity, then it is necessary to determine whether they have ankylosing spondylitis.

In addition, joint pain can also be a concomitant symptom of other autoimmune diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, etc.

Muscle weakness and limited limb movement

If you have difficulty raising your head, combing your hair, going upstairs, or fever, or if you have breathing difficulties, elevated creatine kinase, or a rash on the face or trunk, you should consider polymyositis or dermatomyositis. If you have unexplained muscle weakness or other symptoms, you should seek medical attention immediately.

Habitual abortion, thrombocytopenia, thrombosis

Recurrent unexplained habitual miscarriages, unexplained arteriovenous thrombosis, with or without thrombocytopenia, should require examination of rheumatology-related immunology indicators to identify whether there is primary antiphospholipid antibody syndrome or other connective tissue diseases, such as secondary antiphospholipid antibody syndrome in systemic lupus erythematosus.

Unexplained fever

There are many causes of fever. In addition to common infections, other causes include autoimmune diseases, endocrine system diseases, blood system diseases, etc.

Most autoimmune diseases are accompanied by fever, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, adult Still's disease, etc. If no clear source of infection is found, the anti-infection treatment is not effective, and the possibility of other systemic diseases is ruled out, then we should be alert to the presence of autoimmune disease.

The clinical manifestations of Still's disease in adults are mainly fever, sore throat, rash, joint pain, etc., and physical signs include enlarged lymph nodes and spleen.

Other manifestations

Autoimmune diseases usually affect multiple organs and systems. When multiple symptoms occur simultaneously or successively, one should be alert to the possibility of autoimmune disease. In addition, there are some unexplained pneumonia, heart failure, and neurological diseases, which all need to be differentiated from autoimmune diseases.