Polymyalgia Rheumatica Causes Stiff Neck, Shoulders, Hip Symptoms for Corticosteroid Treatment

Polymyalgia rheumatica is an arthritic disorder that causes your muscles to feel achingly stiff. Its stiffness is most commonly felt in your neck, shoulder and hip joint regions because of mild inflammation.

Polymyalgia rheumatica’s inflammation is less severe than other types of arthritis, such as rheumatoid arthritis.  And what causes this abnormal immune system response isn’t known.

More common in over age 50 women, polymyalgia rheumatica main symptom of stiffness is usually experienced after a period of rest. Other symptoms may include:

Aching and stiffness symptoms customarily strike suddenly, but for some they develop slowly.

Initially, you may only be stiff on one side.  But as polymyalgia rheumatica advances, symptoms will likely hit both sides.

In a percentage of polymyalgia rheumatica sufferers, the related condition of temporal arteritis, aka giant cell arteritis, coexist.  This is a vasculitis condition that causes your head arteries to swell.  Headaches and blurred vision are its telltale signs.

Also, there is perhaps a link between polymyalgia rheumatica and certain viruses, such as adenovirus. These suspected viruses cause upper or lower respiratory infections, the likes of:

Polymyalgia rheumatica usually goes away without treatment in a couple of years.  The good news is that you don’t have to endure your stiff neck, shoulder nor hip symptoms for that long.

Routinely prescribed is a low dose of the corticosteroid drug prednisone.   It treats your stiffness with almost immediate relief.

Although polymyalgia rheumatica mostly causes annoying discomfort, corticosteroid treatment can cause unhealthy side effects. For instance:

NSAIDs, such as aspirin and ibuprofen, are found to be effective for those with mild polymyalgia rheumatica symptoms. Yet, long term use of NSAIDs are brought to you with negative health effects as well.

If you’ve been diagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatica, make sure your health care professional checks for temporal arteritis too. Left untreated, it carries a slight risk for some very serious health consequences. For starters blindness or stroke.

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