Take Action
Immediate Action:

• Keep doing as much of your normal routine as possible.
  
• Start slowly and try to exercise more and more to keep your joints flexible and strong. Consult your doctor for recommended amount of exercise as well as physical therapy evaluation and treatment.
  
• Schedule daily rest periods and sleep well to keep from getting overtired.
  
• If the joint is not warm or swollen, use heat to relieve the pain. Hot soaks, heat lamps, or whirlpool treatments may help.

See Your Doctor:

If: you have the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis; you have a fever during treatment; symptoms appear in joints where you didn’t have them before or other unexplained symptoms develop.

To: possibly obtain splints for pain control; get physical therapy; consider whether surgery is necessary.

Last updated: 02-May-07