When you’ve been dealing with persistent back pain that doesn’t go away with rest, stretching, or even pain meds, chances are you’ve heard the terms “inflammatory back pain” and “mechanical back pain.” At one point, I was waking up every morning with a stiff lower back, feeling like I aged overnight. I kept asking myself:…
Can rheumatoid arthritis cause jaw pain? That’s a question I hear more often than you might think in my rheumatology clinic. Most folks associate RA with joints like the hands, wrists, or knees—but the jaw? Yes, the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) can absolutely be involved, and when it is, it’s not just annoying—it can really interfere…
If you or someone you love is living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), you’ve probably wondered at some point if it could be causing chronic back pain. I get it—RA can be a tricky condition to navigate, and sometimes, the symptoms aren’t just about swollen joints and stiffness in the hands or knees. As a specialist,…