Everyday Health reported on how rheumatoid arthritis may affect body image featuring insight from Theodore R. Fields, MD, FACP rheumatologist at HSS. 

RA causes many changes in how your body looks and functions. Whether it’s due to joint swelling, fatigue, or another symptom of the condition, your experience of living in your body is different from how used to be, in ways that can be distressing.

Experiencing pain, developing a limp, and moving more slowly than you used to are also common RA-related physical changes, said Dr. Fields. “The general psychological effect that patients talk about … is that it is making them ‘a different person,’” he explained. 

It is important for people with RA patients to optimize their disease-modifying medications so they have good control of disease activity and less unpredictable disease flares. This will improve swelling, pain, and possibly any visible abnormalities. Adjunctive (complementary) treatments can also help such as "physical therapy, local injections, topical pain relievers, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents," Dr. Fields continued.

Read the full article at everydayhealth.com.