Question
I am seriously concerned that i trigerred the onset of RA by doing serious injury to my wrists 3 years ago, suffering blows to both wrists , inside and outside, for no other reason than pure frustration and blunt force trauma. It was totally unecessary and i feel shattered by this. I feel i have left myself and my family down in a moment of madness. My life is ruined over this! I am devastated ! ger
Answer
Dear Ger,
You are being much too hard on yourself. There is no evidence that trauma truly causes rheumatoid arthritis. Although we don’t know the true cause of RA, you did not cause it !!! You may have inherited one or more genes associated with susceptibility for RA, and you certainly have no control over what genes you inherit. There are likely other factors that cause RA that have not yet been found. RA frequently affects the wrists, and usually spreads to other joints as well. Just because you had prior injuries to your wrists doesn’t mean that caused it, it is likely simply a coincidence. There are lots of great medications for RA, so you should be able to be relatively pain free.
