Reactive arthritis

Reactive arthritis, formerly known as Reiter’s syndrome, is a condition that causes inflammation (redness and swelling) in various places in the body.

It usually develops following an infection, and in most cases clears up in a few months without causing long-term problems.

The three most common places affected by reactive arthritis are:

the joints (arthritis), which can cause pain, stiffness and swelling the eyes (conjunctivitis), which can cause eye pain and redness the urethra (non-gonococcal urethritis), which can cause pain when urinating (the urethra is the tube that carries urine out of the body) 

However, most people will not experience all of these problems. 

Read more about the symptoms of reactive arthritis.

Symptoms

The symptoms of reactive arthritis usually develop within four weeks of an infection.

In most cases, reactive arthritis follows a sexually transmitted infection (STI) such as chlamydia, or a bowel infection such as food poisoning.

The three parts of the body most commonly affected by reactive arthritis are the:

joints and tendons urinary system eyes

However, most people won’t experience problems in all of these areas.


Reactive arthritis can also cause symptoms, including:

feeling unusually tired a high temperature (fever) weight loss mouth ulcers painless white patches inside your mouth a rash thick and crumbly nails abdominal (tummy) pain bouts of diarrhoea