When is anti-inflammatory medication recommended for reactive arthritis?

Reactive arthritis is joint inflammation that follows an infection elsewhere in the body. It can affect the knees, ankles, feet, spine, eyes or areas where tendons attach. Anti-inflammatory medicine addresses pain and swelling in the joints, but it does not replace assessment for an ongoing infection or other causes of arthritis.

Tell the clinician about recent diarrhoea, urinary symptoms, genital symptoms, eye irritation, ulcers and all medicines you take. The choice of medicine depends on your stomach, kidney and heart history and how extensive the inflammation is. Use only the advised dose, stay gently mobile within comfort and avoid strenuous loading of a swollen joint.

Get urgent medical help for a painful red eye, light sensitivity or blurred vision, as eye inflammation can threaten sight. Seek prompt care for fever, a rapidly worsening hot joint, severe illness, new weakness, or medication-related breathing difficulty, facial swelling, black stools or vomiting blood.

Ask whether you need testing or treatment for an infection, how long symptom relief should take, what activity is suitable, and when persistent joint swelling needs reassessment.