Mechanical vs inflammatory joints

 

Inflammatory arthritis	Mechanical arthropathy
Swollen knee Includes: Rheumatoid arthritis, seronegative spondyloarthropathy (psoriatic arthritis, enteropathic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, reactive arthritis)	 Osteoarthritis with herbeden's node (bony swelling)   Includes: Osteoarthritis, mechanical back pain.
Pain comes and goes and tends not to relate to movement	Pain worsens with increased movement
Diurnal stiffness occurring in the mornings and at night	Stiffness after resting joint for prolonged period of time.
Morning stiffness often lasts for a prolonged period (>30minutes)	Morning stiffness can be ‘worked off’ after 20-30 minutes.
Associated with heat, redness and 'boggy' swelling of the joint. Although redness may not be marked. +ve metacarpal/metatarsal squeeze	pain along joint line, no swelling.
Acute/subacute flare ups or presentation	Tends to be a chronic long standing condition
Systemic symptoms	Systemic symptoms unlikely
Night time pain tends to be troublesome.	Night pain may be a feature as osteoarthritis progresses.

http://www.arthritisresearchuk.org/arthritis-information/conditions/arthritis/what-is-arthritis.aspx

http://www.arthritisresearchuk.org/health-professionals-and-students/reports/hands-on/hands-on-autumn-2012.aspx

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Arthrite_rhumatoide.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Prepatellar_bursitis.JPG

https://www.flickr.com/photos/handarmdoc/9209641553/