Fat pads?

[Debbiecoops]

I'm confused about recent developments, all along i knew i had osteoarthritis. But my rheumatologist thought i had inflammatory arthritis. The only box i ticketed was my anti cpp test results. now she tells me it's ' Fat pads' . i didn't and still don't understand want that means??. i didn't feel like i could ask her because she was a bit 'off' that day and i felt emotional, so left. can anyone enlighten me?

[PMRPete]

"There are various fat pads, but the one at the knee that causes a lot of problems is the infrapatellar fat pad, also known as Hoffa’s fat pad after the man who first described it.

The fat pad has been shown to be very pain sensitive. It is rich with nerve endings that can fire off messages of pain to the brain, and it is therefore of no surprise that people with fat pad problems are often in a lot of pain."

clairepatella.com/the-infra...

[Debbiecoops in reply to PMRPete]

Thank you for your reply Pete, I know I have Fat Pads on my fingers. As they are visible. I was wondering if it was possible to have them anywhere else. I've not had my knees looked at as yet. Because most of my pain has been in my hands, spine and neck. However, since all this started. My knees have started to give me trouble. When I'm walking, they feel stiff and it feels like they ' seize up ' I mentioned this in my last rheumy appointment. But my specialist didn't seem interested. My own doctor justs said ' it's probably the arthritis' so now I'm wondering if it can affect all the joints in the body?

[PMRPete in reply to Debbiecoops]

Hello Debbie,

Elbow, knee, heel, foot, groin, neck and many other parts!

Chubby cheeks are 'fat pads'.

Try to discuss it more with one of your medics.

[ITYFIALMCTT in reply to PMRPete]

That fat pad link was very informative - thank you for posting it, Hidden .

It's fascinating how much inflammation is governed by fat mass, even on a local scale - and the overlap with inflammatory arthritis. More and more, it looks like there are not 2 clear divisions of osteoarthritis and inflammatory arthritis - but there is a continuum of inflammation that is associated with arthritis.

Tho' this can not begin to address the observed differences in systemic inflammation in conditions such as RA.

[PMRPete in reply to ITYFIALMCTT]

ITYFIALMCTT said:-

"More and more, it looks like there are not 2 clear divisions of osteoarthritis and inflammatory arthritis - but there is a continuum of inflammation that is associated with arthritis."

I think I have got all of them! But I am in my 85th year!

[Hidden]

I'm only in my 63rd year and not feeling too perky. I also thought I had a fat pad on back of neck, but now I think it could be a bone spur. How can one tell the difference?