Any and all joints in the body can be afflicted with arthritis. The arthroses is a collective term for ALL forms of arthritis, whatever their source of origin and cause. There are many various forms of arthritis with many different causes. Any and all joints in the body can be afflicted with arthritis. There are some joints that are likely to be more commonly affected by certain forms of arthritis, than others.
Many forms are inflammatory processes affecting the tissues around the joint.
Of those forms of arthritis that actually affect the joint, the inflammation is of the synovial membrane of the joint, the periosteal membrane or the bone itself. It will be obvious that dependent upon which tissues are involved will depend the symptom picture. In general when mainly soft tissues are involved, the symptom picture is of severe swelling and painful movement. Where the articular tissues themselves are involved, the predominant symptoms will be restricted movement, not necessarily extremely painful, and eventual deformity. Also, in general, those forms involving the articular tissues will be more chronic and slower in response to treatment, mainly because of a relatively poor blood supply, at least compared to the soft tissue varieties.