Morning stiffness that lasts more than an hour
Everyone feels stiff getting out of bed. The difference with rheumatoid arthritis is duration. Osteoarthritis stiffness typically eases within 30 minutes of moving around. In rheumatoid arthritis, the stiffness in joints, most often the fingers, wrists, and knees, persists for an hour or longer, sometimes stretching to mid-morning. A 2019 study published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases found that prolonged morning stiffness lasting more than 45 minutes was one of the strongest early predictors of inflammatory arthritis in patients who had not yet received a diagnosis. If you are writing off that stiff-handed feeling as sleeping awkwardly, check how long it actually takes to clear.
