RA symptoms come and go, depending on the degree of tissue inflammation. When body tissues are inflamed, the disease is active. When tissue inflammation subsides, the disease is inactive. Remissions can occur spontaneously or with treatment and can last weeks, months, or years. During remissions, symptoms of the disease disappear, and people generally feel well. When the disease becomes active again, symptoms return. The return of disease activity and symptoms is called a flare. The course of rheumatoid arthritis varies among affected individuals, and periods of flares and remissions are typical.

Symptoms of rheumatic arthritis based on the theory of TCM:
1. Syndrome of Wind-Invasion
Symptoms: Wandering joint pains, swelling in the affected joints, fever and thirst, agitation, scanty dark urine, aversion to wind, fever, red tongue coating, slip pulse.

2. Syndrome of Cold-Invasion
Symptoms; Wandering pains, all joints pains when it is getting worse, heavy limbs, difficult to move, aversion to cold, thin and white coating, deep pulse.

3. Syndrome of Damp-Invasion
Symptoms: Soreness in the joints, numbness of the muscles and skin, white greasy tongue coating, and slow pulse.

4. Syndrome of Wind-Damp-Heat Invasion
Symptoms: Red swelling in the joints, fever, sweating, thirst, constipation or loose stools, red tongue, greasy coating, and rapid pulse.