The term "arthralgia" literally translates to pain in a joint. In this case, the pain is located in either the wrist or the joints around the thumb and fingers. Arthralgia is a condition and a diagnosis, not a symptom. There are a range of different causes for arthralgia including injuries, infections, allergic reactions and degenerative diseases. The difference between arthralgia and arthritis is the lack of inflammatory pathologies with arthralgia that are present with arthritis. A lot of the time, the two conditions are approached as being interchangeable although this is not true.
