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What a Flare Actually Means and When It Matters

Author :
Camilla Tubertini
Date :
30 Apr, 2026
What a Flare Actually Means and When It Matters
A flare is a temporary spike in symptoms beyond your usual baseline. It’s more than a bad day. Severe, sudden flares may need urgent review. Why this happens A flare means your condition has become more active after a period of stability. It differs from everyday ups and downs. Triggers can include infections, stress, missed doses, or hormonal changes, though sometimes no cause is clear. Not every flare needs urgent care; mild worsening that settles within a few days, and with simple measures, can often be managed at home. Seek urgent help for severe breathlessness, chest pain, vision loss, confusion, or high fever.

What could help

  • Contact your care team the same day for new severe symptoms or anything your specialist asked you to report.
  • Book an appointment within days if symptoms are worse than baseline, last longer than usual, or show new patterns.
  • Monitor at home when worsening is mild and settles within a few days.
  • Track when flares happen, what changed, and what helped; share this at review.
  • Use your agreed flare plan: pace, rest, fluids, and medicines exactly as prescribed.
  • Ask for review if flares are frequent, long, or severe; treatment may need adjusting.

Flares aren’t your fault. The goal is to reduce frequency and severity, not to eliminate flares.

This article is for general information purposes only and doesn’t constitute legal, financial or benefits advice. For advice specific to your situation, please speak to a qualified professional or contact an organisation such as Citizens Advice, who may be able to assist you further.

References:

'Establishing a core domain set to measure rheumatoid arthritis flares: report of the OMERACT 11 RA flare workshop’ (2014) https://doi.org/10.3899/jrheum.131252

EULAR recommendations for the management of rheumatoid arthritis with synthetic and biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs: 2019 update' (2020) https://doi.org/10.1136/annrheumdis-2019-216655

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