Diagnosingarthritiscan be confusing and complicated.
Self-Checks
Most people experiencingjoint painfor the first time think they have a minor injurynot arthritis.
Signs and symptoms must not be allowed to persist without consulting a healthcare provider.
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After the medical history and physical examination have been completed, your healthcare provider will likely need more information.
Blood tests can provide this and often serve to confirm what the healthcare provider suspects in the diagnosis.
Blood tests are also used to monitor disease activity and treatment effectiveness after a diagnosis has been established.
Imaging
Imaging studiesare also used to help formulate a diagnosis.
Your healthcare provider may orderX-rays, which can reveal deformities and abnormalities of bones and joints.
These studies are usually ordered initially to helpdiagnose osteoarthritis.
While useful in this way, X-rays do not show cartilage, muscles, and ligaments.
In addition, what is seen on an image doesn’t always correlate with what you’re experiencing.
Certain symptom patterns and tests are combined to ruleoutcertain diseases and ruleina definitive diagnosis.
Making it even more complicated is the possibility of having more than one rheumatic disease concurrently.
Osteoarthritis can often be differentiated from inflammatory types of arthritis by history, physical, examination and blood tests.
Iron overload(hemochromatosis) can give similar symptoms as osteoarthritis, especially in the wrist and hand.
Specific X-ray findings can help differentiate the two conditions.
Your patience is needed as your healthcare provider puts the puzzle pieces together.
The diagnosis is really just the starting point of learning to manage your disease.
The next steps include understandingyour pop in of arthritisandtreatment options.
Inflammatory arthritis includes rheumatoid arthritis, another of the most common forms.
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