Most joint pain is mechanical and settles. Some of it is inflammatory, and that distinction matters enormously. Inflammatory disease responds to treatment that does nothing for wear and tear, and it causes damage while it goes unrecognised. Morning stiffness that lasts, swelling, pain that improves with movement rather than worsening, and involvement of several joints at once are the kinds of details that shift the picture.
Autoimmune conditions also rarely stay in the joints. Skin, eyes, lungs and kidneys can all be involved, which is one reason rheumatological care sits naturally within internal medicine rather than apart from it. Where long term immune modifying treatment is used, monitoring is part of the treatment, not an afterthought.
What a consultation covers
- Rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory arthritis
- Osteoarthritis and degenerative joint pain
- Gout and crystal related arthritis
- Spondyloarthritis and inflammatory back pain
- Connective tissue disease, including lupus
- Interpretation of autoimmune blood tests
- Monitoring for patients on long term immune modifying therapy
What to bring to your first appointment
- Any blood tests you have had, especially inflammatory markers
- X-rays or scans of the affected joints
- A list of what you have already tried and whether it helped
- A note of which joints are involved and at what time of day they are worst