Osteoarthritis diagnosis

Osteoarthritis diagnosis

How a rheumatologist can assist with a diagnosis

Professor Rachelle Buchbinder, rheumatologist

A rheumatologist is a specialist physician who diagnoses and treats conditions that affect the joints the bones the muscles and the tendons. People with osteoarthritis often have joint pain, but joint pain alone isn't enough to make the diagnosis. It can be helpful to see a rheumatologist if you have osteoarthritis. Firstly, the rheumatologist can confirm the diagnosis, and they can help you to develop an appropriate treatment plan to ensure that you have the best quality of life that's possible. 

David Hunter, rheumatologist

Joint pain can be caused by a lot of different diseases including osteoarthritis which is the most common type of arthritis but there are a  lot of other reasons why a person might have joint pain which includes rheumatoid arthritis, Ankylosing Spondylitis, other causes of back pain. In that context a lot of different reasons for having joint pain it's really important that  that person's joint pain be adequately diagnosed  and that you don't just rely upon Dr Google or in this context my joint pain to define what it is causing your joint pain but see a professional have that adequately diagnosed. It may be very common to be osteoarthritis, but it may not be. Classically osteoarthritis is defined as the presence of structural change and for that to be defined as symptomatic disease in the context of a person having pain or limited function. So, in the absence of any structural change its truly difficult to define a person as having osteoarthritis.

A person with osteoarthritis should engage a team of health professionals to help with both the diagnosis and management of the disease.  In the first instance ideally, a person should be adequately diagnosed with osteoarthritis by their general practitioner or by a physiotherapist to try to better identify that they truly do have osteoarthritis. Following that, try and identify why you have developed this disease and specifically what you can do about those risk factors as to making that disease course more tolerable for  you and better understanding the management and long-term control of it and specifically there I'm talking about losing weight if you're overweight or obese and engaging with a dietitian to help  you to do so and or alternatively engaging with a physiotherapist or an exercise therapist to help with strengthening the muscles around the joint in addition to helping with aerobic or cardiovascular fitness in addition to that it's helpful to focus on the medication management  that may help to control the pain that a person may suffer from in the context of osteoarthritis and in that context either a general practitioner or a specialist such as a rheumatologist may be helpful in the management of that disease.

How a physiotherapist can assist with diagnosis

Professor Kim Bennell, physiotherapist

A physiotherapist has skills and expertise in diagnosing physical problems and then in implementing treatment of the pain and physical dysfunction and impaired quality of life in people with physical problems. 

Matthew Williams, physiotherapist 

A physiotherapist has expertise in the diagnosis and management of joint and muscle conditions. Part of a quality physiotherapy consultation you should expect your physiotherapist to conduct a thorough initial assessment this involves getting a detailed history about your injured joint as well as other associated joints and also your medical history. Your physiotherapists should then perform a detailed physical examination to enable them to confirm your diagnosis the severity of the condition so that they could therefore tailor a specific exercise-based program to treat your condition. They may employ methods to relieve or reduce pain, but they should also include strategies of reducing the chances of re-injuring a joint or causing damage to other joints and they may also include prescribing an exercise-based program to improve pain function quality of life specifically targeting strengthening balance flexibility and improving your overall fitness.

Attending a course or seminar after diagnosis 

Tanya deKroo, arthritis health educator and physiotherapist 

As a health educator when a person  who's been newly diagnosed with arthritis attends a course or a seminar in  their local area they can usually hear from either a health educator or even a health professional about what it's like to have  that condition and what sort of options  there are to manage that condition so they can talk about exercise, nutrition,  pain management, all sorts of different  options for you to investigate to help you  manage your arthritis.

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