The Tin Man and You
The Tin Man from "The Wizard of Oz" was an interesting, stiff character. When Dorothy first met him he was stuck in one place, joints all bent in different directions and seemingly unable to do or say anything except "Oil!" Although the Tin Man wasn't real, the way he looked is all too familiar with arthritis sufferers and their own joints. This article will explore what arthritis is and how it is diagnosed.
Arthritis Explained
Arthritis is a disease of the joints and is the most diagnosed disability of those over 55 years old. It consists of damage to the joint area as a result of inflammation, infection and/or trauma. Arthritis is considered a degenerative joint disease because the damage comes from a gradual wearing away of cartilage between the bones. There are actually over 100 types of arthritis, but many have the same symptoms.
Many people can complain about having aching joints just from the daily grind of life whether you type all day at a desk or do heavy construction on an oil rig. However, the symptoms of arthritis go beyond a little soreness. When a doctor diagnoses you with arthritis, he may have to go through a number of visits and examinations before narrowing it down to arthritis. To make it easier, let him know if you had trauma to the joint, associated rashes, consistent swelling or radiating numbness.
What The Doctor Does To Diagnose
When you see the doctor she's probably going to ask you to walk around so she can see exactly what your joints are doing in relation to the rest of your muscle and skeletal systems. The doctor may ask you to bend forward from your hips to test your spine flexibility, checking for arthritis in your spinal discs. She'll also test your range of motion and see if your joints and bones are not just swollen but possibly enlarged. Enlarged joints are a sign of osteoporosis; enlarged joints with no relative joint pain can be a sign of rheumatoid arthritis.
There may also be blood tests involved when diagnosing you for arthritis. To eliminate any other similar diseases, a doctor has to test for Ankylosing Spondylitis, which is an inflammation of the tendons that can cause your spinal bones to fuse. Specific to rheumatoid arthritis, doctors can do a blood test to look for the rheumatoid factor, an antibody that 70 to 80 percent of people with the disease have. A uric acid test can indicate whether you have gout.
So understand that getting tested for arthritis can go beyond looking at your sore joints. Blood tests, flexibility tests, X-rays, antibody tests...they could all be involved when trying to diagnose you. But the sooner you know about you arthritis, the sooner you can start to prevent severe pain and stiffening up like the Tin Man.
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