Making the Diagnosis
To diagnose arthritis, your doctor will take a thorough history and conduct a physical examination to determine which joints are affected.
The presence of pain and stiffness in either one or a few joints is key to diagnosing OA. A clue to OA may be the presence of bony lumps that appear in the end and middle joints of fingers. Arthritic joints will be painful if moved to extremes and may be thicker than normal.
If painful joints involve both sides of the body, a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis is more likely, and lab tests will be done to confirm the diagnosis. Special blood tests to detect a special antibody called rheumatoid factor (RF) may help confirm the presence of RA. Other blood tests may be used to detect the presence of other types of arthritis such as gout, lupus, or ankylosing arthritis.
X-rays may show bone spurs in joints with osteoarthritis and may also be used to follow the progression of arthritis over time.