location of joints

[memetodrj]

my hands look awful and i know it has to be arthritis. I do not have hand pain. Can arthritis also pick joints to set into? My left knee seems to really hurt when I have to ben it..ie;going up stairs...at times it appears a bit swollen. Is there a special blood test to identify arthritis? Sorry I am so dumb.

[cat33]

Even though my privious dr. had sent me for an MRI and found I had several ruptured disks which would eventually turn into degenerative arthritis and I also had lower back degerative arthriths and some loss of bone on my right hip. Went to a bone surgeon had  no cartliage on my knee caps which is also arthritis now. I was sent to a rumatologist about a year ago who told me I did't have RA, and no other forms of arthritis.

I was recently sent to and endocrinologyst because of bone density test and was told my bone density was so bad I could have a spontanious fracture at any time. She said she had never seen anything so bad in someone my age . So now the have to figure out how to quickly build up my bone loss.

If you google up arthritis tests. you can do a test and it will tell you what type of arthrits you are most  likely to have.Then you can figure out what type of Dr. to see. I know my PCP wouldn't have known who to send me to. To top it all off I can no longer take any kind of medication due to another condition I have.

[trueazul7]

Hi
not to take away from  the great help that this board  offers ,but rather to add to the help that you can get try this link . It is a very Active forum for adults with Arthritis.

http://arthritisinsight.com/forum/default.asp

copy and paste it or type it into your location bar.

You are not dumb and yes there is a test that a Rheumatologist can do to pin point what may be causing your problem . But I would first go to your primary doctor and get his or her advice.
good luck