my daughter

[hanandhen]

hi
was after a bit of advice for my daughter she is 15yrs old,
she has had right sided back pain for 3 yrs this pain is now in her right knee, left knee also hurts but not so bad, both elbows ache and her wrists,
she had blood test done in march 2011
quite a few were abnormal but gp said all ok and was refered to a rheumatoid doctor at the hosp,
when we first sa this doctor she only had pain in her back the pain has come on since,
they first thought she had rib tip symdrome xrays came back negative, she has since had a mri scan on her knee
we got the results to this today all ok nothing wrong with her knee,
but now the pain in her elbows and wrists has developed he has ordered more blood as he could not find her old results
well i have a copy of them and was wondering if having a crp of 6(5) when the range is 5 would give her joint pain also her rheumatoid factor was at 9 (12) but the range is 12 would this have an effect as i know with my thyroid when my levels are not at 1 i feel awful even thou they are still in range is this the same for RA sufferes
any advice would be much appriciated

[allmymarbles]

I carted my semi-invalid daughter around to all sorts of well-known specialists for four years (she was 8 to 12). Her problems were similar your daughter's. I thought it was from an injury: the MD's said no.

When I heard her headmaster was at his doctor's because of a back problem, on impulse I made an appointment with him. It turned out not to be a doctor, but a chiropractor. He examined her carefully and showed me how her legs were not moving properly and asked if she had had an accident. to make a long story very very short, she was pain free in 2-1/2 weeks and four months later was riding a bicycle.

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

Well, without a clinical evaluation it would be difficult to determine the cause of her symptoms. Possibilities that may need to be considered include infections, inflammations, injuries, autoimmune causes, metabolic issues, degenerative conditions etc. CRP is a non-specific test for infections and may not specifically relate to joint issues RF though negative at 9 IU/ml may not completely rule out JRA and additional tests/ imaging studies may be needed to come to a conclusive diagnosis. It would be best to have this evaluated by a rheumatologist for an accurate diagnosis and appropriate management.
Hope this is helpful.

Take care!