Rheumatology is a medical specialty that deals with joint, bone and autoimmune diseases. It is therefore a specialty that includes a large number of diseases that may have similar presentation patterns. It is therefore by combining a solid anamnesis and clinical examination with precision imaging and biological techniques that we will be able to confirm or not the presence of a disease; thus, after the visit, you will probably be asked to perform blood and urinary tests, radiological examinations (radiographs, ultrasounds, CT or MRI).
Advanced techniques can also be used with joint tissue analyses to refine diagnoses.
The care is therefore global, both human and technical. As a patient you will be referred to the best laboratories and radiologists with sometimes the advice of other specialist colleagues to get the best diagnosis and treatment.
You will need to consult a rheumatologist if you suffer from complex pathologies such as
- inflammatory rheumatic diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, reactive arthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica),
- connective Tissue diseases (systemic lupus, Sjogren's syndrome, myositis, etc.),
- vasculitis (Horton's disease, ANCA vasculitis, etc.)
- microcrystalline arthropathies (gout etc.).
Tendon pain (shoulder periarthritis, epicondylitis, Quervain's tendinopathy, trochantitis, etc.) is much more frequent. Infiltration by local glucocorticoids can be performed during the visit.
Bone diseases such as osteoporosis, aseptic osteonecrosis are also managed by the rheumatologist.