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Rheumatology

What is rheumatology?

Rheumatology is a specialist area of medicine focused on diagnosing and treating conditions that affect the joints, muscles, bones and connective tissues.

Many rheumatological diseases involve inflammation or immune system dysfunction, which can affect several parts of the body at once. Symptoms such as joint pain, stiffness, fatigue, rashes or muscle weakness may appear unrelated, but can sometimes represent different features of the same underlying condition.

Rheumatologists specialise in identifying these patterns. By combining information from symptoms, examination findings, blood tests and imaging, they are able to determine whether symptoms are caused by inflammatory disease, autoimmune conditions or more common musculoskeletal problems such as mechanical joint pain or osteoarthritis.

Rheumatology conditions

Rheumatic and musculoskeletal conditions affect the body's connective tissues, including joints, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, muscles and bones.

There are more than 200 recognised rheumatological conditions. A rheumatologist can help determine the cause of your symptoms and recommend appropriate treatment.

Diagnosis and assessment

Your rheumatologist will carry out a comprehensive assessment aimed at understanding the full pattern of your symptoms.

This typically includes:

  • A discussion of your symptoms and how they have developed over time
  • Review of your past medical history and relevant family history
  • Examination of the joints, muscles and connective tissues
  • Assessment of other organ systems when relevant, including the skin, cardiovascular and respiratory systems

Rheumatological diagnosis often involves integrating information from several different sources. Where necessary, further investigations may be arranged to identify inflammation, immune activity or structural joint changes. These may include:

  • Blood tests to assess inflammation or autoimmune activity
  • X-ray imaging
  • Ultrasound scanning to detect inflammation in joints or tendons
  • MRI scans for more detailed imaging of joints or the spine
  • CT scans where appropriate

The results of these tests are interpreted alongside the clinical assessment to help determine the underlying cause of symptoms.

Why might you be referred to a rheumatologist?

Many patients are referred to a rheumatologist when symptoms are complex or when previous investigations have not identified a clear diagnosis. Rheumatologists are trained to assess symptoms that affect multiple parts of the body and to determine whether they are due to inflammatory or autoimmune disease, mechanical musculoskeletal conditions or other causes.

Treatment

Rheumatologists specialise in non-surgical management of musculoskeletal conditions. Treatment may include medications that control inflammation or immune system activity, targeted corticosteroid injections to reduce joint inflammation and advice regarding physical activity and musculoskeletal health.

If surgery is required, you will be referred to the appropriate musculoskeletal specialists within the OrthTeam Centre. Our rheumatologists work closely with consultants across a range of specialties to ensure co-ordinated, personalised care, whatever your condition.

Conditions we treat

Our rheumatology service diagnoses and manages a wide range of musculoskeletal and autoimmune conditions, including inflammatory arthritis, connective tissue diseases and common joint disorders, these include:

Inflammatory arthritis

- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Ankylosing spondylitis and axial spondyloarthritis
- Psoriatic arthritis
- Crystal arthritis including gout and pseudogout

Degenerative and musculoskeletal conditions

- Osteoarthritis
- Tendinitis
- Back pain
- Soft tissue rheumatism
- Biomechanical and musculoskeletal pain

Autoimmune and connective tissue diseases

- Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)
- Systemic sclerosis
- Dermatomyositis and inflammatory myopathies
- Mixed and overlap connective tissue diseases
- Vasculitis (including giant cell arteritis, Takayasu arteritis and ANCA associated vasculitis)

Other rheumatological conditions

- Fibromyalgia
- Polymyalgia rheumatica

Paediatric and adolescent rheumatology

- Hypermobility
- Biomechanical soft tissue pain
- Juvenile arthritis
- Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and other connective tissue disease
- Non-bacterial osteitis
- Complex health issues
- Childhood arthritis
- Scleroderma and morphea in childhood
- Autoimmune inflammatory disorders, where joint pain or arthritis can also occur

Our experts

Our rheumatology specialists at the OrthTeam Centre include:

If you are experiencing joint pain, inflammation or unexplained musculoskeletal symptoms, contact us to arrange a consultation with one of our specialists.

Contact Us

To contact us, please fill in the form below or call 0161 447 6888.
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