Summerville, SC Rheumatologists - Summerville Physicians

Featured Rheumatologists

Find Summerville, SC Rheumatologists

Rheumatology Articles

What is a Rheumatologist?

Joint pain is referred to as arthritis. There are about 100 different kinds of arthritis. A little over 50 million people suffer from arthritis in the United States. It is time to visit with a rheumatologist, a doctor that specializes in treating inflammatory arthritis and joint disease, when muscle and joint pain does not resolve as expected. Typically, the primary care physician will refer the patient to a rheumatologist. The different kinds of arthritis fall under four types: degenerative arthritis, inflammatory arthritis, infectious arthritis and metabolic arthritis.

Symptoms and Treatment for Arthritis?

Common symptoms include swelling, joint pain, stiffness and decreased motion. Arthritis can cause permanent joint changes, such as knobby fingers, but most of the time the damage is only seen in an x-ray. Symptoms can be mild, moderate or severe and could progress over time.

There are many treatment options for people with arthritis – maintaining a healthy weight is definitely one of them.