What Causes Joint Pain? Diagnosis and Treatment

Many things could be the source of pain in your joints. Whether caused by a single factor or several, chronic joint pain can be difficult to cope with.

Your symptoms, area of discomfort, and health history can help your doctor correctly diagnose and treat your joint pain.

In this article, I’ll cover common causes of joint pain, how your doctor may diagnose them, and available treatments.

What is Joint Pain?

Joint pain is discomfort or inflammation in any of your joints.

The pain may be persistent, or it may come and go depending on your activity. 

Common areas where you may experience joint pain include the hands, hips, knees, feet, and spine.

In addition to pain, you may experience joint stiffness, especially in the morning.

Body aches and pains are an uncomfortable symptom caused by muscle inflammation and soreness.

Sometimes, they can be sharp and intermittent. Other times, they may feel more like a prolonged, general ache.

Most body aches and pains are short-term and harmless, and can be a result of your lifestyle, illness, or any underlying condition.

They may occur when your muscles are inflamed, either through physical stress, or through an immune response.

Non-Arthritis Related Causes

• Injury: Trauma to the bone or overuse of the joint
• Fibromyalgia: Chronic pain condition associated with nervous system dysfunction
• Hemarthrosis: Bleeding in a joint
• Hypothyroidism: Underactive thyroid gland responsible for balancing hormones 
• Lyme Disease: Bacterial infection transmitted via tick bite
• Depression: A mental illness that impacts mood

Arthritis-Related Causes

• Osteoarthritis: The most common form of arthritis
• Gout: Inflammatory arthritis associated with high uric acid levels in the blood
• Pseudogout: Inflammatory arthritis that develops due to calcium deposits in the joints
• Septic Arthritis: A bacterial or fungal infection in the joint
• Viral Arthritis: Joint pain caused by a virus
• Rheumatoid Arthritis: An autoimmune disease that affects the joints
• Spondyloarthritis: A group of arthritis conditions that develop in the spine and nearby joints
• Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A chronic autoimmune disease that can affect joints
• Polymyalgia Rheumatica: An inflammatory joint disease that commonly affects individuals over 50

Diagnosis

Pinpointing the cause(s) of your joint pain enables your healthcare provider to recommend the best treatment.

To diagnose the pain you’re experiencing, your provider will chat with you and go over your health history.

They may also order diagnostic tests depending on your symptoms.

Medical History

Some joint conditions are hereditary, so your doctor may ask you about any family history of joint pain, arthritis, or autoimmune disease.

Be sure to thoroughly describe your symptoms in detail.

Pain location, intensity, and activities that make the discomfort better or worse are important insights your doctor should know.

Physical Examination

Your provider will look for any visible signs of inflammation around the joint where you’re feeling pain, including signs like redness and swelling.

They may press on the joint to check for warmth and tenderness. They may also move your joint around to assess the range of motion and stiffness.

Labs and Tests

The doctor may order a blood test to rule out certain types of arthritis and autoimmune disorders.

Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein tests also check for inflammation in the body.

Those test results may give important clues to your doctor.

Imaging

An imaging test may be needed for your provider to exclude or confirm a diagnosis.

The type of test will depend on what your physician may suspect is causing your joint pain.

Common imaging tests used to diagnose joint pain include:

• X-ray
• Ultrasound
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
• Computed tomography (CT) scan

Procedures

A joint aspiration may need to be performed if your doctor suspects gout or septic arthritis to be the culprit of your joint pain.

During this procedure, a needle removes fluid from inside the lining of the joint then sent to a laboratory to be analyzed.

Differential Diagnosis

Tests may sometimes uncover that another non-joint related condition is the source of your joint pain. Examples include:

• Hypothyroidism
• Tendonitis 
• Lyme Disease
• Lupus

Treatment

Once your physician finds the cause of your joint pain, they can get you started on the right treatment. Now is the time to ask questions about treatment options.

You can call your health insurance provider to learn more about the cost and coverage of treatment for joint pain.

Your doctor may recommend a single treatment or a combination of:

• Injections: Inflammation and pain reducer injected directly into the joint, though it is uncertain if there is benefit over placebo. Your provider will determine if this is appropriate.
• Physical Therapy: Exercise, massage, and heat to ease pain and increase mobility
• Topical Agents: Topical pain reliever absorbed through your skin
• Medications: Over-the-counter and prescription drugs to alleviate symptoms
• Self-Care Strategies: Resting, icing, stretching, and eating an anti-inflammatory diet
• Complementary Alternative Medicine: Acupuncture, yoga, and nutritional supplements
• Surgery: In rare cases, a surgeon may need to replace your joint to alleviate severe, chronic joint pain that no longer responds to other treatments

When to See a Medical Provider

Typically, joint pain is not an emergency.

In fact, you can usually manage mild pain at home.

But you should call your doctor if the pain is severe and/or accompanied by:

• Warmth around the joint
• Inability to use the joint
• Redness of the skin
• Swelling around the joint
• Tender to the touch

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