How to Test for Rheumatoid Arthritis

By eHow Health Editor

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The symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis are very similar to those of several other diseases. Rheumatoid arthritis can also be mistaken for an injury, especially if it starts out in only one joint. It is important to know exactly what your particular symptoms mean in order to get you started on the proper treatment right away. Therefore, you should know how to test for rheumatoid arthritis.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Test for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Step1

Visit a rheumatologist or internist if you suspect that you may have rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatologists specialize in inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. Internists handle diseases of all sorts.

Step2

Have a sedimentation rate test to determine if inflammation is present. This test, also known as the SED test, will show how fast red blood cells fall to the bottom of a test tube over the course of an hour. The faster they fall, the higher the level of inflammation.

Step3

Be tested for the rheumatoid factor. The rheumatoid factor is an antibody that is commonly present in people with rheumatoid arthritis. Because rheumatoid factor rarely shows up in people without rheumatoid arthritis (except in the case of false positives and a handful of other medical conditions), it is a fairly reliable indicator of rheumatoid arthritis when other symptoms of the disease are also present.

Step4

Get x-rays of your joints. Joints that have been affected by rheumatoid arthritis will likely show some sort of damage. This damage can be to the cartilage and other surrounding tissues, or to the actual bone of the joint. Damage can range from slight to severe and even people who have only recently begun experiencing symptoms often have some joint damage.

Step5

Let your joints be put through their paces. This is called a range of motion test. Your doctor will ask you to move your joints in all the ways it is possible to move them. If you have trouble with any of these motions or experience pain when doing so, rheumatoid arthritis could be present, especially if the joints are swollen and more than one joint is affected.

Tips & Warnings

Not everyone who has rheumatoid arthritis will test positive for the rheumatoid factor. While this is the most reliable method of diagnosing rheumatoid arthritis, about 20 percent of rheumatoid arthritis patients test negative for rheumatoid factor. Children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis also usually test negative for rheumatoid factor. That is why other test methods must be used to properly diagnose rheumatoid arthritis.