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Step 1
See your doctor for a physical exam, family and personal medical history, x-rays or joint aspiration.
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Step 2
Get blood tests to determine whether you have rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory arthritis, lupus and other connective tissue disorders.
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Step 3
Locate the point of your pain or stiffness. Gout is a form of arthritis that affects the big toe. Ankylosing spondylitis occurs mostly in the spine but can also affect shoulders, knees, hips or ankles. Bursitis affects the sacs of fluid (bursa) that cushion the bones and joints.
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Step 4
Check for pain in areas other than joints. Tendonitis is inflammation of the tendons. Polymyalgia and polymyositis can cause pain and weakness in many muscles of the body.
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Step 5
Look for bony spurs and misshapen bones as possible signs of osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis typically affects the hands, feet, shoulders, spine hips and knees. It occurs from age, heredity, joint damage or being overweight.
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Step 6
Find out if arthritis occurs on both sides of the body as a possible indication of rheumatoid arthritis. This type of arthritis often affects both joints on both sides of the body and usually occurs in the hands and feet.
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Step 7
Think about what types of arthritis affect people in your age group. Osteoarthritis usually occurs in older people. Rheumatoid arthritis usually strikes women between the ages of 15 and 44. Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis causes pain, stiffness and swelling in children.
