Question
During a recent physical exam, I mentioned reduced range of motion in right wrist and pain around the right thumb.  My doctor named it "arthritis."  I presumed that confirmation of the Dx and more information would be forthcoming, but finished the exam and left without learning more.  What tests are recommended to confirm the condition?

Answer
Andrew,

These symptoms can be consistent with arthritis, tendonitis or carpal tunnel syndrome. Most doctors do not pursue comments made during a physical. They are on a tight schedule have not committed time to pursue health related comments out side of the purpose of the visit at hand.

X-rays will usually show evidence of arthritis. This is the first test that a doctor will run. Next they might set up a cat scan or MRI.

Since it is limited to one hand then, autoimmune types of arthritis are ruled out. So these are really the only test that will be run.

Rusty
http://arthritis-symptom.com/