How is joint pain diagnosed?

A physician like myself diagnoses knee pain first on the history the patient will come in and present their symptoms, how is it affecting their life. What treatments have they sought?  From that we then do a physical examination which will confirm what our diagnosis was at the time of the history.  And then typically patients over 30 or 40 will also get standing X-rays to evaluate what degree if any of arthritis is in the knee joint. Patients typically present with a history of how they have knee pain where it affects them and what treatments they’ve already underwent. After obtaining this history from the patient we then do a physical examination which will confirm our diagnosis that we obtained from the history we’ve taken from the patient. We also want patients over 30 years old or so will get standing knee X-rays to see what degree of arthritis if any they have.

Patients often ask me about utilizing an MRI scan for diagnosis of their knee pain. I utilize a MRI when I’m unsure of the diagnosis or the diagnosis is atypical for their age and knee pain.