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What Causes Persistent And Severe Pain In Joints And Burning Sensation In Heels?
Question: i am posting this question on behalf of my mother. She is 50. she is having joint pain since last 5-6 year, which is increasing day by day. initially it use to be mild or occasional, but nowadays it is persistent with high severity. she is experiencing this pain 24X7. she is having pain in all the joints such as knees, elbows ankles,arms,hands, around fingers etc. also various joints have some swelling around them. earlier she use to feel burning sensation in heels, toes, arch and instep in the legs. But now she is feeling extreme burning sensation in top side of the foot. For a long time she thought she is having arthritis or gout but in recent rheumatoid factor test resulted as negative. can we rule out both arthritis and gout with negative RA factor test. she is having such a pain she is almost crying.
Brief Answer:
Negative RA factor cannot rule out these.
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for posting your query.
Your mother is having multiple joint pains - called polyarthritis. A negative RA factor cannot rule out Rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis. The diagnosis is based on clinical symptoms and few blood tests.
Repeated joint pains can be due to multiple causes at this age the commonest being poly arthralgia. Other causes can be rheumatoid arthritis, gout, inflammatory diseases like SLE, bursitis, fibromyalgia, etc. For proper diagnosis, some of the blood tests are advisable like-
1. Serum calcium levels.
2. Serum Uric acid levels.
3. RA factor
4. ESR and CRP
5. Serum Creatinine
6. X-ray of affected joints.
She needs a thorough clinical examination followed by investigations under the guidance of an orthopedician.
Till then for symptomatic relief, she can take over the counter analgesics, do hot fomentation and apply local analgesic gel on the affected areas.
I hope this answers your query.
In case you have additional questions or doubts, you can forward them to me, and I shall be glad to help you out.
Wishing you good health.
Regards.
Dr. Praveen Tayal.
For future query, you can directly approach me through my profile URL http://bit.ly/Dr-Praveen-Tayal
Negative RA factor cannot rule out these.
Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for posting your query.
Your mother is having multiple joint pains - called polyarthritis. A negative RA factor cannot rule out Rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis. The diagnosis is based on clinical symptoms and few blood tests.
Repeated joint pains can be due to multiple causes at this age the commonest being poly arthralgia. Other causes can be rheumatoid arthritis, gout, inflammatory diseases like SLE, bursitis, fibromyalgia, etc. For proper diagnosis, some of the blood tests are advisable like-
1. Serum calcium levels.
2. Serum Uric acid levels.
3. RA factor
4. ESR and CRP
5. Serum Creatinine
6. X-ray of affected joints.
She needs a thorough clinical examination followed by investigations under the guidance of an orthopedician.
Till then for symptomatic relief, she can take over the counter analgesics, do hot fomentation and apply local analgesic gel on the affected areas.
I hope this answers your query.
In case you have additional questions or doubts, you can forward them to me, and I shall be glad to help you out.
Wishing you good health.
Regards.
Dr. Praveen Tayal.
For future query, you can directly approach me through my profile URL http://bit.ly/Dr-Praveen-Tayal
Note: For further queries, consult a joint and bone specialist, an Orthopaedic surgeon. Book a Call now.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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