ABSTRACT
Osteoarthritis (OA), the “wear and tear arthritis,” is a common disease, which most often affects knees, hips, and hands and can be associated with significant morbidity. OA is estimated to affect more than 27 million people in the United States and for those over the age of 65 more than half are living with OA. The gold standard for initial evaluation of tendinopathy is musculoskeletal ultrasound. Plain radiographs can be very helpful when diagnosing arthritis. Narcotics are usually used for acute flares and for patients with end-stage arthritis failing other treatments. Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, systemic inflammatory polyarthritis of autoimmune origin. The diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis begins with a medical history, thorough physical examination, and laboratory workup. Rheumatoid arthritis is a progressive, debilitating disease if left untreated, especially in the elderly population, therefore, it is important to assess functional capacity. Differentiating rheumatoid arthritis from other connective tissue diseases is difficult.
