What this Surprise joint guide can do for you

What to know about who runs this guide

The same people who own the Phoenix-area clinics run this site. They may make money when a reader books care with those clinics.

That ownership doesn’t show whether the care is right for your joint. Compare the clinic’s advice with what your exam showed, what each choice costs, and what your own doctor or nurse says before you spend money on this sore joint.

You don’t have to accept a clinic suggestion because this site mentions it. You’re free to ask about cost, other choices, and what happens if the care doesn’t help.

No page can choose a treatment for you, because your medicines, health, past care, daily needs, and exam all belong in that decision. Ask what the exam found and whether another kind of office is needed.

Before you leave any visit, ask which warning signs call for faster care. You’ll know when to call again and where to go.

Sources

1. In a structured review of 14 studies covering 6,242 patients with an acutely painful swollen joint (653 with confirmed septic arthritis), no single symptom rules the diagnosis in or out: joint pain was present in 85%, a history of joint swelling in 78%, and fever in only 57%. The most powerful bedside data came from aspirating the joint - the summary likelihood ratio rose with the synovial fluid white cell count, from 0.32 below 25,000/microL to 2.9 at 25,000 or more, 7.7 above 50,000 and 28.0 above 100,000.

   Margaretten ME, Kohlwes J, Moore D, Bent S — Does this adult patient have septic arthritis?. JAMA, 2007. DOI: 10.1001/jama.297.13.1478.

2. CDC analysis of the 2019-2021 National Health Interview Survey found that in 2021 an estimated 20.9% of US adults (51.6 million people) had chronic pain - pain on most days or every day for three months or more - and 6.9% (17.1 million) had high-impact chronic pain that substantially restricted daily activities. Prevalence was higher among American Indian or Alaska Native adults, adults identifying as bisexual, and adults who are divorced or separated.

   Rikard SM, Strahan AE, Schmit KM, Guy GP Jr — Chronic Pain Among Adults - United States, 2019-2021.. MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 2023. DOI: 10.15585/mmwr.mm7215a1.

3. A review of racial, ethnic and socioeconomic disparities across the whole osteoarthritis treatment ladder - education, dietary weight management, exercise and physical therapy, NSAIDs and opioids, intra-articular steroid injection and total joint replacement - found the most evidence for disparities in total joint arthroplasty. Black patients, Hispanic patients and patients of low socioeconomic status are less likely to undergo total joint replacement than white patients or patients of high socioeconomic status, and generally have worse functional outcomes and more complications.

   Reyes AM, Katz JN — Racial/Ethnic and Socioeconomic Disparities in Osteoarthritis Management.. Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America, 2021. DOI: 10.1016/j.rdc.2020.09.006.