'RED FLAGS’THAT REQUIRE MEDICAL REFERRAL

摘要

1.The most important question to ask someone with joint pain is about the duration of joint stiffness in the morning.’Morning stiffness’is defined as a difference in joint pain/stiffness between first getting out of bed and the patient reporting the joints feeling less stiff,or’freeing up'.It does not imply they become completely pain free.For osteoarthritis,this is typically 5-10 minutes.For tendonitis in the hands,it may be 30 minutes.Anything more than 60 minutes should be assessed by a doctor as suspicious of inflammatory arthritis.If joint stiffness is present at the same severity all day,this means there is no morning stiffness.