<s>[INST] What Will Happen When You First Visit a Doctor for Your Arthritis Pain? [/INST] The doctor will usually do the following:

Take your medical history and ask questions such as, How long have you been experiencing pain? How intense is the pain? How often does it occur? What causes it to get worse? What causes it to get better?

Review the medications you are using

Conduct a physical examination to determine causes of pain and how this pain is affecting your ability to function

Take blood and/or urine samples and request necessary laboratory work

Ask you to get x rays taken or undergo other imaging procedures such as a CAT scan (computerized axial tomography) or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) to see how much joint damage has been done.

Once the doctor has done these things and reviewed the results of any tests or procedures, he or she will discuss the findings with you and design a comprehensive management approach for the pain caused by your osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. Source: NIAMS. Link: https://webharvest.gov/peth04/20041015190953/http://www.niams.nih.gov/hi/topics/arthritis/arthpain.htm. Field: Rheumatology. Disease: Arthritis </s>