Rheumatology

It can be challenging to know if the pain or limitation you’re facing is caused by a rheumatic condition. But our skilled rheumatologists know the key to getting the right diagnosis is understanding your lived experience, and that starts by listening. By combining your unique perspective with our advanced diagnostic techniques, your care team will pinpoint what’s causing your symptoms and create a treatment plan specifically for you.

Don’t suffer in silence. If you’re experiencing chronic joint pain, swelling or other symptoms that interfere with daily life, it’s time to talk with a rheumatology specialist. Ask your doctor for a referral today.

We most commonly see patients who are experiencing rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and lupus. However, our board-certified rheumatologists can treat a wide range of rheumatic and musculoskeletal conditions, including:

• Ankylosing spondylitis
• Behçet’s syndrome
• Dermatomyositis
• Fibromyalgia
• Gout
• Infectious arthritis / Lyme disease
• Inflammatory arthritis with IBD
• Juvenile idiopathic arthritis
• Polymyalgia rheumatica
• Polymyositis
• Ankylosing spondylitis
• Osteoporosis
• Reactive arthritis
• Sarcoidosis
• Scleroderma
• Sjögren’s syndrome
• Vasculitis
  
  

Rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis develops when your immune system doesn’t work correctly and damages the lining of your joints. Symptoms include stiff joints that may be tender to the touch, swollen or feel warm. You may also have a fever, feel tired and experience a loss of appetite.

Psoriatic arthritis

Psoriatic arthritis affects people who have a skin condition called psoriasis. Symptoms include joints that are stiff, painful or red, and tendons that are tender to the touch. It’s also common for your fingers and toes to swell, for you to feel more tired than usual and to notice patches of a scaly rash on your skin.

Lupus

Sometimes, your immune system attacks your body instead of doing what it’s supposed to do: Keep you healthy. This can result in an autoimmune disease, such as lupus. There are many symptoms of lupus, including pain and stiffness in your joints, headache, rash in the shape of a butterfly on your face, fatigue, fever, changes in your skin, feeling out of breath and dry eyes.

We know that your success requires a plan of care created just for you. That’s why we don’t believe in treating rheumatic disorders with a one-size-fits-all approach. You can count on us to work closely with you, your primary care provider and a whole team of experts across the Roper St. Francis network to ensure we consider every aspect of your health. From state-of-the-art equipment to the latest techniques, we’ll design a treatment plan focused on bringing you much-needed relief.

Advanced treatments available from our skilled rheumatology team include:

• Joint aspiration, which relieves the swelling and pain by drawing extra fluid out of your joint with a small, hollow needle.
• Infusion therapy that delivers medication through an IV directly into your bloodstream.
• Injections which may include several types of medications, or other immunotherapy treatments made from your own blood and stem cells, injected directly into your affected joints.