Rheumatology

What is rheumatology?

When you hear “rheumatology”, you may think arthritis and joint disease, but rheumatology is in fact a broad field that also diagnoses and treats diseases of the muscles and bones. Rheumatology is a subspecialty of Internal Medicine whose primary focus is connective tissue disease, with clinical symptoms that include lesions of the various joints, muscle, skin, mucosal soft tissue, vascular inflammation, vascular tissue, kidney, and lungs. It is therefore a field that has close ties to dermatology, ophthalmology, ENT, orthopedics, neurology, endocrinology, pulmonary, nephrology, gastroenterology, hematology, and others.

When should I consult a rheumatologist?

• Joint pain: Pain in joints and related soft tissue is very common, and includes neck and shoulder pain, back pain, heel pain, joint swelling, various forms of arthritis, gout, and more.
• Muscle pain, muscle weakness, and muscle atrophy.
• Skin and mucous membrane issues: Skin with erythema, pigmented macula, depigmented macules, cutaneous nodules (lumps), skin ulceration, and sensitivity to light.
• Mucous lesions: Oral ulcers, dry mouth, dry eyes, repeated conjunctivitis of an unknown origin, and general eye irritation.
• Alopecia.
• Raynaud‘s phenomenon: Fingers turn white and gradually purple in response to sudden cold or emotional stress.
• Fever of unknown origin (FUO): Fever is a common symptom of rheumatism and includes low grade fever, moderate fever, and high fever.
• Lab tests of blood and urine that are abnormal and cannot be clinically explained.

Specialists: Dr. Qin Xinyan, Dr. Zhang Yanping
Hours: Every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday morning