My Shoulders and Neck ache SO BAD! I am only 20. Help?

[sarahspins]

Originally Posted by Picasso84

I am kinda wondering if that is one of a few dif. ways of telling the dif. btwn RA & osteoarthritis (or other things, I dunno)

There are blood tests that can show if you have RA, plus there are certain things they can look for on x-rays (typically when you start seeing a rheumatologist they'll take some "baseline" images of your wrists/hands and possibly other joints to watch for any future changes). I actually have some OA in one of my knees as a result of surgery I had when I was much younger, and while it's clearly visible on x-ray it doesn't look anything like what RA would look like.. it also doesn't bother me as much as the rest of my joint issues. OA tends to be localized or asymmetrical, while RA almost always effects both sides of the body equally.

[koincidenskis]

It could be some form of arthritis. Not to scare you, but my mom has rheumatoid and her hands and feet are slightly deformed because she did not take the medication until 7 months into it.

It sounds more like fibromyalgia were there is pain that effects everything.

Arthritis effects joints
Fibromyalgia effects joints, muscles, and other soft tissue.

Hope that helps, but I definitely recommend that you see some different specialists.

[acitydweller]

how athletic are you? do you routinely exercise? much to do with circulation