A Rheumatoid Arthritis Diagnosis is arrived at in a variety of ways. One of the most common parts of diagnosis though, is how the disease acts in the body, and how it progresses during the day.

Rheumatoid Arthritis has common symptoms of multiple joints being inflammed at once instead of just one. In fact, usually if joints are inflammed on one side of the body, those same joints are also inflammed on the opposite side, and this is one part of diagnosing Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Another common symptom used to help diagnose Rhematoid Arthritis is whether or not the pain and stiffness worsens or gets better with movement throughout the day. Rheumatoid Arthritis is diagnosed when pain and stiffness are at their worst in the mornings, or after periods of little movement. When the pain and stiffness are reduced with movement of the affected joints, this is usually a strong indication that the condition is Rheumatoid Arthritis and not another kind of Arthritis.

Other symptoms that help diagnose Rheumatoid Arthritis can include fatigue, low or lack of appetite, running low grade fevers, aches and stiffness in various joints on the body such as the knuckles or knees, and red or swollen joints too.

Joints which are red, swollen, painful and tender on both sides of the body is usually indicative of a Rheumatoid Arthritis diagnosis. If the writst or knuckles on one side of the body are swollen, inflamed and tender for instance, the same joints on the other side usually are as well. There are small exceptions to this, but it is rare.

During flare ups of Rheumatoid Arthritis, it may become difficult to do minor day to day things too, such as turn door knobs or opening jars of food.

Rheumatoid Arthritis can cause problems with non-joint areas on the body too, so other symptoms can seem unrelated at first. Dryness of the eyes and mouth for instance, can be part of the syptoms used to diagnose Rheumatoid Arthritis. Lung inflammations can be used in diagnosis as well, and these often cause chest pains when breathing deeply or coughing.

Getting diagnosed properly begins with a doctor's visit. You explain in detail all of the symptoms you've been having, and he or she may ask for additional details. They'll ask questions as needed too, and usually run various tests to help in the proper diagnosis.

Your doctor will usually inspect your joints visually, to see if there are signs of inflammation and swelling. They may also look for lumps in frequently used joint areas of your body such as the fingers and elbows. These small lumps under the skin are known as rheumatoid nodules.

The doctor will also take blood samples to have examined at a laboratory, because about 80% of people with Rheumatoid Arthritis have abnormal blood antibodies, and this can help with the proper diagnosis of the disease. The doctor may also take x-rays, to see if there is visual evidence of swelling and inflammation of the tissues around your joints.

Another procedure sometimes used in the diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis is called arthrocentesis. Your doctor may choose to do this as part of the diagnosis too, and if so he or she will use a needle to extract fluid from your joint area to have analyzed at a laboratory as well.