Rheumatology

What is a rheumatologist?

A rheumatologist is an internal medicine physician with subspecialized training in rheumatology. This medical specialty deals with musculoskeletal conditions, as well as autoimmune and inflammatory conditions in people of all ages. Many of these conditions may run in families.

What Are Rheumatic Diseases?

Rheumatic diseases affect your joints tendons, ligaments, bones, and muscles. They include many types of arthritis, a term used for conditions that affect your joints. Sometimes, they’re called musculoskeletal diseases.

One type of rheumatic disease, osteoarthritis, is very common — it affects about 32.5 million adults in the U.S. However, other types of rheumatic disease are less common. For example, roughly 1.3 million adults in the U.S. have a form called rheumatoid arthritis. Meanwhile, about 200,000 Americans have the rheumatic disease known as lupus.

The medical field that studies these types of conditions is called rheumatology. If your regular doctor thinks you have a rheumatic disease, they’ll probably send you to a rheumatologist — a doctor who’s specially trained to treat them.