In the ARTICO Sports Clinic, arthrosis diagnostics stands on three pillars: apart from an in-depth, comprehensive medical examination and the evaluation of X-ray photographs, a detailed anamnesis (medical history) is carried out.

Exact pain characteristics, time of occurrence, connection with particular strains as well as duration of the pain are precisely captured. Functional restrictions, aids already being used, professional strain, types of sport exercised, accidents and injuries from previous years and further parameters are determined. Helpful details for an exact diagnosis can deliver questions about the maximum walking distance, on current medication or other diseases within the family.

A thorough clinical examination can not be overstated just suspected arthritis. Information about sex, age and type of physique as well as height, weight and indication of the body-mass index as well as on the physical fitness are important. When carrying out the examination, the entire body is inspected what might deliver indications for other diseases as well as the state and degree of the arthrosis. Amyotrophic, signs of inflammation, axis deviations, deformations or scars are captured during the process. Measuring the lengths of the legs is also included.

A further important feature of the examination in case of arthrosis is in-depth palpation (touch examination) of the joint and its environment. Hardening of muscles, bruises or differences in temperature are important findings. Last but not least, an examination with regard to flexibility of the joints concerned must not be missing. It is a central part of the physical examination. The scope of movement into all directions is determined and then construed. In any case, the spinal column is also examined in the ARTICO Sports Clinic.

When diagnosing arthrosis, the X-ray photograph is helpful, above all, to ensure the diagnosis. Because when arthrosis patients are in pain and go and see the ARTICO Sports Clinic, anamnesis and physical examination already often point to arthrosis. On the X-ray photograph, clear signs of arthrosis, such as cartilage loss and reactions of the bones, are then visible. With a beginning arthrosis, the X-ray photograph is mostly inconspicuous. The typical radiological signs of an arthrosis develop only with increasing duration of the disease. That is why apart from making a diagnosis the X-ray photograph also plays an important role in the evaluation of the course of the disease. Furthermore, the X-ray photograph is very important for the evaluation of the joint geometry in connection with a surgery, with the principle of the ARTICO Sports Clinic always being that existing limbs shall be preserved as long as possible and the scalpel to be used only as the final resort.

In conventional X-ray diagnostics, the articular cartilage, the joint capsule and a potentially existing contusion cannot be presented. In order to clarify special aspects of the disease, in some cases it is resorted to additional image-providing processes. Complementing methods include magnetic resonance imaging, also called nuclear spin tomography, bone scintigraphy or sonography (ultrasound).