Rehearse your joint-pain visit
Most joint-pain visits are short. The ones that go well usually start with a patient who says what they hope to get back to, describes the pattern in specifics, and asks what a test or a shot would change. Practise that here, out loud or in writing, before you walk in.
Not for today’s emergency. A single joint that is suddenly hot, red, swollen and very painful, especially with fever, or a joint you cannot move or put weight on, needs care today: go to urgent care or an emergency department, or call 911 if you feel very unwell. If pain is wearing down your mood, you can call or text 988 at any hour.
How this works, and what it cannot do
- The clinician is scripted, not an AI. Every line was written in advance, and the people are invented.
- A phrase-checker in your browser reads your answer. It is a mirror, not a judge, and can miss a good answer worded differently.
- Nothing leaves your device. No audio is recorded, no model is called, nothing is sent. A note you write at the end stays in this browser unless you download or print it.
- This is practice, not medical advice. The clinician’s lines are there to practise against. Your own clinician’s exam and judgment lead.
Choose a visit to practise
Before and after the visit
- Take the 2-minute assessment — mechanical or inflammatory, and one page to print for the visit.
- JointClass — what joint care involves, from exercise therapy through surgery and recovery.
- SurgeryProcess — if a surgeon visit is next: the questions to ask before a date is set.
- Does your back hurt? — if the pain is your back rather than a joint.
What the practice visits are built on
The questions each visit rewards come from these sources, opened and checked 2026-09-29. The clinician lines summarise them in plain words; they are not a treatment plan for you.
- Kolasinski SL et al. 2019 American College of Rheumatology/Arthritis Foundation guideline for the management of osteoarthritis of the hand, hip and knee. Arthritis Care Res 2020;72:149-162. Strong recommendations include exercise, weight loss where it applies, and steroid injections into the knee. PubMed 31908149
- Combe B et al. 2016 update of the EULAR recommendations for the management of early arthritis. Ann Rheum Dis 2017;76:948-959. Covers recognising arthritis and referring it. PubMed 27979873
- ACR Appropriateness Criteria: Chronic Knee Pain. J Am Coll Radiol 2018;15(11S):S302-S312. Which imaging fits which knee situation. PubMed 30392599
- Aletaha D et al. 2010 rheumatoid arthritis classification criteria. Arthritis Rheum 2010;62:2569-2581. Joint involvement, blood tests and symptom duration. PubMed 20872595