Joint & Movement Health
Pain, stiffness or swelling affecting a joint and its surrounding structures.
Physician-led assessment · individualized care · Vancouver clinic
Understanding Joint Pain
Maybe your knee aches on the stairs, your shoulder complains when you reach for the top shelf, or your wrists feel stiff first thing in the morning. Joint pain has a way of quietly changing how you move through your day, and it's one of the most common reasons people come to see us.
Joint pain is a symptom, and it can come from several places: the joint surfaces themselves (as in osteoarthritis), the tendons and ligaments around them, an inflammatory process, an old injury, or even somewhere else in the body. Finding the true source is what makes treatment work, and most joint pain improves well with the right plan.
Related Presentations
These focused pages explain different patterns within this concern.
Causes and Contributing Factors
Joint pain can originate from the joint surfaces, the surrounding soft tissues, or elsewhere in the body. Common causes include osteoarthritis (age- and load-related wear of cartilage and the whole joint), injuries to ligaments, tendons or cartilage, and overuse. Inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, gout and other autoimmune diseases can cause joint pain and swelling. Less commonly, infection within a joint, referred pain from the spine or another region, or systemic illness may be responsible. Because the possible causes differ greatly in treatment, working out the source is important.
Signs and Symptoms
Joint pain can vary in pattern, and the associated features help point to the cause. People may notice:
Assessment
Your assessment is with Dr. Teri Fisher, our sports medicine physician. No referral is needed, and it helps to share your most recent imaging or reports before your appointment.
Dr. Fisher asks where it hurts, when it started, what makes it better or worse, whether one joint or several are involved, and about any swelling, stiffness, injury, fever or weight loss. She examines the joint's range of motion, stability, swelling and tenderness, and blood tests or imaging such as X-ray, ultrasound or MRI may help. Putting it all together shows whether the cause is mechanical, inflammatory or infective, and your plan is built around your joint, your activity goals and your timeline.
Sports medicine consultations are physician appointments with a consultation fee, confirmed when you book.
Treatment Options
These are some of the options connected to this concern. The appropriate plan depends on assessment, suitability, and your goals.
Our sports medicine service treats soft tissue and peripheral joints: the shoulder, elbow, wrist, knee, ankle and foot, along with the tendons, ligaments and muscles around them. Hip and spine concerns are outside our service, as our ultrasound system doesn't support these areas.
Good care starts with an accurate diagnosis. For the common mechanical and wear-related causes, the foundations are well proven: guided activity and targeted exercise to strengthen the muscles that stabilize and offload the joint, sensible changes to load and activity, weight management where a weight-bearing joint is involved, and ways to settle pain and inflammation so you can move comfortably again. Inflammatory, infectious or other specific conditions are treated at their source, sometimes urgently.
For persistent joint and soft-tissue pain, Dr. Fisher offers ultrasound-guided injections as part of a wider plan that includes exercise and load management. Options include platelet-rich plasma (PRP) prepared from a small sample of your own blood, prolotherapy, corticosteroid and hyaluronic acid preparations, and the choice is at the physician's discretion, based on the joint, your imaging and your goals. The evidence varies by condition, and she walks you through what the research shows. If you're waiting for joint surgery, an injection can help make the wait more manageable. Referral is arranged when the right care sits beyond our clinic.
For the fuller picture, explore the treatment pages above or discuss the options during a consultation.
Joint pain is treated here as a symptom to understand fully. Anything urgent or inflammatory is identified first, and the plan is then built around the specific joint, tissue and load pattern involved. Exercise and load management are the foundation for most mechanical joint pain, and regenerative options such as PRP are offered selectively as an addition to that foundation.
Selected sources informing this page. Canadian guidance is prioritized, and manufacturer materials are not treated as independent clinical evidence.
Medical Assessment
Prompt medical assessment is important with severe pain after major trauma, inability to bear weight or use the joint, or a joint that is hot, red and very swollen, particularly with fever, as this can indicate infection. Rapidly worsening pain, involvement of several joints, or joint pain with unexplained weight loss, rash or feeling generally unwell should also be evaluated. New joint symptoms alongside a known inflammatory condition warrant review.
Frequently Asked Questions
Joint pain has many possible causes, including injury, tendon or ligament problems, overuse, gout, inflammatory arthritis and infection, as well as osteoarthritis. Identifying the specific cause is what guides the right treatment, and that's the focus of your first appointment.
It depends on the cause, though gentle, guided activity helps many joint problems more than long stretches of complete rest. Dr. Fisher helps you find the right balance of rest and movement, working with your physiotherapist if you have one.
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is an area of active research for certain joint and soft-tissue problems. Some studies are encouraging, and results vary by condition. PRP works best as one part of a plan that also includes exercise, load management and treating the underlying cause, and Dr. Fisher goes through the evidence with you after your assessment.
Physician Assessment
An assessment can help clarify what may be contributing, which options may be appropriate, and what a reasonable next step could look like for you.
Visit Our Clinic
Anti-Aging Medical & Laser Clinic combines medical assessment, individualized planning, physician oversight, and a broad range of treatment options in its Vancouver clinic.
Bring your questions, treatment history, and goals. Your provider can help you understand appropriate options, expected recovery, and realistic outcomes.
Make an Appointment
Use our consultation form below and the clinic can guide you toward the appropriate starting point.
