Common Conditions

Musculoskeletal conditions
Musculoskeletal conditions are injuries or pain in the body's joints, ligaments, muscles, nerves, tendons, and structures that support limbs, neck and back. These are degenerative diseases and inflammatory conditions that cause pain and impair normal activities. Musculoskeletal conditions can affect many different parts of the body including upper and lower back, neck, shoulders and extremities (arms, legs, feet, and hands). If you experience any of these, you should be referred to a rheumatologist.
Common musculoskeletal conditions:
- Back pain
- Osteoarthritis
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Osteoporosis

Arthritis
Arthritis is often referred to as a single disease. In fact, arthritis is an umbrella term for more than 100 medical conditions that affect the musculoskeletal system, specifically joints, where two or more bones meet.
Rheumatology Patients find arthritis related problems to include pain, stiffness, inflammation and damage to joint cartilage (the tissue that covers the ends of bones, enabling them to move against each another). This may result in joint weakness, instability and deformities that may disrupt the even the most basic daily tasks, such as driving, walking, cooking food, and brushing your teeth.
There is a widely thought of that arthritis is as a result of ageing process. However, it is not a natural part of ageing. In fact 2.4 million of all people suffering from the disease are of working age.

Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a common disease affecting over 1 million Australians. Osteoporosis makes bones become brittle, which leads to a greater risk of breaks than in normal bones. Osteoporosis occurs when bones lose minerals, such as calcium, more quickly than the body can replace them, causing a loss of bone thickness (bone density or mass).
Osteoporosis can lead to fractures
As the bones become less dense and thinner, even a minor bump or fall can lead to a serious fracture. A ‘fracture’ is a complete or partial break in a bone. The most common sites for a fracture are the hip, spine and wrist. Fractures in the spine due to osteoporosis can result in height loss or changes in posture. Osteoporosis usually has no symptoms until a fracture occurs this is why osteoporosis is often called the 'silent disease'.
Before You Visit
Your General Practitioner must be consulted first to decide if a Rheumatologist is suitable for you and to obtain the appropriate referral.
What to bring to your Rheumatology patient appointment:
- Please complete this form and bring it with you to your first appointment.
- Please bring a current referral from a General Practitioner or Specialist, or upload a copy.
- ALL your current medications must be physically brought to the appointment when you see Dr Gibson (Or an up to date list from your pharmacist).
- Please ensure ALL of your investigations are brought along with you to the appointment with Dr Gibson. Especially any radiology reports and all relevant and recent x-rays themselves.