A Rheumatologist is a specialist physician who has expertise in diagnosing and treating diseases of the joints, muscles and bones. Sometimes the term rheumatic disease or ‘rheumatism’ is used to describe this group of diseases. There are also a number of rarer rheumatic conditions that can affect other parts of the body including the skin, hair and internal organs. These include “lupus”, myositis, vasculitis and scleroderma. The more common rheumatic diseases include: Rheumatoid Arthritis Psoriatic Arthritis Ankylosing Spondylitis Gout Back and neck pain Osteoarthritis Muscle and tendon injury/tear Tendonitis Fibromyalgia Polymyalgia Rheumatica Bone Disease Osteoporosis Paget’s disease