What term describes joint pain?

• A. Osteoarthritis
• B. Myalgia
• C. Arthralgia
• D. Tendinopathy

Answer: (C)

Joint pain is described as arthralgia. The word combines arthro- meaning joint with -algia meaning pain, signaling that the pain is located in a joint. This distinguishes it from myalgia, which is muscle pain, and tendinopathy, which is tendon-related pain or pathology. Osteoarthritis, on the other hand, is a specific degenerative joint disease that can cause joint pain, but it’s not the general term for the pain itself. So the term that best describes pain in a joint is arthralgia. If there’s actual inflammation with the joint, clinicians might use arthritis, but arthralgia remains the standard term for joint pain in general.