Laboratory Tests
You may wonder why you need laboratory tests if you have musculoskeletal pain, usually due to muscle, joint, or bone problems. How do they reflect in your blood?
There are several blood markers in your musculoskeletal system. For instance, your doctor may order a uric acid, creatine kinase, myoglobin, or lactate dehydrogenase test.
- Uric acid: It is a waste product that causes gout when it is extremely high.
- Creatine-kinase (CK): This enzyme is involved in muscle metabolism and breakdown. If there is muscle damage, CK increases. This marker can be measured in the blood to determine if there is any muscle damage.
- Myoglobin: Myoglobin is a protein found in the muscles. It also leaks into the blood when there’s muscle damage.
Your doctor may also need to evaluate some systemic manifestations of the disease that can be associated with thigh pain. They will do that through these tests:
- Fasting glucose levels: It is essential to diagnose type 2 diabetes, which affects blood flow and can cause symptoms such as numbness and tingling along with pain in your thighs.
- Clotting factors and clotting time: These markers are essential to evaluate the risk of abnormal blood clotting, which can be the case if your doctor is suspecting from deep vein thrombosis.