Feeling pain in the fingers and the associated impairment of mobility is a fairly common pathology, especially in older people. Based on statistical data, problems with the mobility of the joints of the hands, accompanied by pain in the fingers, are observed after forty years in one out of ten, and after sixty years - in every third.
The risk group in this case are people whose profession is directly related to fine motor skills of hands or printing (jewelers, seamstresses, typists). What is most interesting is that the reasons that the hand hurts can be a wide variety of pathologies, differing not only in the nature of the course of the disease, but also in the etiological factors contributing to the development of this condition.
What causes pain in the hands?
Regarding the pathologies of the fingers, which are characterized by the symptom in question, again, they can be very different in origin, but pain is always associated with damage to the joints of the hands or periarticular tissues.
It should be noted that the soreness of the fingers is only the initial symptom, after which, as a rule, comes the restriction of mobility and deformation of the small joints of the hands. That is, as a result of the fact that a person did not pay attention to the recurring pain in the fingers in time, chronic disability may occur with subsequent disability. So the above symptoms must be taken seriously, making an allowance for the fact that these pains can be manifestations of such dangerous diseases as:
- 1. Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease of the fingers, which is considered to be systemic. The pain in this case is associated with a chronic autoimmune (non-infectious) inflammatory lesion of the small joints of the hands and feet;
- 2. Osteoarthritis or polyosteoarthritis is a pathological process that occurs in the fingers and does not have an inflammatory basis. This pathology is characterized by a change in the configuration of the joints of the fingers and a violation of their mobility, as well as aching pain;
- 3. Stenosing ligamentitis is an inflammatory disease that affects the annular ligaments of the joints of the fingers.
- 4. Gout is a pathology caused by the accumulation of crystals of uric acid salts in the cavities of the joints of the hands. Meat lovers are most susceptible to this disease;
- 5. Psoriatic arthritis - the consequences of psoriasis, a severe polyetiological disease, including those affecting the joints of the hands;
- 6. Infectious arthritis - inflammation of the joints of the fingers (mainly affected by the pathological process of the articular bag) of a bacterial or viral nature.
Etiology and risk factors - fundamental differences
It should be clearly distinguished: the etiology is the immediate cause that leads to the development of the disease of the fingers and in the absence of which it will not even arise in any case. A trigger factor (risk factor, in other words) is a condition that contributes to the development of hand joint disease and its symptoms. So, the predisposing factors (that is, conditions that increase the likelihood of developing the disease) of all pathologies that are manifested by pain in the fingers, stiffness and deformity of the joints of the hands are:
- Immunity problems;
- Infectious diseases that tend to become chronic;
- Hormonal disorders;
- Violations of metabolic processes;
- Individual predisposition;
- Hand injuries, especially those that were applied at regular intervals (for example, sports injuries);
- Factors of production acting over a long period of time.
Again, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that the trigger factor itself is not the direct cause of the development of hand joint disease - it increases the likelihood of its occurrence. Which is also very bad.
Therefore, it is necessary to dwell on each of these groups of diseases in more detail in order to understand where the pain came from and how to eliminate this pain. Let us dwell in more detail on each group of diseases of the joints of the hands.
Groups of diseases of the joints of the hands
One of the most common causes of sore fingers. Another unpleasant moment in this case is the absence of the incidence of the disease among representatives of different age groups - the pathology affects the elderly, the working population and children (then they talk about juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, abbreviated as JRA).
A characteristic feature of this pathology is the defeat of different groups of small joints of the hands, which are located symmetrically. Accompanying this process is a sharp pain and swelling of the soft tissues in the area of the joints of the hands, as well as hyperemia (redness). On palpation (palpation) of the hands, small rheumatic nodules can be detected - a pathognomonic (characteristic only for him, meaning) symptom of this disease. In the event that adequate therapy is not prescribed, pain in the fingers will turn into anatomical deformity of the joints of the hands (typical signs are “hands with a lorgnette”, “boutonnieres” or “swan neck”).
Osteoarthritis and polyosteoarthritis
The fingers of the hands of women of Balzac age and older hurt just because of these pathologies. The above feature is due to the nature of the estrogen background, however, a number of risk factors should also be noted - individual predisposition, metabolic problems, occupational hazards that affect the fingers.
This disease has several characteristic features only for it. For example, in the absence of adequate treatment, anatomical deformation of the hand joints occurs, similar to rheumatoid arthritis (thickening of the hand joints also occurs, they become spindle-shaped and as a result, the joint loses its functional significance). However, damage to other organs that are not related to the musculoskeletal system does not occur. It is this moment that can be decisive in the differential diagnosis of diseases in which the arm hurts. In this case, it is of fundamental importance for determining the tactics of managing the patient.
There are clinical cases in which this process affected the joints of the thumb in isolation. Accordingly, pain occurred only in this anatomical region. Pathology was even given a characteristic name - rhizarthrosis.
In this case, pain in the fingers had to be differentiated from gout and psoriatic arthritis. The pathological processes that accompany these diseases were also predominantly localized in the indicated anatomical region. By the way, it is possible to differentiate only after a biochemical blood test with the determination of the level of salts (urates and oxalates), the renal-hepatic complex, the rheumatic complex (determination of the level of antistreptolysin-O) and electrolytes.
Gout
Pathology is caused by a violation of the metabolism of purines - intermediate products of protein metabolism. The mechanism of its implementation is the accumulation of uric acid salts (urates) inside the joints of the hands. It should be noted that during the manifestation of gout, the joints of the feet are primarily affected, and only then there is dysfunction of the small joints of the hands and pain in them (the metacarpophalangeal joints suffer most of all).
The nature of painful sensations in this case, as a rule, is pronounced (meaning intensity), burning; attacks of different duration are noted. Movement during an attack is difficult. The main risk group is middle-aged and older men.
Stenosing ligamentitis
This rather rare disease occurs due to an inflammatory process occurring in the region of the periarticular tissues - the annular ligament of the finger (ligamentum - in Latin it means a ligament, the prefix - it means an inflammatory process, pain). For the implementation of differential diagnosis with arthritis or arthrosis, an x-ray of the affected joint is used.
Typical clinic of ligamentitis:
- Pain in the fingers when trying to move, in some cases, jamming in the phalangeal joints;
- The occurrence of characteristic clicks due to the fact that the ligaments lose their elasticity.
Psoriasis
Polyetiological disease, which is characterized by a systemic lesion of the body. It is wrong to believe that only the skin is affected during the manifestation of this pathology. For example, arthritis of the fingers (as one of the forms of this disease) is widespread among patients with psoriasis. In the vast majority of cases, the distal phalanges of the fingers and toes are affected. There are cases when dactylitis occurs - a generalized inflammation of the tissues of the finger.
Characteristic manifestations - severe pain, which increases many times with flexion, is combined with edema and hyperemia. Diagnosis in most cases is not difficult due to the fact that specific rashes occur on the skin. Fingers of both hands are affected.
Often, infectious agents (bacteria, viruses, microscopic fungi) directly affect the joints of the fingers, which leads not only to the fact that pain occurs even at rest, but also to an increase in body temperature, severe intoxication.
Tenosynovitis de Quervain
Tenosynovitis de Quervain is a fairly rare disease, the frequency of its occurrence does not exceed 5% of all cases of pain in the fingers. It consists in the defeat of the ligaments and "small" muscles in the tenor area. Accordingly, because of this, the thumbs of the hand hurt. Other fingers in this case are not affected.
No risk groups have been identified to date. The first symptoms manifest when pressing the thumb on a hard object. In this case, the thumbs of the hand hurt equally intensely on both hands.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome - Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Pathology of a neurological nature, in which the fingers of both hands hurt. The mechanism of its development is that the median nerve is compressed in the carpal tunnel. This occurs due to the fact that there are excessive loads on the ligaments and joints of the hands. It is an occupational disease in people whose profession involves frequent flexion and extension of the fingers (this includes programmers, copywriters, musicians and artists).
Typical symptoms are pain in the thumb, forefinger, decreased accuracy of fine motor skills, decreased muscles in the tenor area.
This disease must be taken seriously for the reason that timely diagnosis and adequately prescribed treatment help to avoid disability. Fingers hurt, after all, not just like that, but for some specific reason.
Why is it so important to determine which disease caused the pain in the fingers?
The thing is that the correct determination of the cause of pain in the area of the fingers allows you to most correctly determine the tactics of managing the patient and prescribe the appropriate treatment. Of course, in this case, this will not be as fundamental as, for example, in the differential diagnosis of retrosternal pain (due to the fact that the same drugs are used in all of the above cases), however, it is still necessary to know which pathology caused pain in the fingers.
Examinations and consultations to be taken by a patient who complains of the syndrome in question
- 1. First of all, it is necessary to consult a therapist, a cardiologist, a neuropathologist and a rheumatologist. An integrated approach in this case will allow you to objectively assess the patient's condition and understand why the fingers hurt;
- 2. X-ray of the joints of the hand. Some of the diseases listed above have their own specific radiological signs - regardless of whether the finger of the right hand or the left is affected;
- 3. General clinical blood and urine tests, as well as a biochemical blood test with the definition of a rheumatic complex, a renal-hepatic complex and electrolytes.
How is finger pain treated?
For a better understanding of the question of how pain in the fingers is eliminated, it is necessary to identify the following principles for eliminating the pain syndrome and treating the underlying disease:
- In the event that the main pathogenetic link of the disease, due to which the finger hurts, is inflammatory in nature, then the main therapeutic approaches will be to prescribe antibiotics, glucocorticosteroids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs;
- Provided that the leading role in the development of a certain nosology, manifested by pain in the area of the fingers, belongs to dystrophic processes, then in this case, chondroprotectors and physiotherapeutic methods (massage, manual therapy) will be the primary drugs of choice;
- Be that as it may, the use of potent painkillers is necessary (the best is the simultaneous use of several dosage forms - parenteral, enteral and ointment, for example). It is clear that it will not be possible to cure the disease and forget about this problem forever due to the fact that the etiological factor leading to pain in the fingers will not be eliminated, but this way the patient's condition can be alleviated.
Specific appointments, dosages and schedule of admission are established by the attending physician, based on the assessment of the objective condition of the patient and the analysis data.
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Polyosteoarthritis of the fingers, "knotty fingers"
Polyosteoarthritis of fingers gives approximately 40% of all cases of pain in the fingers. People are ill at least 40-45 years old (people under 40 years old suffer from this disease in extremely rare cases), but people aged 50-55 years and older are especially often sick with polyosteoarthritis of the fingers. Women get sick much more often than men.
For polyosteoarthritis of the fingers, the occurrence of special nodules (the so-called Heberden's nodules) on the back or side surface of those joints that are closer to the nails. Heberden's nodules most often develop symmetrically, that is, on the right and left hands at the same time and in the same places. However, they can form on any fingers, from thumbs to little fingers.
During the formation of Heberden's nodules in the joints under them, burning and pain may occur; sometimes these joints swell and turn red. But in a third of patients, the formation of Heberden's nodules occurs asymptomatically, without pain and burning.
In addition to Heberden's nodules, with polyosteoarthritis, painless nodules appear on those joints that are located approximately in the middle of the fingers (proximal interphalangeal joints). These are Bouchard's nodes. They are spindle-shaped, develop very slowly and, with rare exceptions, almost do not hurt.
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- approximately 5-7% of all cases of pain in the fingers. People of any age are ill, but most often those who are over thirty. Women get sick about 5 times more often than men. The disease develops, as a rule, after severe stress or after the flu, severe colds, infections or hypothermia.
Rheumatoid arthritis most often begins with inflammation and swelling of the metacarpophalangeal joints of the index and middle fingers (i.e., with inflammation of the joints located at the base of these fingers, in the region of the protruding bones of the clenched fist). Inflammation of the metacarpophalangeal joints in most cases is combined with inflammation and swelling of the wrist joints.
Inflammation of the fingers and wrist joints in rheumatoid arthritis is symmetrical, that is, if the joints on the right hand are affected, then the same joints on the left hand are almost certainly affected. In most patients, the process often involves other joints of the fingers and toes, as well as large joints - knee, elbow, ankle, etc.
At the same time, the inflammatory rhythm of pain is most typical for rheumatoid arthritis: pain in the joints intensifies in the second half of the night, in the morning. In the afternoon and in the evening pains usually weaken a little.
Very often, the listed symptoms are accompanied by a feeling of weakness, fever, weight loss and chills in rheumatoid patients, that is, the disease often leads to a general deterioration in the patient's well-being.
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Psoriatic arthritis
Psoriatic arthritis- less than 5% of all cases of pain in the fingers. The disease affects most often people aged 20-50 years. In most cases (but not always), the disease develops in people who already have skin psoriatic manifestations - dry, scaly reddish spots on the body or on the scalp (psoriatic plaques).
For the defeat of the fingers in psoriatic arthritis, the so-called "axial inflammation" is characteristic, when all its joints swell at once on any finger. The finger itself turns red and looks like a sausage. A similar pathology is called “sausage-shaped” finger.
In psoriatic arthritis, axial inflammation can occur in any finger. But note that with this disease, inflammation of the fingers on the right and left hands is most often asymmetrical, that is, fingers on one hand are usually affected; and sometimes on two hands at once, but then on one hand one fingers and joints become inflamed, and on the other hand - completely different.
For more on psoriatic arthritis, see Chapter 19.
Gout or gouty arthritis
Gout, or gouty arthritis - less than 5% of all cases of pain in the fingers.
People call gout a deformity of the big toe, which usually develops in women. But in fact, this is not gout, but arthrosis of the big toe. But the "classic", real gout (gouty arthritis) often occurs in men. Women suffer from gout several times less often.
And although true gout does often (but by no means always) begin with long-suffering big toes, it can affect any joint, both in the hands and feet.
Gouty arthritis usually appears between the ages of 20 and 50. The first, as already mentioned, the joints of the toes or the knee or ankle joints are more often inflamed. On the hands, the joints of the thumbs become inflamed more often than others (but any other fingers can also become inflamed - both on one hand and on both).
Inflammation of the joints with gout occurs in the form of attacks. In most cases, a gouty attack happens quite unexpectedly: it usually begins against the background of full health, most often at night. The pain in the joints during a gouty attack is often very acute: according to the stories of patients, "it makes you want to climb the wall." The affected joint turns red during such an attack, the skin over it becomes bright red or purple and hot to the touch.
Although in some patients, especially in women, the attacks are milder, without reddening of the joint and without such acute pain. But in any case, an attack of gout occurs unexpectedly and lasts from 3 to 10 days; then it suddenly passes as if nothing had happened. However, after some time, the attack just as suddenly repeats itself again.
This paroxysmal course of the disease is the hallmark of gouty arthritis.
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Tenosynovitis de Quervain
Tenosynovitis de Quervain- Approximately 5% of all cases of pain in the fingers. This is an inflammation of the ligaments and "small" muscles in the area of exclusively the thumb. Other fingers with de Quervain's tenosynovitis do not become inflamed.
De Quervain's tenosynovitis can occur at any age in both men and women. Characteristic symptoms: pain at the base of the thumb and under it, where the thumb comes into contact with the wrist joint.
Pain can occur spontaneously, "out of the blue", but most often they appear when the thumb is loaded, when you try to press your thumb on something, or when you try to grab something with your thumb and forefinger. In addition, the pain intensifies when the thumb is extended towards itself, i.e. towards the elbow.
For more on de Quervain's tenosynovitis, see Chapter 6.
Rhizarthrosis - arthrosis of the thumb
Rhizarthrosis- Approximately 5% of all cases of pain in the fingers. Rhizarthrosis affects the joint located at the base of the thumb and connecting the metacarpal bone of the thumb with the radiocarpal joint.
Usually, rhizarthrosis is one of the manifestations of polyosteoarthrosis of the fingers, and then it is not difficult to make a diagnosis. But in about 20-30% of cases, rhizarthrosis occurs as an independent disease, usually in people who are constantly heavily loading or once extremely overloading the thumb. In this case, it can be quite difficult to distinguish rhizarthrosis from de Quervain's tenosynovitis, since the symptoms of these diseases coincide by almost 90%.
In such a situation, it will help us to distinguish rhizarthrosis from de Quervain's tenosynovitis by deforming the bones of the diseased joint, which is clearly visible on examination and clearly recorded on an x-ray (with de Quervain's tenosynovitis, only a change in the soft tissues above the joint can be detected on an x-ray - and even that is extremely rare).
For more information about rhizarthrosis, see the chapter on RїRѕR»РёРѕСЃС‚еоартрозу пальцев СЂСѓРє.
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Why does pain occur in the joints of the fingers?
The causes of pain of this nature are usually diseases or damage to the joints and periarticular tissues. The nature of the pathology can be judged by the degree of damage - for example, in chronic processes, the joints can not only hurt, but also deform. Pain in the joints of the fingers is a characteristic sign of such pathologies as:
Predisposing factors for the development of various lesions of the fingers are:
- pathology of the immune system;
- chronic infections;
- hormonal changes;
- metabolic disease;
- hereditary factors;
- hand injuries, including frequently occurring microtraumas (sports or professional);
- long-acting harmful factors: the constant presence of hands in cold water, etc.
Let us dwell in more detail on each group of diseases.
Diseases affecting the joints of the hands
This pathology is one of the most common causes of damage to the small joints of the hands. Rheumatoid arthritis can occur at any age, from childhood to old age. It is characterized by a symmetrical lesion of different groups of joints, but especially strong - in the area of the fingers. Pain is accompanied by signs of inflammation: swelling and redness. On the affected areas under the skin, sometimes you can feel dense formations - rheumatoid nodules. The disease proceeds in waves - with periods of remission and acute attacks.
With long-term current rheumatoid arthritis, a characteristic deformity of the hands often develops like “hands with lorgnette”, “boutonniere” or “swan neck”.
Osteoarthritis and polyosteoarthritis
This group of diseases is more typical for older women, since the nature of its development is directly related to the estrogen background. However, there are other causes of osteoarthritis: heredity, metabolic disorders, occupational stress, etc.
In addition to pain, osteoarthritis of the hands is characterized by the formation of subcutaneous nodules in the area of \u200b\u200bdiseased joints, which, along with swelling, contribute to the development of finger deformity - they take on a characteristic knotty appearance. Sometimes the fingers look like a spindle, because of the thickening in the middle. Outwardly, this may resemble rheumatoid arthritis, but with arthrosis there is no damage to other groups of joints and internal organs.
Often, osteoarthritis of the hands proceeds as rhizarthrosis, when the joints of the thumbs are isolated. Rhizarthrosis often develops as a result of prolonged excessive stress on the thumb. A lesion in this area always has to be differentiated from such pathologies as gout and psoriatic arthritis, for which this particular place is a favorite localization.
Gout
This disease is associated with a violation of the metabolism of purines - products of protein metabolism, which leads to the deposition of uric acid salts (urates) in the inside of the joints. Although the joints of the feet are primarily affected in gout, the hands are often involved as well. First of all, the metacarpophalangeal joints (closest to the tips) of the thumbs suffer.
Pain in gout can be very intense, paroxysmal and have a burning, tearing character. They are accompanied by swelling and redness of the skin over the affected area. Movements in the thumb (as a rule, it is he who is affected) during a painful attack are extremely difficult or impossible. Men suffer from gout more often, aged 40 - 60 years.
Stenosing ligamentitis
This disease is associated with inflammation of the periarticular tissues - the annular ligament of the finger. Outwardly, the pathology resembles arthritis or arthrosis, so an x-ray is taken to clarify the diagnosis.
Clinically, ligamentitis proceeds typically: with pain during flexion and extension, and sometimes with jamming of the finger in a bent state, when its extension is possible only with effort. At the same time, characteristic clicks can be heard. Why does such a picture emerge? The annular ligament thickens and loses elasticity during inflammation.
Psoriasis
Psoriatic arthritis of the fingers is one of the forms of psoriasis. Along with a characteristic skin lesion, in 10-15% of patients, the joints are involved in the process, mainly the distal (nail) phalanges of the fingers and toes. The disease sometimes takes the form of dactylitis, a general inflammation of the tissues of the finger. They swell, redden, painful and hard to bend. Outwardly, they take the form of sausages.
The diagnosis of "psoriatic arthritis" is usually not difficult to make, since the disease develops against the background of a specific skin lesion.
Septic and infectious arthritis
They can occur both in the form of pathology of a single joint (monoarthritis) and multiple (polyarthritis). The cause is always an infectious agent that enters the joint tissues either through damaged skin or through the bloodstream.
The clinical picture can be varied depending on the form and severity of the lesion. If there is purulent inflammation, the symptoms will be not only local pain, but also a violation of the general condition - high body temperature, fever, intoxication.
Pain treatment
First of all, therapeutic measures should be aimed at eliminating the underlying disease. If pain in the joints of the fingers occurs due to an inflammatory process, antibiotics, hormones and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are prescribed. With a dystrophic lesion, first it is necessary to restore the damaged articular cartilage with the help of chondroprotectors and auxiliary measures: massage, manual therapy, physiotherapy.
With severe pain, painkillers are prescribed in the form of injections, ointments, tablets, etc. Although, as the main pathological process is eliminated, the pain will pass.
To make recovery go faster, folk remedies can be used in the treatment of this kind of disease. Here are some popular recipes.
In order for the treatment to give a result, it is necessary to strictly follow all the recommendations of your doctor. And then the chances of recovery or significant relief of the condition will be high.
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Joints and age
Cardiologists like to say that a person is only as old as his arteries. The same can be said about the joints, as they are most affected by age. Over the years, they lose their mobility, the range of motion in the joints noticeably decreases, since a person in everyday life has to make movements with a much smaller amplitude than that for which the joints are designed. The articular surface of the connecting bones, smooth in young years, becomes fibrous with age, part of it becomes inoperative. Attempts to make movements with maximum amplitude (raise outstretched arms up, take them behind the back, raise the outstretched leg high, crouch low, bend over, etc.) are accompanied by crunching and pain. The process of age-related changes is especially pronounced in the shoulder, knee, hip joints, in the whole vertebral; column.
Diverse, multi-axial movements in the joints of the arms and legs, in the spine maintain and develop normal anatomical structures in the joints, and consequently, normal sub-weight. The smoothness of movements depends on the condition of the joints and spine. Bent postures, twisted legs at the knees and hips, unsteady gait with small steps, characteristic of many elderly and old people, can be overcome.
It should also be noted that the development of osteochondrosis, characterized by a kind of degenerative! changes in the intervertebral discs, in a huge number of cases leading to a chronic painful disease of sciatica, largely depends on the lack of movement of the spine. It is possible to prevent (or weaken) osteochondrosis mainly by systematic exercises.
It is necessary to persistently repeat those movements that are most difficult, first with a small amplitude and unsharply, then increase them in volume and intensity. Exercise dosage is based on individual experience. Sometimes it takes 10-15 minutes to work out all the joints (and with them the ligaments and muscles), sometimes these exercises have to be given 30-40 minutes each. Exercise can be done multiple times throughout the day. Vigorous movements of the fingers and toes are replaced by rotation of the head, multi-axis rotation of the arms and raising the legs with deep inclinations. It is very useful to twist the so-called "hula hoop".
After sleep, joint mobility is limited. The older the person, the more clearly he feels it. It is very useful in the morning immediately after sleep to do several elementary exercises in bed that restore mobility in the joints. This first charge takes no more than 2-5 minutes, but it gives a good mood and performance.
1. Rotation of the feet in different planes.
2. Squeezing and unclenching the fingers.
3. Alternate and simultaneous raising of hands.
4. Sipping while lying on your back and stomach. Lying on your back, perhaps more
deep arch in the lower back.
5. Sitting on the bed, slowly rotate the head on different planes.
6. Sitting on the bed, bending the torso to the right, ilgvi, forward.
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Diseases of the joints of the hands
This disease is systemic, affects the connective tissue and develops in older people. They are more commonly affected by men. There is an opinion about a possible genetic predisposition to rheumatoid arthritis. Hypothermia, bruises, emotional stress, infectious diseases contribute to its appearance. In the absence of treatment of acute respiratory infections, influenza and tonsillitis, rheumatoid arthritis may develop as a complication. The disease affects the small joints of the hands, as well as the shins, knees and ankles.
It is dangerous because it is usually diagnosed in the later stages, when the connective tissue is severely damaged. Antibodies gradually accumulate in the body and suddenly begin their activity. The patient at the same time leads a habitual way of life and at first does not notice any changes in well-being. Under the influence of antibodies, the joints deform, they can no longer perform their functions and increase in size. This process is accompanied by pain. As a rule, if a joint is damaged on one side, then on the other too. Thus, the inflammation proceeds symmetrically. The joints in rheumatoid arthritis are fixed in one position, on the hands the fingers are shifted to the little finger. It becomes impossible to completely bend or unbend them. Patients may find firm nodules located under the skin of the hands.
After a long sleep or rest, patients need time to overcome the stiffness in order for the joints to start working again. The movements are very painful. Rheumatoid arthritis in some cases is accompanied by vasculitis, that is, inflammation of the walls of blood vessels. High body temperature is another symptom of the disease. Arthritis causes inflammation of the lining of the heart or lungs. This leads to chest pain and breathing difficulties. Women with rheumatoid arthritis often suffer from Sjögren's syndrome. It is less common in men. Sjögren's syndrome in medicine refers to inflammation of the mucous membranes. This causes dry eyes and mouth. The vagina, vulva, and trachea may also be affected.
In the course of changes in the joints, scar tissue is formed. The speed of this process depends on the individual characteristics of the organism. Rheumatoid arthritis in symptoms resembles a number of other diseases, so the diagnosis cannot always be made correctly. To clarify it, a biopsy is performed, when particles of nodules located under the skin are taken for analysis with a thin needle. In most cases, diagnosis is based on radiography and examination of the joint fluid. The results of biochemical analysis in most patients show an increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate, low leukocyte count, anemia. In many cases, rheumatoid factor occurs, which means the presence of antibodies in the blood. However, this symptom is characteristic not only for rheumatoid arthritis, but also for some liver diseases, for example, and can be found even in healthy people. The level of rheumatoid arthritis shows the degree of inflammation and increases during periods of exacerbation. The higher it is, the more damage to the joints.
On the subject: All information about rheumatoid arthritis!
This is one of the forms of rheumatoid arthritis, characteristic of children. It is named after the scientist who discovered and first described it. With Still's disease, there is an increase in body temperature. It reaches its highest value several times a day, most often in the evening. The rash appears and disappears unnoticed by the patient. To determine its presence, doctors use warm wipes or intense pressure on the skin. The rash is less common on the face than on the body. It is represented by red or pink spots. The rash on the body can be itchy.
Still's disease primarily affects the interphalangeal joints in the hands. This phenomenon is not typical for other similar diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis. In some patients, Still's disease causes inflammation of the lymph nodes and is accompanied by a burning sensation and sore throat. As with rheumatoid arthritis, pleurisy and pericarditis may develop.
Long-term follow-up is required to diagnose Still's disease. A biochemical blood test does not show the presence of a rheumatoid factor, but there is an increased content of protein, leukocytes, and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate increases. X-ray allows you to determine changes in the tissues of the joints, a puncture is also performed, during which the joint fluid is examined. To exclude the possibility of malignant tumors, a biopsy of the lymph nodes is performed.
In the acute period, Still's disease is treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Recovery with proper therapy occurs within a few months. Drugs such as prednisolone, dexamethasone, and less often methotrexate are used.
Osteoarthritis
This chronic disease involves a change in cartilage tissue, as a result of which the joints are deformed and become immobile. They mainly affect the elderly. Osteoarthritis they have pronounced symptoms. Young people who experience such a disease usually do not experience such severe discomfort.
The joints of the fingers are the first to be affected by osteoarthritis. After it spreads to the cross and cervical spine, knees. You can determine the presence of the disease by the characteristic crunch in the joints, which is heard when making movements. At first, immobility of the joint is observed in a person after sleep or a long rest. And it goes away within an hour. In the later stages of the development of osteoarthritis, the joints are finally fixed in a bent position. Heberden's nodes form at the fingertips. During physical activity, pain in the joints is felt. At a young age, the main symptoms are crackling and snapping of the fingers.
Osteoarthritis is primary, arising from unknown causes, and secondary, appearing as a result of other diseases. Its development is facilitated by joint injuries, their deformation and overload. To identify osteoarthritis allow pain in the joints. An accurate diagnosis is made on the basis of X-ray examination and magnetic resonance imaging. X-ray is informative in the later stages of the development of the disease. During it, it is determined how much the bone is destroyed and the cartilage tissue is damaged. Aspiration of the joint, that is, the study of joint fluid, is rarely used.
Exercise can help relieve pain and inflammation. The specific type of load should be prescribed by a doctor. The state of rest should be alternated with physical activity. Too soft mattresses, chairs should be replaced with more rigid ones. If you have excess weight, you need to get rid of it. It puts extra stress on the joints. Reducing weight will increase mobility and prevent deformation.
Treatment for osteoarthritis of the fingers includes physical therapy and thermal treatments. It is recommended to make paraffin baths with the addition of mineral oil. Aspirin and ibuprofen help relieve pain and reduce swelling. Other anti-inflammatory agents may also be used. Paracetamol is used as an analgesic.
Anesthesia is carried out not only with medication, but also with the help of warm and cold compresses, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation using a special device. Massage sessions warm up the muscles, improve blood circulation, which has a positive effect on the joints.
Our fingers are regularly subjected to very high loads. The situation becomes especially dangerous if a person's labor activity is associated with the constant performance of various minor manipulations - in the presence of provoking factors and a certain set of circumstances, this can provoke the occurrence of various diseases.
You are invited to learn more about the most common diseases of the joints of the fingers, their causes, characteristic symptoms and possible treatment options.
Among the most frequently diagnosed ailments of this category, the following adverse processes should be noted:
- arthrosis;
- arthritis;
- gout.
In addition, pain can occur in the presence of Raynaud's syndrome, as well as carpal tunnel syndrome. These diseases occur with a mandatory feeling of numbness of the hands and are not considered within the framework of today's publication.
In the presence of pain in the fingers and the absence of numbness, it is highly likely that the patient has any disease from the list below. You are invited to familiarize yourself with the features of the course of such ailments further.
A degenerative disease that mostly affects female patients. The exact causes of the pathology have not been established. The essence of the disease is reduced to a gradual decrease in the production of natural “lubrication” of the joints, which is why the latter dry out and crack.
This ultimately leads to the development of inflammation and the production of pathological fluid, which begins to burst the joints from the inside, which provokes characteristic pain and causes deformation.
Features of manifestation
The main symptoms of polyosteoarthritis are nodules of two types: Heberden and Bouchard.
The former are characterized by localization on the lateral or dorsal part of the affected joints located closer to the nail plates.
Usually nodules are characterized by symmetrical development, i.e. appear on two hands at once in the same places.
The sizes of formations fluctuate up to dimensions comparable to a small pea. As the disease progresses, there is an increase in deformation processes, accompanied by a limitation of the mobility of the affected joints. Periodically there are sensations of burning and pain.
The danger is that adverse symptoms go away on their own over time, which is why many patients decide not to see a doctor. And they do it absolutely in vain: after a certain period, the pathology will again inevitably enter the stage of exacerbation.
Bouchard's nodules are characterized by slow and gradual development without pronounced exacerbations. Formations occur mainly on joints distant from the nail plates. More often they form on the lateral surfaces, deforming the natural shape of the fingers. In the presence of Bouchard's nodules, there is a decrease in the mobility of the affected joints.
Diagnosis procedure
Diagnosis is usually limited to external examination. If necessary, blood tests and x-rays are ordered. The images clearly show the narrowing of the gaps of the affected joints in the areas of pathology development, as well as characteristic bone deformities.
The results of blood tests often do not deviate from the norm, but in the presence of uncharacteristic indicators, they draw conclusions about the possible course of the disease in combination with arthritis. Under such circumstances, the doctor sends the patient additional examinations for a reliable diagnosis.
Treatment Options
To normalize the state of cartilage tissue, chondroprotectors are prescribed.
Specific preparations, as well as the procedure for treatment in general, are determined exclusively by a qualified specialist, taking into account the individual characteristics of the patient's condition.
To enhance the effect of taking chondroprotectors, special drugs may be prescribed to dilate blood vessels. In the presence of inflammation, the doctor recommends anti-inflammatory drugs, mainly non-steroidal drugs. For topical application, ointments on a similar basis are shown.
Among the most effective and frequently used physiotherapeutic methods, paraffin therapy, as well as the use of therapeutic mud, should be noted.
An inflammatory disease diagnosed predominantly in female patients. Men, in accordance with average statistics, suffer from rheumatoid arthritis about 5 times less often.
Causes
Most often, various infectious and severe colds, great stress and hypothermia lead to the appearance of rheumatoid arthritis. Otherwise, any untimely, incorrectly or incompletely cured inflammation can become the cause.
rheumatoid arthritis x-ray
Features of the flow
In most situations, the disease first affects the joints of the second and third fingers. Often, the wrist joints are involved in the pathological process.
The lesion is usually symmetrical, ie. affects both hands. Quite often, the course is complicated by arthritis of the knee, elbow and other joints. The main symptom of the lesion is pain, which is predominantly inflammatory in nature. The severity of adverse sensations increases at night and after waking up.
Arthritis rheumatoid in the hands
In addition to pain, patients often experience the following:
- general weakness and depression;
- elevated temperature;
- chills;
- weight loss.
Diagnosis and treatment
Methods for diagnosing rheumatoid arthritis are described in the table.
Table. Diagnosis of arthritis of the fingers
Diagnostic methods | Description |
---|---|
In the presence of rheumatoid arthritis, x-rays show "melting" of the joint spaces, i.e. characteristic pronounced reduction in the size of the gaps between the connecting bones. Erosions begin to form. In advanced cases, the bones that make up the joint are fused. Under such conditions, the affected area becomes almost immobile. |
|
In the presence of rheumatoid arthritis, the material shows an increased ESR (ROE). This indicates the presence of inflammation. It is important to understand that this parameter increases with almost any inflammation, therefore, other diagnostic measures are required to confirm or refute the presence of rheumatoid arthritis. | |
First, so-called. "markers of inflammation". Secondly, the characteristic rheumatoid factor comes to light. The above signs are also characteristic of a number of other inflammatory processes, so the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis is necessarily carried out in a complex manner. |
Treatment order
This issue is dealt with exclusively by a qualified specialist.
As a rule, therapy is complex and includes several representatives of the following list:
- preparations of gold;
- immunosuppressants;
- antimalarial drugs;
- sulfonamides;
- D-penicillamine;
- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs;
- corticosteroids;
- selective anti-inflammatory drugs.
Additionally, various physiotherapeutic methods, means of external influence, etc. are used.
The main rule is one: do not engage in independent uncontrolled treatment and follow medical recommendations in everything.
Most often, this disease is diagnosed in patients 20-50 years of age. At first, the disease in most cases affects the toes, but it can also progress to the hands. Mostly inflammation develops in the joints of the thumb.
Features of the flow
Inflammation is paroxysmal. Attacks often occur unexpectedly: a person may feel quite well before the sudden appearance of painful sensations. The pain, as a rule, is very sharp, it is extremely difficult to endure it. The skin in the affected area becomes red and hot. In some patients, gout is characterized by less severe exacerbations.
The course of gout on the hands - photo
Under any circumstances, the pathology left without due attention will eventually again make itself felt with attacks already familiar to the patient.
Reasons for the appearance
Let's highlight the most common provoking factors that can cause gouty arthritis.
- arterial hypertension.
- Overweight.
- Chronic alcohol abuse.
- Excessive intake of purine bases (contained, for example, in meat, fish, coffee, milk).
- Slowing down the natural processes of excretion of uric acid (noted, for example, in the presence of renal failure).
- Excessive production of uric acid in combination with its delayed excretion.
Treatment Methods
To confirm the presence of gout, the specialist listens to the patient's complaints and prescribes a series of appropriate tests. The doctor gives recommendations on the exclusion of the previously mentioned provoking factors.
During periods of exacerbation, anti-inflammatory treatment methods are used with the help of appropriate medications. The most common is colchicine.
Otherwise, the list of necessary medications, as well as the procedure for their use, is determined by a qualified specialist based on the results of an examination of a particular patient.
First of all, the amount of consumed purines (as noted, found in fish, meat, coffee, etc.) and alcoholic beverages should be minimized.
Gout involves avoiding coffee and certain food categories.
It is necessary to limit the intake of carbohydrates and reduce the calorie content of the diet - as you lose weight, the risk of recurrence of gout attacks will also decrease.
More rare diseases of the joints of the fingers
Above, you got acquainted with the most common ailments that affect, among other things, the joints of the fingers. But there are a number of rarer diseases that can develop in the same part of the body. About them further.
Ankylosing spondylitis
It is a chronic inflammatory process leading to the formation of scar fibrous tissue in the joints. Salts and various microelements begin to settle on the mentioned formations, due to which the mobility of the affected area deteriorates significantly.
Video - Ankylosing spondylitis (Bekhterev's disease)
Video - About Bechterew's Disease
Among the characteristic signs, it is necessary, first of all, to single out aching painful sensations that intensify at night.
It develops in patients with a genetic predisposition to psoriasis. Diagnosed mainly during periods of exacerbation of the latter.
Psoriatic arthritis - photo
The characteristic features are:
- pain in the joints;
- redness and swelling of the skin;
- symmetry violation;
- nail damage.
It develops due to a violation of internal metabolic processes. As a result, calcium salts begin to be deposited in and around the tissues of the joints, which subsequently leads to pain, redness, swelling, fever, and deformities.
It is accompanied by aching painful sensations at the locations of small joints. It is a temporary condition that develops due to the intake of certain medications in excessive dosage.
Arthralgia can be caused, first of all, by penicillin antibiotics, chemical tranquilizers and sleeping pills, contraceptives, anti-tuberculosis drugs, barbiturates.
Rarely diagnosed. Treatment in most cases is reduced to making appropriate changes in the composition of the main therapy.
Thus, there are many diseases that affect the joints of the fingers. If you experience any kind of uncharacteristic adverse sensations, consult your doctor as soon as possible and follow his further recommendations.
Be healthy!
Video - Disease of the joints of the fingers
In addition, many of these ailments are accompanied by contracture.
Contracture is a limitation of joint mobility due to changes in surrounding tissues.
Such changes can be caused by various injuries and diseases of the joints.
For example, if you have a bad knee bend or hard to move your arm, there is a contracture or the so-called stiffness.
Pathology is divided into two types: congenital and acquired:
- congenital pathologies include such pathologies as clubfoot, curvature of the neck, etc.;
- and acquired stiffness occurs against the background of injuries, inflammation, dystrophic changes.
In addition, this pathology is active (active movements are limited) and passive (passive actions are limited).
Contracture can affect both the affected joint and the adjacent one. Accordingly, it distinguishes between its primary and secondary forms. Regardless of the form of the disease, competent and effective treatment is necessary.
Features of the pathology of the fingers
Limb contracture is a common disease that affects both fingers and toes.
For the most part, the ring finger and little finger suffer on the hands, but if the lesion is much deeper, the disease can affect all fingers. The disease affects men more often, women are less affected.
According to many experts, the disease is slowly progressive. Such a course of it gradually shortens the tendons, inflames the ligaments, fingers suffer from this, they begin to bend poorly, there is no way to straighten them completely, the function is limited.
In some cases, contracture can proceed rapidly, the only correct solution in this situation is surgical intervention.
Provocative reasons - a lot
The causes of hand contracture are varied.
The most common are various age-related ailments, inflammatory diseases of the joints.
Also, fractures of the hand and bruises can be attributed to the main cause of stiffness of the fingers.
Many scientists believe that the hereditary inferiority of connective tissues also contributes to the occurrence of pathology.
At risk are people who are engaged in heavy physical labor, patients with diabetes, neuroses, liver diseases, and osteochondrosis. In addition, the cause of the disease can be bad habits, improper metabolism, weakened immunity.
Disease classification
Contracture of the toes, for the most part, is formed due to arthrosis of the interphalangeal joints of the fingers, and can also occur against the background of flat feet or any deformity of the foot.
Over time, subluxation of the phalanges of the fingers develops, calluses appear on the surface of the skin, mobility worsens significantly, pain appears when stepped on.
Often, the pathology affects the big toe, stiffness appears in the first metatarsophalangeal joint, usually this is a consequence of deforming arthrosis. In addition, various injuries, fractures and burns can cause deformation of the toes and their immobility.
Often the disease affects both hands, but more often one suffers - the right one. Often the disease develops in the region of the ring finger and little finger.
The disease occurs imperceptibly, at the very beginning a small knot appears in the folds of the palm, which can be mistaken for a corn. Over time, the knot increases, many others appear, it becomes difficult to bend the fingers.
At a more severe stage of the disease, the hand is deformed and the movement of the fingers is almost impossible.
Symptoms and Diagnosis
In most cases, the symptoms of the disease at the initial stage practically do not appear, only very rarely the disease can have an acute onset.
At the first signs, there is a slight discomfort when bending and unbending the fingers, if it concerns the fingers, dense knots appear on the palms, which are characterized by considerable soreness.
With the development of the disease, they can move to the fingers, and completely limit their movement. Also, often at the first stage of the development of stiffness, patients complain of fatigue of the arms and legs, a feeling of cold and numbness in the fingers appears, the skin becomes dense.
Often there is swelling, especially noticeable in the morning. In the last stages, the fingers completely stop moving, in relation to the toes, there is severe pain when stepped on, sometimes the patient cannot move independently.
The diagnosis of finger contracture is primarily based on the patient's indications.
The specialist should carefully listen to the patient's complaints and, with the help of palpation, examine all the affected areas, assess the mobility of the joints and the amplitude of their movement.
If necessary, for additional research and accurate diagnosis, the doctor may prescribe x-rays.
Treatment for poor finger mobility
Timely diagnosis is considered the most important condition for the treatment of finger contracture.
When a disease is detected, two main methods of treatment are distinguished - conservative therapy and surgery. Conservative therapy will largely depend on the degree of damage to the fingers, the course of the disease and the cause of its occurrence.
The main methods of this therapy include:
- Various physical exercises that help relax the muscles, stretch the tendons, and increase the mobility of the fingers.
- In addition, such physiotherapy procedures as therapeutic massage, shock wave therapy and electrophoresis are widely used. They improve the metabolic process in tissues, eliminate puffiness, and contribute to their recovery.
- With more persistent contractures, injections of pyrogenal, paraffin-ozocerite applications are recommended.
When conservative therapy is powerless, the only correct method to help the patient is surgical intervention.
After the operation, rehabilitation methods are also needed, which are aimed at eliminating inflammation, accelerating tissue healing and restoring joint function.
Complications that threaten the disease
With a long course of the disease and the absence of treatment, the disease begins to progress, serious complications develop. The joints completely stop moving, there is an irreversible decrease in the sensitivity of the fingers.
In this case, an operation is necessary, which consists in the complete removal of the affected aponeurosis.
In order to prevent
The appearance of contracture is not predictable enough, but nevertheless, the main preventive methods include:
- Quitting bad habits such as alcohol and tobacco use.
- Proper distribution of physical activity. If the fingers or toes are very tired, it is necessary to take a relaxing bath or massage.
- Avoid hypothermia of hands and feet.
- Eating healthy food. Give preference to fruits and vegetables, exclude spicy, salty, smoked meats, etc.
Since finger contracture is a serious disease and requires immediate treatment, if you feel any changes in the joints of your fingers or toes, you should immediately consult a doctor.
He will be able to diagnose in a timely manner and, if necessary, prescribe the correct treatment. Be healthy!
How to treat my daughter after a burn contracture of the middle finger? We went to the surgeon, he sent me to a traumatologist, but we don't have him. The finger is slightly curved. Doing massage water process
What exercises do you need to do to remove the valgus yourself?
Arthritis of the joints of the fingers: symptoms and proper treatment
Many of us have seen elderly people with disfigured fingers. And in all likelihood they thought that old age was to blame. But, alas, this is not entirely true. What causes such horrendous joint deformities? And can it be prevented? Let's find out!
Arthritis is an inflammatory process in the joints. It affects any of them, but most often the small joints of the fingers are affected. Women suffer from arthritis twice or even three times more often than men, and statistics say that every seventh citizen of the planet Earth feels all the "charms" of this disease. But in patients with the problem of arthritis of the joints of the fingers, treatment can be successful if it is started in a timely manner, carried out promptly and comprehensively. Such an attitude can save the patient from the onset of immobility and, as a result, disability. Therefore, at the first signs of the disease, you should not self-medicate, but urgently consult a doctor.
The photo is not very pleasant, but this can happen if you do not monitor your health
Signs of Arthritis in the Hands
Arthritis is a very insidious disease, because it can break into your life quite unexpectedly, against the background of relative health. This is its sharp form. But even worse is chronic arthritis, which proceeds almost imperceptibly, slowly and can progress for years. Symptoms of the disease:
- acute arthritis is accompanied by severe pain, high fever and swelling of the joints;
- rheumatoid arthritis presents symmetrically, with numbness and tingling of the wrist;
- general signs appear: fatigue, malaise, prolonged morning pain and stiffness;
- the appearance of subcutaneous nodules;
- creaking in the joints;
- joint deformity.
At first, the disease affects a small number of joints, most often the fingers and toes. The fingers can take on several forms typical of rheumatoid arthritis: fusiform fingers, swan neck type, and contracture of the fingers with skin necrosis. With such curvature of the fingers, a person sometimes cannot even fasten buttons or hold a glass in his hand, in a word, serve himself.
In the disease of arthritis of the fingers, the symptoms depend on the type of disease. Inflammatory pain can be quite pronounced and intensify with any movements in the joints, often occurs in the second half of the night. With inflammation of the tissues surrounding the joint, it appears with certain movements, and “starting” pains also appear. The shapes and outlines of the joints change, they become swollen, the skin over them becomes hot, sometimes reddens.
Patients may have swollen hands
Causes of the disease
The causes of the disease may be as follows:
- general metabolic disorders cause non-infectious arthritis. This form of the disease affects more often older people who have occupational diseases, disorders of the endocrine glands, who had microtraumas;
- infectious diseases: brucellosis and gonorrhea, influenza and scarlet fever, syphilis and tuberculosis, dysentery and chlamydia. Also small-focal lesions, such as chronic tonsillitis. The causative agents are staphylococci and streptococci.
- Postponed joint injuries, bruises and operations on them;
- It is impossible to discount hereditary predisposition, although it is also wrong to say that arthritis is inherited.
Treatment
Arthritis of the joints of the hands is very important to diagnose at an early stage and choose an individual treatment. Only then can the patient be cured. Correct diagnosis will determine the cause of the disease and the type of arthritis (and there are up to 150 of them).
If you are diagnosed with infectious arthritis, then a course of antibiotics, vaccines, corticosteroids will be prescribed. Treatment is directed at the process that caused the arthritis. To relieve inflammation and pain in the acute form of the disease, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, analgesics with antispasmodic action are used. Chondroprotectors will help stop the development of the degenerative process and restore cartilage tissue. If these drugs do not give the expected result, basic antirheumatic drugs and biological response modifiers are prescribed.
The progression of the disease is closely related to impaired blood supply in the joints, therefore, diseases associated with changes in blood vessels (vasospasm, normalization of blood pressure) are corrected. With short-term, arising after significant loads and "starting" pain, it is advisable to prescribe nitrates.
The severe course of the disease is accompanied by irritability, tearfulness, sleep disturbance. To improve the state of the patient's psyche, sedatives and hypnotics are used, as well as drugs that relieve feelings of melancholy, anxiety and "improve the quality of life."
Also, the treatment of arthritis of the fingers involves the use of distractions - these are painkillers and anti-inflammatory ointments, creams, tinctures and rubbing.
It should be remembered that arthritis also affects the nerves, so the body must be supported with vitamins. The most effective of them is thiamine or vitamin Bı, which is a metabolic catalyst. Most often, it is prescribed in the form of injections, but you can take it in tablets or use brewer's yeast, which is rich in this vitamin.
In case of arthritis of the hands, treatment should be carried out in combination with physiotherapeutic methods. It could be electrophoresis, through which antibiotics, novocaine and various complex medicinal compounds are introduced into the body through the skin, diadynamic therapy– exposure to low-frequency pulsed currents, UHF, magnetotherapy, ultrasound. Hydrotherapy and mud applications are also used in the stage of remission. All these methods are assigned strictly individually.
Mud applications on hands - an element of complex therapy
When the exacerbation is removed, the doctor prescribes therapeutic exercises, usually in the supine position or in the pool, because. in water, the greatest relaxation of the muscles is achieved. But at the same time, not a single exercise should cause you discomfort and even more so pain. Metabolic disorders are 90% due to malnutrition. Therefore, you should enrich your body with vitamins E and D, antioxidants and Omega-3 fatty acids. All this can be obtained from fresh vegetables and fruits, salmon and herring, liver, walnuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, bran.
Along with drug therapy, treatment with folk remedies can also be carried out. These are compresses and ointments with mustard, blue clay, mummy and, of course, infusions and decoctions of medicinal herbs, turpentine baths. However, be sure to consult your doctor before using any of them.
In especially neglected cases, when conservative treatment can no longer give positive results, they resort to surgical intervention and joint prosthetics.
Here we have figured out how to treat this disease. But to this you need to add the rules of behavior during illness, which will help to endure it more easily:
- in no case do not self-medicate;
- reduce the load on the joints of the fingers;
- do daily exercises and stretching exercises, but without load:
- objectively assess your condition, without fear and tantrums;
- punctually fulfill all doctor's prescriptions;
- you can not lift weights and make sudden movements, jump and run;
- provide yourself with a good night's rest;
- use special assistive devices to facilitate movements;
- limit food and liquid intake - this is natural in acute conditions in the entire animal world.
In the video below, exercises for arthritis of the hands:
Prevention
Do not carry colds “on your feet” and treat infectious diseases in time. Go in for sports and harden the body. Do not overload the joints, for this, watch your own weight. Minimize your intake of salt and sugar, alcohol and tobacco. Eat several cloves of garlic daily. Replace black long leaf tea and coffee with green tea or herbal drinks. Ginger tea is very good for arthritis. Avoid hypothermia and joint injuries.
Remember that movement is life, and the rejection of excesses is the reduction of deprivation!
At the top of the comment feed are the last 25 Q&A blocks. I answer only those questions where I can give practical advice in absentia - often without a personal consultation it is impossible.
Medicine does not even know the cause of arthritis, but gives advice and shove ointment when the cause is inside the body. As they say, nothing personal, just business.
Violetta and Natalia, you need an arthrologist - a surgical specialist who diagnoses, treats and prevents diseases of the joints and periarticular tissues. It is he who should direct you to x-rays, ultrasound, CT / MRI, OKA and a biochemical blood test.
And which doctor should I go to?
A rheumatologist deals with the treatment of arthritis of the joints of the fingers.
Excuse me, well, what kind of doctor, well, you will come to the doctor, well, show your fingers, and then? The doctor just said to me, this is a baby from a bad life, smear with cream, I don’t remember the name. And that's it. Better tell me what tests to take, what to pay attention to.
Natalia, unfortunately, there are really few competent specialists. But they are! Engaging in self-diagnosis and self-treatment is not an option. Based on your comment, I assume that you came to the doctor, they answered you like this, and that's it. Try to go to another place, there are specialized institutions, private clinics, etc.
Even if you choose the methods of oriental medicine, physical exercises, folk methods like bee venom, etc. - you still need to look for a doctor (specialist) who will help you.
excellent, I do not have the opportunity to go to the doctor, I received complete information.
What to do when fingers are affected by polyarthritis?
The inflammatory process in the joints of the fingers is the most common disease in the world.
According to unofficial statistics, it affects every seventh inhabitant of the Earth, and every third of them has crossed the line of 50 years.
The development of polyarthritis of the fingers contributes to many reasons. But the result is the same - progressive pain and a gradual loss of functionality of the fingers.
In this regard, timely treatment is of exceptional importance. But for this you need to understand the features of the symptoms of this disease.
Variety of symptoms
The symptoms of this disease are different at individual stages.
Initial symptoms
Polyarthritis affects multiple joints. But before that, you need to be able to recognize the first symptoms of the disease, which just appear on the fingers. At the same time, for different types of polyarthritis, the symptoms also differ. So, against the background of psoriasis, psoriatic polyarthritis can develop. Its first symptom is pain in the joints that are next to the fingernails. These joints are called distal.
The main signs of polyarthritis of the fingers
The most common symptoms of this disease are:
- pain in different joints, such as fingers or wrists;
- the formation of nodular formations in the area of \u200b\u200bthe joints of the fingers;
- numbness in the fingers;
- redness and swelling of the skin in places where the joints are affected, even to the touch the skin may be hot;
- the impossibility of bending the fingers, especially after rest or sleep (this is a characteristic symptom of rheumatoid polyarthritis of the hands);
- nodular formations under the skin (also a sign of rheumatoid arthritis);
- swelling of the fingers (characterizes psoriatic arthritis);
- difficulty performing simple rotational or grasping movements with the fingers (for example, the inability to open the lid of a box or jar, pick up objects from the floor);
- external deformity of the joints, which manifests itself in the last stages of the disease.
Development of the disease
Polyarthritis usually affects one joint first. But over time, the disease progresses. Muscles near the diseased joint atrophy. The tendons are also involved in the painful process. Gradually, the joint (joints) is deformed.
Here you will read about why the back hurts in the lumbar region on the right.
The patient is no longer able to perform finger movements in full. The signs of polyarthritis are accompanied by numbness of the fingers and the appearance of "goosebumps" in them, which indicates damage to the nerve fibers.
Therapeutic measures
Medical treatment
The meaning of the treatment of this type of polyarthritis is mainly to preserve or return mobility to the joints. In advanced cases, efforts are directed at reducing the manifestations of symptoms.
The duration of treatment for the acute phase of the disease depends on a large number of factors. But taking the drugs lasts quite a long time. The disease is not cured completely. Only inhibition of the destructive process in bone tissues is real.
From the very beginning, the patient is prescribed corticosteroids, anti-inflammatory non-steroidal drugs and pain medications. The best result is achieved by a combination of injections or tablets with external preparations (ointments, creams, gels).
If necessary, therapy is carried out:
- antibiotics,
- immunosuppressants,
- antihistamines.
Rheumatoid arthritis needs treatment with glucocorticoids, which are sometimes injected directly into the joint.
Physiotherapy treatment
Treatment of polyarthritis includes the improvement of chronic centers of infection. Physiotherapy procedures lead to a good effect:
In the case of rheumatoid arthritis, drugs prescribed by a rheumatologist are added to the treatment.
Treatment at home
How to deal with pain on your own
One of the most unpleasant symptoms of polyarthritis is joint pain, which makes it impossible to perform even the simplest movements. There are many simple ways to deal with this severe manifestation of polyarthritis.
Here you will read about how to diagnose and treat deforming arthrosis of the shoulder joint.
Cold and hot compresses, which should be regularly applied to the fingers, help injured finger joints. An effective remedy for pain is hot baths with hand salts.
If polyarthritis has damaged a small number of joints, then the pain can be suppressed with the help of topical painkillers. These include non-steroidal anti-inflammatory ointments. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) gives good results. In case of acute symptoms of polyarthritis of the fingers, it is recommended to take up to 4 g per day.
Movement exercises that keep the joints active
The following exercises can help relieve symptoms and keep fingers active:
- Clench your palm into a fist and slowly unclench, stretching your fingers as much as possible. Then again slowly squeeze the palm into a fist so that the fingers are in close contact with each other.
- Making circular motions with the thumbs. Do not bend the phalanges, and keep the fingers straight.
- Take the thumb away from the palm, and then touch it with a pad to the pads of the other fingers.
- Move your thumb back and forth horizontally, trying to take it away. The same is true in the vertical plane.
These exercises should be repeated every day several times. The number of approaches 3-10. To increase the mobility of the fingers for gymnastics, they can be preliminarily held in warm water.
Preventive measures
The best prevention of joint diseases are elementary measures:
- hardening (dousing and wiping with cool water);
- daily hand gymnastics (and general);
- fresh air during sleep;
- competent diet.
But when the diagnosis is already made, it is necessary to get rid of the following factors:
- drafts, cold, humidity;
- unbalanced diet (should increase the proportion of plant foods);
- large loads on the joints;
- frequent injuries;
- unfavorable climate (if possible, it is better to go to live in a place with a good climate).
Traditional medicine recipes should be approached very carefully. If you do them incorrectly, you can harm yourself.
Infusions for oral administration
Among the time-tested recipes, there are many infusions for internal use.
Stinging nettle. Mixed in equal proportions:
Two weeks to insist in the dark and cold. Take six months three times a day, 30 ml before meals for half an hour.
Herbal assortment. Pre-grind and mix:
- chamomile, wild rosemary, string (two doses each);
- one dose of lingonberry leaf and juniper berries.
Collection (1 tablespoon) pour boiling water (0.5 l) and keep for 5 hours. After straining, take three times a day for half a cup before meals for 30 minutes.
Violet infusion. Violet (2 tablespoons) is poured with boiling water (0.5 l) and infused for two hours. Means to drink half a cup three times a day before meals for half an hour.
Healing compresses
Herbs with salt. Dry and grind three tablespoons of each of the herbs:
Mix everything and simmer in a water bath for about 20 minutes. Add table salt (4 tablespoons) to the mixture. Wet the woolen cloth with the resulting composition. After it dries, apply to sore joints.
Radish or horseradish. Very good results are given by night compresses of grated black radish. You can use horseradish instead, but not more than three hours to avoid burns.
Ice applications
A plastic bag is filled with ice or snow. The package is wrapped in cloth. Then it is applied to the joint for about 10 minutes. When the burning starts, hold for another minute, then remove the package. Now you need to do a massage with kneading your fingers. As long as the cold persists, it is painless.
After 10 minutes, the procedure is repeated. Then the hands are wrapped in warmth. The course should last 20 days.
Timely treatment of polyarthritis of the fingers stops the development of the disease and prevents irreversible deformation of the joints. But the most correct thing would be the prevention of the disease, which sounds trite, but gives a reliable result. It is built on three pillars - physical activity, proper nutrition, healthy sleep.
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How to cure arthritis of the joints of the fingers?
In life, you can often see an elderly person with disfigured hands. The reason for this is not old age, as we used to think, but arthritis of the joints located between the phalanges of the fingers and between the metacarpal bones and phalanges.
Now this disease has become much younger, so understanding what can cause such a deformity, what are the first signs of the disease and how to treat it is an important question for everyone.
What is arthritis?
This term is called a disease in which the inflammatory process starts in the joints.
Initially, inflammation usually occurs in the inner shell of the joint capsule (this is called synovitis), as a result of which an inflammatory fluid, exudate, accumulates in the joint cavity.
The nutrition of the articular structures is precisely due to the normal synovial fluid, therefore, the exudate accumulated in the bag will significantly impair the venous and lymphatic outflow from them.
As a result, all the elements that make up the joint are involved in the inflammatory process:
- cartilage;
- tissue of the articular bag;
- those parts of the bones to which cartilage is attached;
- ligaments;
- tendons.
Reasons for the development of the disease
There are quite a few of them - these can be:
- microorganisms that have entered the joint cavity;
- joint injuries: acute - fall, blow, injury; chronic - constant friction, overload associated with professional and sports activities;
- allergic processes;
- autoimmune diseases, in which the immune system recognizes the tissues of its own joint as foreign bodies, begins to attack them.
Most often, the joints of the fingers are affected by gout, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis.
No less often, with constant stereotypical movements, a degenerative process develops in the articular cartilage.
Consider the most common reasons in detail.
Causes of gouty arthritis
This disease develops as a result of a violation of one of the metabolic links - purine metabolism (these are substances that are part of nucleic acids, including DNA and RNA).
The disease is mainly associated with a genetic predisposition.
The provocative factors of its development are:
- work in conditions of high humidity;
- significant fluctuations in temperature during the day;
- the main factor is food: the abuse of meat and offal (liver, kidneys), alcoholic beverages, fish, asparagus, mushrooms.
Causes of Rheumatoid Arthritis
This disease has an infectious-allergic nature.
The mechanism of the development of the disease is not fully understood.
There is a disease after an acute (influenza, acute respiratory infections, tonsillitis, pyelonephritis) condition or exacerbation of a chronic disease.
In some cases, the disease develops after infectious or reactive arthritis.
Sometimes a strong emotional stress becomes a provoking factor in the pathology, and in 10% of people the disease developed after hypothermia.
Causes of psoriatic arthritis
This type of arthritis usually occurs already against the background of skin manifestations of the disease, significantly aggravating the course of psoriasis.
The causes of psoriasis itself are considered to be a change in the genetic program of skin cells, as a result of which they begin to divide in some areas much faster, forming psoriatic plaques.
Stress, trauma, infectious disease “activates” such a genetic program.
Figure: Psoriatic arthritis
What provokes the transition of psoriasis to the joints is unknown, however, almost 25% of patients noted that before this there was a joint injury.
Causes of deforming arthritis
The main trigger of the disease is the inflammatory process in the joint, which can be caused by:
- injury;
- stretching;
- dislocation;
- intra-articular fracture;
- microtrauma of the joint and surrounding tissues.
What causes this disease in adults?
The causes of the disease are diverse, some of them are described above.
The triggers for arthritis can be summarized as follows:
- Infection: bacterial, fungal, viral, which could get into the joint both with a penetrating injury or open injury, and from the source of infection that exists in the body;
- Injury;
- Allergy;
- Metabolic disease;
- Lack of vitamins;
- autoimmune processes.
Why does it occur in children?
The main cause of the disease is colds, after which reactive arthritis develops.
Also, the reasons can be identified:
- injuries, bruises and operations on the joints;
- genetic pathologies, as a result of which the structure of the joint is disturbed or the chemical structure of some of its components is modified, as a result of which their own antibodies begin to “bomb” them;
- hypothermia;
- primary decrease in immunity.
The latter cause leads to the development of a juvenile variant of rheumatoid arthritis, which occurs in children under 16 years of age, is characterized by a rather rapid progressive course, leading to disability.
The causes of this disease are still not exactly established.
It is only known that children suffering from it have defects in the genes of the immune complex, provoking the appearance of an inadequate immune response to such stimuli as:
- injury;
- common viral or bacterial disease;
- hypothermia;
- quite a long stay in the sun;
- administration of proteins.
This causes the development of arthritis in a child.
During pregnancy
During this period, the woman's immunity is specifically reduced so as not to harm the developing fetus (it is a foreign body for the mother, as it has its own protein composition).
Therefore, it is during pregnancy that all diseases “raise their heads”.
Arthritis can be caused by any of these reasons:
- injury;
- infection;
- gout;
- exacerbation of rheumatic or rheumatoid arthritis;
- psoriasis.
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Symptoms and signs
Signs characteristic of arthritis of any etiology are:
- the joints of the fingers are edematous, swollen;
- the skin over the inflamed joint is red, tense, and may be hot;
- the affected joint hurts even at rest;
- when moving the brushes, a crunch occurs in the joints of the fingers;
- mobility in the joint changes.
Rheumatoid arthritis is characterized by:
- symmetry of the lesion, that is, the joints on both hands are affected;
- the joints between the phalanges become inflamed, as well as between the bones of the metacarpus and the first phalanges of the fingers;
- pain appears late at night or in the morning;
- in addition to pain in the morning, stiffness of movements in the joints is felt;
- pain and stiffness are short-lived at first, may last up to 3-4 hours as the disease progresses
- during the day and in the evening the joints of the hands almost do not hurt
- symptoms of general intoxication appear: fever, weakness, chills, lack of appetite, weight loss
- "favorite" joints: between the bones of the metacarpus and 2 and 3 phalanges, between the first two phalanges of the hand; the knee, wrist, metatarsophalangeal, elbow and ankle joints are also affected;
- the process does not affect the metacarpophalangeal joint of the thumb, as well as the joints between the nail and the second phalanx.
Photo: rheumatoid arthritis of the fingers
Gouty arthritis is characterized by the following symptoms:
- general symptoms of joint damage are pronounced, paroxysmal;
- joint pain is accompanied by fever, weakness, other symptoms of intoxication;
- on the skin there are nodules with a diameter of 1-2 cm, over which the skin has a yellowish color. They crunch when pressed, painless. These are tophi, that is, the accumulation of excess uric acid salts under the skin, the “calling card” of gout;
- the joint of the big toe is usually affected, but the joints of the fingers can also be included in the disease;
- sore joints are red, very painful and sensitive to the slightest touch, the skin over them is hot;
- arthritis symptoms develop most often in the morning, so pronounced that the person can no longer sleep;
- manifestation of arthritis - after drinking alcohol or a large amount of meat food.
Psoriatic arthritis is manifested by its characteristic features:
- arthritis can develop both acutely and gradually;
- no morning stiffness;
- one or more joints may be affected for a long time;
- joints are involved in the process randomly;
- on the hands, the joints between the nail and second phalanx of any finger most often suffer, arthritis of the thumb may occur;
- when the joint is damaged, dactylitis occurs, that is, inflammation of other tissues of the finger, as a result of which it acquires a “sausage-like” deformation;
- the criterion for diagnosing the disease is psoriatic plaques on the skin;
- characteristic is the simultaneous defeat of three joints of one finger (any): between the metacarpal bone and the phalanx, and two joints between the phalanges;
- the skin over the sore joints is cyanotic-purple;
- limited mainly by flexion.
Photo: psoriatic arthritis of the fingers
Reactive arthritis and infectious arthritis are common symptoms, they do not have well-defined characteristic features.
Degrees of the disease
In its development, the disease goes through several stages.
So, there are 4 degrees.
1 degree
This is the very beginning of the disease.
There are painful sensations and stiffness in the joints of the fingers. A person does not always seek help, since the symptoms are minimal: they just cannot open the tap in the morning, it’s just hard to turn the stove knob.
Only the first signs of thinning of the bones are visible on the x-ray.
2 degree
The joints begin to swell, make a crunch and noise when moving.
X-ray reveals bone erosion, the bones continue to thin.
3 degree
Gradually, self-service skills are lost due to severe stiffness of movements.
In the fingers, there is no longer only morning pain: this syndrome occurs every time you need to perform an action involving the joints of the hand.
The radiograph shows the deformity of the joint, its tension and looseness.
4 degree
The mobility of the fingers is completely lost due to the fusion of the articular cartilages.
Self-care skills are completely lost.
X-rays show irreversible changes and deformities of the bones and cartilage of the joint.
Diagnostic methods
In order to establish a diagnosis of arthritis, the following studies are carried out:
To determine the cause of the disease, determine the level of uric acid, rheumatoid protein, LE cells in the blood.
The patient is consulted not only by a rheumatologist, but also by other specialists.
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Treatment of arthritis of the joints of the fingers
Effective therapy consists of the use of several methods at once: medication, physiotherapy, exercise therapy.
Also important in this period are the means of traditional medicine.
But all these methods must be used only in combination with the right diet (it has differences for different etiologies of the disease), since the constantly incoming harmful substances with food neutralize the entire effect of medications and folk remedies.
Medical treatment
Anti-inflammatory drugs (Indomethacin, Ibuprofen, Celecoxib, and others) can be taken no matter what the cause of the arthritis is.
Also, in an acute and very painful process, hormones such as Diprospan or Hydrocortisone can be injected into the joint once or twice.
The rest of the drugs are used after confirming one or another cause that caused arthritis.
For the treatment of an acute attack of gouty arthritis, the drug "Colchicine", anti-inflammatory and hormonal drugs are used.
Subsequently, they switch to drugs that reduce the level of uric acid in the body.
Continuous adherence to a purine-free diet during treatment and for prevention is a prerequisite for the effectiveness of therapy.
In the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, two types of drugs are used:
- basic preparations, the action of which is aimed at stopping the aggression of one's own immunity to the structures of the joints. Such groups of drugs as cytostatics, antibodies to TNF-alpha, selective immunosuppressants, glucocorticoid hormones are used;
- medicines to eliminate pain and inflammation: Celecoxib, Meloxicam, Nimesulide.
In the treatment of psoriatic inflammation of the joints, antipsoriatic drugs are used, locally, to reduce inflammation in the joint, hormonal drugs are injected both into the joint and into the systemic circulation.
To treat infectious arthritis, antibiotics, antiviral or fungicidal agents are prescribed, anti-inflammatory and hormonal drugs are also used.
In the treatment of all types of arthritis, ointments containing anti-inflammatory drugs are used to reduce the side effects of systemic drugs.
Such dosage forms can be used by patients suffering from peptic ulcer (who are contraindicated in using drugs such as Ibuprofen or Indomethacin), and people who have diseases of the cardiovascular system (they should not use Celecoxib and drugs in this group).
Before use, you need to consult a doctor.
Folk remedies
Traditional medicine advises the use of recipes that will be in addition to the main treatment.
They do not differ for different types of arthritis.
Here are the most common recipes:
- We heat the sea salt in the oven, wrap it in a cloth, put it on sore joints, put a layer of cotton wool on top, put on cotton gloves. We hold the compress for an hour, then we rub the joints with pure fir oil, which does not need to be dripped more than 5 drops on each hand.
- We cook oatmeal, let them cool down to a temperature of degrees. Then we impregnate the fabric with a decoction, put it on the affected area, on top - a film, then - cotton wool, put on cotton gloves. We hold such a compress for an hour.
- Mustard ointment: on a bottle of 70% medical alcohol we take 50 ml of camphor oil, here we add 50 g of dry mustard powder. We mix all the components, add separately beaten whites of 2 eggs, mix. We put this ointment on gauze, which we wrap around the sore spot, fix it and sleep at night with such a compress.
You can use compresses with blue clay, mumiyo.
Treatment at home
The following sequence of actions is suggested:
- in the morning, fresh burdock juice mashed with a rolling pin is applied to the fingers (back side);
- it is changed each time for a new leaf of burdock and worn until the evening;
- then they change the burdock for the cake of the golden mustache soaked in vodka (the leaf of the plant is ground in a meat grinder, poured with vodka 1: 1, infused for 2 days), which is slightly squeezed from alcohol, applied to sore joints for 4 hours;
- after that, the cake is changed to mustard ointment, the recipe of which is described above.
The course of such treatment is 2 weeks (we finish when the skin from the sore finger is almost gone.
After that, during the day we use a compress from those remnants of vodka in which the golden mustache was soaked, at night - mustard ointment.
So we continue to do until all the skin comes off the finger
Recipe number 2
We take 2 tbsp. knotweed, birch leaf and wild rose, pour a liter of boiling water, insist overnight.
In the morning, add 2 tsp there. salt, mix, soak gauze with a decoction, put on the joints, insulate with a scarf, hold until the heat disappears.
We finish the course of treatment when the pain disappears.
Gymnastics Qigong
- With the back of the wrist joint of one hand, clenched into a fist, we lightly knock on the back of the same joint of the other hand. Repeat - times.
- We knock the fists of one hand with the other. The areas of the thumb and forefinger touch. Repeat - the same.
- The fist of one hand strikes the fist of the other. Areas of bent four fingers touch. We repeat the same number of times.
- We knock our fists against each other so that the areas of the little fingers and the hypothenar touch.
- The splayed fingers of one hand slip between the splayed fingers of the other.
- The areas between the index and thumb of both hands are in contact with each other. The four remaining fingers are folded together.
- With the back of the fist of one hand, we knock on the palm of the other hand. We repeat the same with the other hand.
Other exercises
- We squeeze our fingers into a fist, make circular movements with them to the right and left.
- We bend and unbend the brushes.
- We squeeze our fingers into a fist - we spread them.
- We bend and unbend the first two phalanges of the fingers.
- Twist in a circle (left - right) with each finger.
Video: arthritis treatment
What doctor treats?
Treated by a rheumatologist.
In some cases, you may need to consult an allergist, dermatologist and immunologist for joint treatment.
Nutrition and diet
The way you eat depends on the cause of arthritis: what may be beneficial for one disease can be harmful to health in another.
With rheumatoid arthritis, the rules of nutrition are as follows:
- you need to limit the amount of salt;
- exclude sugar and products from it;
- animal fats are replaced by vegetable ones;
- limit fluid intake to the minimum necessary;
- eat often, in small portions;
- refuse any (except vegetable) broths;
- you can not eat dairy products, pickled vegetables, pickles, spicy snacks, canned food;
- you can: fruits, berries, vegetables, juices, rosehip broth.
- limit - fats, carbohydrates, flour;
- less meat, more fish;
- vegetables, fruits, berries - more;
- dairy products - only fat-free;
- try to eat more garlic, fish oil, honey.
To cure psoriasis, follow these rules:
- mushrooms;
- red berries;
- citrus fruits, except grapefruit;
- red meat and fish;
- legumes;
- nightshade vegetables: peppers, tomatoes, eggplant.
If arthritis is gouty, then you should completely eliminate such foods:
- any broths, except vegetable;
- game;
- sausage;
- legumes;
- smoked meats;
- salted and fried fish, caviar;
- sorrel;
- spicy foods;
- alcohol in any amount.
Patients with traumatic or dystrophic arthritis should heavily consume:
- fruit and berry jelly;
- meat broths in which meat was cooked with bone;
- aspic;
- dairy;
- lean meat and fish;
- porridge from buckwheat;
- bean and lentil soups.
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Prevention measures
- Do not carry colds "on your feet."
- Go in for sports.
- When working at a computer, periodically practice qigong exercises for the hands, or use certain mudras for the hands.
- Include foods rich in omega fatty acids in your diet.
- Do not lean on dishes from fatty meats or fish.
Thus, arthritis of the joints of the fingers is a disease that can have many causes.
Each of them requires its own approach both in the diet and in the set of drugs for treatment.
The main thing is to pay attention to the disease in time, as it tends to progress, and this can lead to a complete loss of the ability to serve oneself.
The most mobile part of the human body is the hands. Their unique anatomical design provides the widest range of motion, allowing people to perform the most delicate work. Nowadays, not only the elderly, but also quite young people complain that their fingers hurt. What to do in such a situation?
Before taking adequate measures, the cause of pain and possible limitation of mobility should be established. If unpleasant symptoms appear, it is strongly recommended not to postpone the visit to the doctor: consultation of a specialist arthrologist and rheumatologist is necessary.
Table of contents: Causes of pain in the fingers Diagnosis Treatment for pain in the joints of the fingers - Pharmacotherapy - Non-drug therapy in situations where the fingers hurt - Pain in the joints of the fingers and traditional medicineCauses of finger pain
Leading causes of pain in the joints of the fingers:
- arthritis (including rheumatoid and psoriatic);
- gout;
- polyosteoarthritis;
- rhizarthrosis;
- teosynovitis de Quervain;
- Raynaud's syndrome;
- carpal tunnel syndrome (tunnel syndrome).
Important:Raynaud's syndrome, as well as tunnel syndrome, is detected in about a third of patients who consult a doctor about pain and stiffness in the hands.
Arthritis is an inflammatory disease. The characteristic clinical manifestations of the pathology are local swelling and swelling, skin hyperemia in the projection of the affected joint, pain and limitation of movements. The nature of the course, the severity of symptoms and the dynamics of the process are determined by causative factors.
Arthritis of bacterial etiology is characterized by an increase in temperature and a pronounced febrile reaction. The rheumatoid variety (that is, a disease with an autoimmune component) usually affects other larger joints in addition to the fingers. In the absence of timely adequate therapy, deformity of the hands develops.
Arthrosis- This is a chronic pathology, which is characterized by steadily progressive deformation against the background of dystrophic and degenerative changes in tissues. Arthrosis affects more than half of the population of the age group of 50 years. Against the background of this pathology, the lesion is usually symmetrical. Among the most common complaints, in addition to pain, are numbness and morning stiffness in the hands (decrease in range of motion). Over time, the limb is deformed, the muscles become thinner and weaker, and the skin coarsens.
rheumatoid arthritis quite rarely affects young people (up to 30 years). The incidence rate among women is about 5 times higher than that among men. The "trigger" for the start of the pathological process is usually a serious illness, severe stress or hypothermia.
First of all, the metacarpophalangeal joints suffer; in parallel, the wrists also become inflamed. The process almost always symmetrically affects both limbs. Pain tends to increase significantly at night (especially in the morning), and in the daytime their intensity decreases. Local manifestations of the disease are accompanied by a feeling of general weakness, often - hyperthermia with chills and a gradual decrease in body weight.
Psoriatic arthritis causes pain in the fingers in 5% of cases. Joint damage develops after the characteristic skin manifestations of psoriasis. The disease is characterized by the so-called. "Axial" inflammation, in which all joints of individual fingers are affected.
Tenosynovitis de Quervain affects the ligaments and muscles of the thumb only. A characteristic symptom is pain syndrome, localized in the area of the base of the thumb at the wrist joint. Pain can occur both after exercise and spontaneously. It intensifies when you try to extend the joint towards the forearm.
Similar symptoms to rhizarthrosis. These diseases can be differentiated by x-ray examination (rhizarthrosis is characterized by a change in the bone tissue).
For Raynaud's syndrome and carpal tunnel syndrome is characterized by a combination of pain and numbness of the fingers.
Gout (gouty arthritis) is a metabolic disease in which urate crystals are deposited in the joints. In the early stages of development, small joints (fingers and feet) are affected, and as they develop, larger ones. For gout, especially during the period of exacerbation, such clinical manifestations as intense pain and severe burning in the affected area, skin hyperemia and swelling in the projection of the diseased joint, as well as a feverish reaction are characteristic.
Polyosteoarthrosis fingers is extremely rarely diagnosed in patients under 40 years of age. The fair sex suffers from it much more often. A typical manifestation of pathology is the formation of nodules on the back and side surfaces of the joints between the middle and nail phalanx. As a rule, they occur symmetrically on both hands. In every third case, the degradation of cartilage with the appearance of nodules is asymptomatic, but more often the process is accompanied by pain and burning.
Diagnostics
Only an experienced specialist can determine exactly why the fingers hurt. If treatment is not started in a timely manner, there may be a loss of the possibility of active movements and disability.
The diagnosis is made on the basis of the anamnesis and the results of additional studies. When collecting an anamnesis, the doctor needs to find out not only the nature of the complaints and the time of onset of the first symptoms, but also the possible presence of joint diseases in the patient's close relatives. In the development of some pathologies of the joints, hereditary (family) predisposition plays an important role.
Investigations required for complaints of pain in the fingers:
- radiography;
- blood test (general and "for biochemistry");
- Analysis of urine.
Important:to establish the etiology of the disease, i.e., the causes that caused it, the presence / absence of a specific rheumatoid factor, antibodies to streptococci and the level of nitrogenous compounds - purines are detected in the laboratory.
Treatment for pain in the joints of the fingers
Therapeutic tactics is determined by the type of disease, the severity of symptoms, the dynamics of the pathological process and the characteristics of the clinical course.
Pharmacotherapy
When prescribing drugs, the patient's likely hypersensitivity to their active ingredients is taken into account.
Comprehensive treatment of joints involves the appointment of pharmacological drugs from the group of chondroprotectors to the patient. Their active substances stop the degeneration of cartilage tissue and stimulate its restoration.
One of the most effective products in this category is Collagen Ultra, which contains extracts of medicinal herbs, vitamins, minerals and hydrolyzate of natural collagen - the most important component of connective tissue. The drug is available in the form of a powder for dilution (a dietary supplement!), as well as in the form of a gel and ointment for topical external use.
Note:a number of experts question the effectiveness of gels and ointments, since only a small amount of active substances penetrates through the skin and underlying tissues directly to the cartilage.
For symptomatic therapy, drugs from the group of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are prescribed:
- Diclofenac;
- Paracetamol;
- Acetylsalicylic acid;
- Ketorol;
- Ketonal;
- Indomethacin.
These remedies can not only reduce inflammation, but also stop the pain syndrome or reduce its intensity.
Note:taking NSAIDs (especially long-term and uncontrolled) often causes the development or exacerbation of gastritis and gastric ulcer. Dyspeptic disorders are not excluded - nausea and diarrhea.
Ointments and gels with anestezin, novocaine and other anesthetics are prescribed as painkillers. Cooling gels based on menthol also contribute to temporary relief of the condition.
Note:you can not actively knead your fingers with intense pain. It is important to remember that in cases where the destruction of the cartilage tissue of the joint has already begun, physical activity can only damage.
If rheumatoid arthritis is diagnosed, then the patient is usually prescribed glucocorticosteroids. The intake of these hormonal drugs must be combined with the use of local remedies - ointments containing an anesthetic. After the relief of acute symptoms, the patient is also prescribed cytostatics, immunosuppressants and monoclonal bodies to normalize the functional activity of the immune system.
Non-drug therapy in situations where fingers hurt
In addition to medicines, patients are shown local massage and specially designed gymnastic exercises. They are necessary to stimulate local blood circulation (as a result, improve tissue trophism and oxygen saturation), as well as to optimize mobility.
Physiotherapeutic procedures can achieve a good therapeutic effect. Depending on the nature of the disease, the patient may be shown paraffin therapy, ultrasound treatment or balneotherapy (mud therapy). Electrophoresis with anesthetic solutions helps to reduce pain in the fingers.
Of great importance is the normalization of the regime - the correct alternation of rest and strictly dosed physical activity. It is important for patients to follow the prescribed diet, which usually involves reducing the intake of fatty, fried and salty foods. Particular attention should be paid to diet if gouty arthritis is diagnosed. It is necessary to stop drinking alcohol and smoking.
Pain in the joints of the fingers and traditional medicine
An excellent remedy for pain in the fingers is a tincture of hot pepper. Pods need to be filled with vodka or medical alcohol and let the liquid brew in a dark place for several hours. Cotton or gauze swabs, abundantly moistened with the resulting alcohol extract, should be applied to the projection of the diseased joint for 15-20 minutes daily, 2-3 times a day. Usually the pain decreases or disappears after a month of course treatment. Then this folk remedy can be used for exacerbations to stop new attacks.
In the morning on an empty stomach, it is advisable to take a mixture of 1 tbsp. olive or refined sunflower oil and a few drops of freshly squeezed garlic juice.
Garlic juice can also be taken with milk or compresses. Before applying, the skin must be lubricated with cream.
In the spring (in May), you can prepare a tincture of lilac inflorescences. They need to insist on vodka for 1-2 weeks in a dark place, shaking the container daily. The liquid should be rubbed into sore spots during an attack.
One of the most effective folk remedies for the treatment of arthralgia is grated potatoes. Fresh peeled tubers are left in the sun until they acquire a greenish tint. Then they are crushed, poured with hot water and a compress is made for the night.
You can independently prepare an ointment that relieves pain in the fingers. To do this, take pre-crushed juniper needles and bay leaves and mix with butter. With this homemade ointment, hands should be massaged every day, preferably in the evening. Similarly, you can use a mixture of St. John's wort leaves and petroleum jelly.
Well help from pain baths with a decoction of birch buds. To enhance the therapeutic effect, it is advisable to add pine needles and sea salt to the decoction.
For rubbing diseased joints, traditional healers advise using an alcohol tincture of dandelion flowers.
Inside, it is advisable to take a decoction of viburnum branches (100 ml per day) or vodka tincture on the shells and partitions of walnuts (1 tablespoon before meals).
Plisov Vladimir, medical commentator
- 1. Rheumatoid arthritis is a disease of the fingers, which is considered to be systemic. The pain in this case is associated with a chronic autoimmune (non-infectious) inflammatory lesion of the small joints of the hands and feet;
- 2. Osteoarthritis or polyosteoarthritis is a pathological process that occurs in the fingers and does not have an inflammatory basis. This pathology is characterized by a change in the configuration of the joints of the fingers and a violation of their mobility, as well as aching pain;
- 3. Stenosing ligamentitis is an inflammatory disease that affects the annular ligaments of the joints of the fingers.
- 4. Gout is a pathology caused by the accumulation of crystals of uric acid salts in the cavities of the joints of the hands. Meat lovers are most susceptible to this disease;
- 5. Psoriatic arthritis - the consequences of psoriasis, a severe polyetiological disease, including those affecting the joints of the hands;
- 6. Infectious arthritis - inflammation of the joints of the fingers (mainly affected by the pathological process of the articular bag) of a bacterial or viral nature.
- Immunity problems;
- Infectious diseases that tend to become chronic;
- Hormonal disorders;
- Violations of metabolic processes;
- Individual predisposition;
- Hand injuries, especially those that were applied at regular intervals (for example, sports injuries);
- Factors of production acting over a long period of time.
- Pain in the fingers when trying to move, in some cases, jamming in the phalangeal joints;
- The occurrence of characteristic clicks due to the fact that the ligaments lose their elasticity.
- 1. First of all, it is necessary to consult a therapist, a cardiologist, a neuropathologist and a rheumatologist. An integrated approach in this case will allow you to objectively assess the patient's condition and understand why the fingers hurt;
- 2. X-ray of the joints of the hand. Some of the diseases listed above have their own specific radiological signs - regardless of whether the finger of the right hand or the left is affected;
- 3. General clinical blood and urine tests, as well as a biochemical blood test with the definition of a rheumatic complex, a renal-hepatic complex and electrolytes.
- In the event that the main pathogenetic link of the disease, due to which the finger hurts, is inflammatory in nature, then the main therapeutic approaches will be to prescribe antibiotics, glucocorticosteroids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs;
- Provided that the leading role in the development of a certain nosology, manifested by pain in the area of the fingers, belongs to dystrophic processes, then in this case, chondroprotectors and physiotherapeutic methods (massage, manual therapy) will be the primary drugs of choice;
- Be that as it may, the use of potent painkillers is necessary (the best is the simultaneous use of several dosage forms - parenteral, enteral and ointment, for example). It is clear that it will not be possible to cure the disease and forget about this problem forever due to the fact that the etiological factor leading to pain in the fingers will not be eliminated, but this way the patient's condition can be alleviated.
okeydoc.ru
What causes pain in the hands?
Regarding the pathologies of the fingers, which are characterized by the symptom in question, again, they can be very different in origin, but pain is always associated with damage to the joints of the hands or periarticular tissues.
It should be noted that the soreness of the fingers is only the initial symptom, after which, as a rule, comes the restriction of mobility and deformation of the small joints of the hands. That is, as a result of the fact that a person did not pay attention to the recurring pain in the fingers in time, chronic disability may occur with subsequent disability. So the above symptoms must be taken seriously, making an allowance for the fact that these pains can be manifestations of such dangerous diseases as:
Etiology and risk factors - fundamental differences
It should be clearly distinguished: the etiology is the immediate cause that leads to the development of the disease of the fingers and in the absence of which it will not even arise in any case. A trigger factor (risk factor, in other words) is a condition that contributes to the development of hand joint disease and its symptoms. So, the predisposing factors (that is, conditions that increase the likelihood of developing the disease) of all pathologies that are manifested by pain in the fingers, stiffness and deformity of the joints of the hands are:
Again, it is necessary to pay attention to the fact that the trigger factor itself is not the direct cause of the development of hand joint disease - it increases the likelihood of its occurrence. Which is also very bad.
Therefore, it is necessary to dwell on each of these groups of diseases in more detail in order to understand where the pain came from and how to eliminate this pain. Let us dwell in more detail on each group of diseases of the joints of the hands.
Groups of diseases of the joints of the hands
One of the most common causes of sore fingers. Another unpleasant moment in this case is the absence of the incidence of the disease among representatives of different age groups - the pathology affects the elderly, the working population and children (then they talk about juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, abbreviated as JRA).
A characteristic feature of this pathology is the defeat of different groups of small joints of the hands, which are located symmetrically. Accompanying this process is a sharp pain and swelling of the soft tissues in the area of the joints of the hands, as well as hyperemia (redness). On palpation (palpation) of the hands, small rheumatic nodules can be detected - a pathognomonic (characteristic only for him, meaning) symptom of this disease. In the event that adequate therapy is not prescribed, pain in the fingers will turn into anatomical deformity of the joints of the hands (typical signs are “hands with a lorgnette”, “boutonnieres” or “swan neck”).
Osteoarthritis and polyosteoarthritis
The fingers of the hands of women of Balzac age and older hurt just because of these pathologies. The above feature is due to the nature of the estrogen background, however, a number of risk factors should also be noted - individual predisposition, metabolic problems, occupational hazards that affect the fingers.
This disease has several characteristic features only for it. For example, in the absence of adequate treatment, anatomical deformation of the hand joints occurs, similar to rheumatoid arthritis (thickening of the hand joints also occurs, they become spindle-shaped and as a result, the joint loses its functional significance). However, damage to other organs that are not related to the musculoskeletal system does not occur. It is this moment that can be decisive in the differential diagnosis of diseases in which the arm hurts. In this case, it is of fundamental importance for determining the tactics of managing the patient.
There are clinical cases in which this process affected the joints of the thumb in isolation. Accordingly, pain occurred only in this anatomical region. Pathology was even given a characteristic name - rhizarthrosis.
In this case, pain in the fingers had to be differentiated from gout and psoriatic arthritis. The pathological processes that accompany these diseases were also predominantly localized in the indicated anatomical region. By the way, it is possible to differentiate only after a biochemical blood test with the determination of the level of salts (urates and oxalates), the renal-hepatic complex, the rheumatic complex (determination of the level of antistreptolysin-O) and electrolytes.
Gout
Pathology is caused by a violation of the metabolism of purines - intermediate products of protein metabolism. The mechanism of its implementation is the accumulation of uric acid salts (urates) inside the joints of the hands. It should be noted that during the manifestation of gout, the joints of the feet are primarily affected, and only then there is dysfunction of the small joints of the hands and pain in them (the metacarpophalangeal joints suffer most of all).
The nature of painful sensations in this case, as a rule, is pronounced (meaning intensity), burning; attacks of different duration are noted. Movement during an attack is difficult. The main risk group is middle-aged and older men.
This rather rare disease occurs due to an inflammatory process occurring in the region of the periarticular tissues - the annular ligament of the finger (ligamentum - in Latin it means a ligament, the prefix - it means an inflammatory process, pain). For the implementation of differential diagnosis with arthritis or arthrosis, an x-ray of the affected joint is used.
Typical clinic of ligamentitis:
Psoriasis
Polyetiological disease, which is characterized by a systemic lesion of the body. It is wrong to believe that only the skin is affected during the manifestation of this pathology. For example, arthritis of the fingers (as one of the forms of this disease) is widespread among patients with psoriasis. In the vast majority of cases, the distal phalanges of the fingers and toes are affected. There are cases when dactylitis occurs - a generalized inflammation of the tissues of the finger.
Characteristic manifestations - severe pain, which increases many times with flexion, is combined with edema and hyperemia. Diagnosis in most cases is not difficult due to the fact that specific rashes occur on the skin. Fingers of both hands are affected.
Septic and infectious arthritis
Often, infectious agents (bacteria, viruses, microscopic fungi) directly affect the joints of the fingers, which leads not only to the fact that pain occurs even at rest, but also to an increase in body temperature, severe intoxication.
Tenosynovitis de Quervain
Tenosynovitis de Quervain is a fairly rare disease, the frequency of its occurrence does not exceed 5% of all cases of pain in the fingers. It consists in the defeat of the ligaments and "small" muscles in the tenor area. Accordingly, because of this, the thumbs of the hand hurt. Other fingers in this case are not affected.
No risk groups have been identified to date. The first symptoms manifest when pressing the thumb on a hard object. In this case, the thumbs of the hand hurt equally intensely on both hands.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome - Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Pathology of a neurological nature, in which the fingers of both hands hurt. The mechanism of its development is that the median nerve is compressed in the carpal tunnel. This occurs due to the fact that there are excessive loads on the ligaments and joints of the hands. It is an occupational disease in people whose profession involves frequent flexion and extension of the fingers (this includes programmers, copywriters, musicians and artists).
Typical symptoms are pain in the thumb, forefinger, decreased accuracy of fine motor skills, decreased muscles in the tenor area.
This disease must be taken seriously for the reason that timely diagnosis and adequately prescribed treatment help to avoid disability. Fingers hurt, after all, not just like that, but for some specific reason.
Why is it so important to determine which disease caused the pain in the fingers?
The thing is that the correct determination of the cause of pain in the area of the fingers allows you to most correctly determine the tactics of managing the patient and prescribe the appropriate treatment. Of course, in this case, this will not be as fundamental as, for example, in the differential diagnosis of retrosternal pain (due to the fact that the same drugs are used in all of the above cases), however, it is still necessary to know which pathology caused pain in the fingers.
Examinations and consultations to be taken by a patient who complains of the syndrome in question
How is finger pain treated?
For a better understanding of the question of how pain in the fingers is eliminated, it is necessary to identify the following principles for eliminating the pain syndrome and treating the underlying disease:
Specific appointments, dosages and schedule of admission are established by the attending physician, based on the assessment of the objective condition of the patient and the analysis data.
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Finger joints hurt - causes
All diseases of the fingers have quite pronounced specific symptoms, so it is usually not difficult to make a diagnosis. Most often, familiar ailments that affect larger joints also annoy.
Although the disease can occur at any age, and in children too, beautiful ladies after thirty are most susceptible to it. Stress, insidious flu, an infectious disease or a common cold are complicated by inflammation of the metacarpophalangeal joints, which treacherously swell and palpably hurt. They are located at the base of the middle and index fingers, in the region of the bones protruding from the clenched fist. A feature of the manifestation of the disease is the strict symmetry of the lesion - if the fingers of the right hand hurt, the same ones on the left side do not lag behind. As the disease develops, other joints are also involved in the process - wrist, elbow and some others. Particularly merciless pain appears after midnight and does not allow to fall asleep until morning. During the day, she becomes more tolerant. Painful manifestations are accompanied by concomitant symptoms - morning stiffness of the joints, chilliness and some numbness of the fingers, general weakness and fever.
2. Gout
Elevated levels of uric acid in the blood is the main cause of gout. Usually, its first manifestation is pain in the big toe, however, with an atypical course of the disease and with its rapid spread, the first metatarsophalangeal joint becomes inflamed, and the thumb on the hand begins to bother. Bad habits and the use of fatty and salty foods are often to blame for the development of gout, for this reason men are more susceptible to the disease.
With the development of the disease, uric acid crystals - urates - are carried with the blood throughout the body, being deposited in organs and tissues. Cartilage tissue suffers the most from them, through which urates penetrate deeper - to the joint and bone. The inflammatory process is activated when the bone tissue is destroyed. The acute form is characterized by impaired motor function, swelling, discoloration of the skin to dark purple, and besides, the thumb on the hand is unbearably sore. The affected joint is warm and painful, sometimes with a change in the position of the finger, a characteristic crunch appears. The progression of the disease gradually deforms the joint and limits its mobility. Specific seals - tophi - are formed over the affected joints and are an unconditional confirmation of the diagnosis.
3. Psoriatic arthritis
Approximately 15% of people with psoriasis have significant problems with the joints of the fingers. Acute "axial" inflammation, affecting all joints in one or more fingers, stains the skin in a blue-red color and causes severe swelling. The affected finger becomes like a sausage, and the nail becomes cloudy and becomes like the surface of a thimble with dotted depressions. The fingers practically do not straighten, and the symptoms of inflammation are not symmetrical - if the fingers of the right hand, for example, the index and middle ones, hurt, then the little finger or ring finger will be affected on the left hand. Another option is also possible, when the fingers of the right hand hurt, and on the left - not the slightest sign of illness.
4. Osteoarthritis
The disease affects more often the elderly. The reason is hormonal changes, occupational stress, heredity, age-related metabolic disorders, and various injuries. The gradual destruction of cartilage tissue initially causes pain only after physical exertion, as the disease progresses, the fingers hurt even at rest. At the beginning of the disease, the nail joints are affected with the appearance of Heberden's nodules on the back surface or on the side. They are most often located symmetrically on two hands, so the index fingers of the hands hurt, or, for example, both little fingers. If the thumb on the right hand hurts, then the corresponding finger on the left side is necessarily affected. During the formation of nodules, the pain can be burning and quite noticeable or insignificant, only in some patients the process proceeds painlessly. Swelling and redness of the joints is also not expressed in everyone. Sometimes the thumb on the hand is involved and noticeably hurts - a special form of osteoarthritis called rhizarthrosis is to blame.
5. Rhizarthrosis
If your thumb hurts, rhizarthrosis is the most likely cause. Its appearance is associated with a significant overload of the joint, infection, intoxication and trauma. Already on examination, the diagnosis is beyond doubt: a specific point of pain, increased pain during a characteristic load - turning a key, opening lids, rotating door handles. At the initial stage of the disease, the thumb on the hand hurts only after exertion, as the disease develops, the pain occurs at rest. Gradually, the joint is deformed, active actions become impossible.
Other factors that cause pain in the joints of the hands include septic infections, syphilis and tuberculosis, diabetes, injuries, constant vibration, hypothermia.
The joints of the fingers hurt - diagnosis
In some cases, a visit to the doctor is necessary. You should not postpone your visit if:
- the joints of the fingers hurt after an injury, there is swelling and deformity of the joint;
- the index fingers or other joints hurt, and the pain cannot be relieved with the help of conventional painkillers;
- the fingers of the right hand hurt and there are additional symptoms - fever, a rash, and so on;
- the joints of the fingers hurt for more than a week.
When visiting a doctor, they are appointed:
- general and biochemical blood tests, urine tests;
- radiography of the hands;
- additional examination depending on the accompanying symptoms.
Based on the results of the examination, visual examination and analysis of manifestations, a diagnosis is established.
Sore fingers - treatment
Anti-inflammatory therapy can only be complex. It includes the elimination of pain, reduction of inflammation, improvement of blood flow, return of motor function. Medical treatment is mandatory, painkillers and various anti-inflammatory drugs are used. If there is exudate, it is removed and hormones are injected. In infectious arthritis, antibiotics are used. Almost all of the above diseases are accompanied by the destruction of articular cartilage.
The main reason for the development of degenerative and inflammatory diseases of the musculoskeletal system is a decrease in the level of glucosamine and chondroitin, natural components of the cartilage of the joint. Therefore, along with drugs that relieve pain, agents that restore the cartilage tissue of the joints are used. The optimal dose of such components for absorption is included in the "Glucosamine Maximum" complex from Natur Product, which helps to restore and protect cartilage tissue from destruction. The tool is widely used in modern medicine for the treatment and prevention of various diseases of the joints.
Of great importance in the treatment, if the joints of the fingers hurt, is physiotherapy. Laser treatment, electrophoresis, resonant microwave therapy, amplipulse therapy, magnetotherapy - all procedures of local or general action are very effective and contribute to a successful result. After the removal of acute inflammation, the use of therapeutic exercises, manual therapy, massage, mud therapy is indicated. If the joints of the fingers hurt, you can use the recipes of traditional medicine, but only in agreement with the doctor and not in return for the course of treatment prescribed by him.
Fingers hurt - treatment with folk remedies
Many traditional medicine recipes do an excellent job with pain in the joints of the fingers and serve as an excellent addition to drug treatment:
- dip a few pods of red hot pepper into a mixture of vodka with tincture of valerian and keep in a dark place for three hours. Soak a cloth or cotton swab in the solution and apply to painful joints. Even the strongest manifestations are removed within a month;
- Mix boiled oatmeal with kefir and apply to the affected area at night. Instead of flakes, you can add chalk powder to the fermented milk product;
- inflorescences of chestnut or lilac insist two or three weeks on vodka. Tincture is rubbed on sore fingers and kept warm. The pain subsides after half an hour;
- pour green potatoes with boiling water, chop and make compresses. A feeling of pleasant warmth indicates the correctness of the procedure. The pain disappears without a trace after a few hours;
- Mix juniper needles and chopped lavrushka leaves with butter. An excellent effect is given by daily massage of the fingers with the help of the resulting ointment;
- start a new day with a tablespoon of olive oil with a few drops of garlic juice;
- will help cure sore joints and improve the general condition of the daily intake of birch sap;
- alleviate the condition of sick fingers with hand baths with essential oils - eucalyptus, sandalwood and others;
- a decoction of viburnum sprigs should be taken half a glass a day, divided into several doses;
- insist on vodka walnut shells, take 1 tbsp. spoon before eating;
- mix equal amounts of alcohol, olive oil, turpentine and camphor. Apply to disturbing places and put on woolen gloves. Shake well before use.
Joints of the fingers hurt - prevention
If, after reading this article, you decide to avoid the unpleasant manifestations and consequences of diseases of the joints of the fingers at all costs, take care of your hands, keep them warm. But when the first symptoms occur, heat is contraindicated, it will only exacerbate the inflammatory process. Try to exclude alcohol and cigarettes from your life, and instead of fatty spicy foods, include more vegetables and fruits in your menu. Do not "walk" colds and infectious diseases on your feet, remember about possible complications. Control your weight and start exercising. Replace coffee and black tea with herbal decoctions, green tea - it's no less tasty, you just need to get used to it. Any water procedures, especially swimming, are extremely beneficial for the joints. And finally, the sticky and unpleasant habit of “clicking” your fingers is fraught with joint injuries, loss of their mobility and increases the risk of arthritis.
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Diseases of the joints of the hands
This disease is systemic, affects the connective tissue and develops in older people. They are more commonly affected by men. There is an opinion about a possible genetic predisposition to rheumatoid arthritis. Hypothermia, bruises, emotional stress, infectious diseases contribute to its appearance. In the absence of treatment of acute respiratory infections, influenza and tonsillitis, rheumatoid arthritis may develop as a complication. The disease affects the small joints of the hands, as well as the shins, knees and ankles.
It is dangerous because it is usually diagnosed in the later stages, when the connective tissue is severely damaged. Antibodies gradually accumulate in the body and suddenly begin their activity. The patient at the same time leads a habitual way of life and at first does not notice any changes in well-being. Under the influence of antibodies, the joints deform, they can no longer perform their functions and increase in size. This process is accompanied by pain. As a rule, if a joint is damaged on one side, then on the other too. Thus, the inflammation proceeds symmetrically. The joints in rheumatoid arthritis are fixed in one position, on the hands the fingers are shifted to the little finger. It becomes impossible to completely bend or unbend them. Patients may find firm nodules located under the skin of the hands.
After a long sleep or rest, patients need time to overcome the stiffness in order for the joints to start working again. The movements are very painful. Rheumatoid arthritis in some cases is accompanied by vasculitis, that is, inflammation of the walls of blood vessels. High body temperature is another symptom of the disease. Arthritis causes inflammation of the lining of the heart or lungs. This leads to chest pain and breathing difficulties. Women with rheumatoid arthritis often suffer from Sjögren's syndrome. It is less common in men. Sjögren's syndrome in medicine refers to inflammation of the mucous membranes. This causes dry eyes and mouth. The vagina, vulva, and trachea may also be affected.
In the course of changes in the joints, scar tissue is formed. The speed of this process depends on the individual characteristics of the organism. Rheumatoid arthritis in symptoms resembles a number of other diseases, so the diagnosis cannot always be made correctly. To clarify it, a biopsy is performed, when particles of nodules located under the skin are taken for analysis with a thin needle. In most cases, diagnosis is based on radiography and examination of the joint fluid. The results of biochemical analysis in most patients show an increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate, low leukocyte count, anemia. In many cases, rheumatoid factor occurs, which means the presence of antibodies in the blood. However, this symptom is characteristic not only for rheumatoid arthritis, but also for some liver diseases, for example, and can be found even in healthy people. The level of rheumatoid arthritis shows the degree of inflammation and increases during periods of exacerbation. The higher it is, the more damage to the joints.
On the subject: All information about rheumatoid arthritis!
This is one of the forms of rheumatoid arthritis, characteristic of children. It is named after the scientist who discovered and first described it. With Still's disease, there is an increase in body temperature. It reaches its highest value several times a day, most often in the evening. The rash appears and disappears unnoticed by the patient. To determine its presence, doctors use warm wipes or intense pressure on the skin. The rash is less common on the face than on the body. It is represented by red or pink spots. The rash on the body can be itchy.
Still's disease primarily affects the interphalangeal joints in the hands. This phenomenon is not typical for other similar diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis. In some patients, Still's disease causes inflammation of the lymph nodes and is accompanied by a burning sensation and sore throat. As with rheumatoid arthritis, pleurisy and pericarditis may develop.
Long-term follow-up is required to diagnose Still's disease. A biochemical blood test does not show the presence of a rheumatoid factor, but there is an increased content of protein, leukocytes, and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate increases. X-ray allows you to determine changes in the tissues of the joints, a puncture is also performed, during which the joint fluid is examined. To exclude the possibility of malignant tumors, a biopsy of the lymph nodes is performed.
In the acute period, Still's disease is treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Recovery with proper therapy occurs within a few months. Drugs such as prednisolone, dexamethasone, and less often methotrexate are used.
Osteoarthritis
This chronic disease involves a change in cartilage tissue, as a result of which the joints are deformed and become immobile. They mainly affect the elderly. Osteoarthritis they have pronounced symptoms. Young people who experience such a disease usually do not experience such severe discomfort.
The joints of the fingers are the first to be affected by osteoarthritis. After it spreads to the cross and cervical spine, knees. You can determine the presence of the disease by the characteristic crunch in the joints, which is heard when making movements. At first, immobility of the joint is observed in a person after sleep or a long rest. And it goes away within an hour. In the later stages of the development of osteoarthritis, the joints are finally fixed in a bent position. Heberden's nodes form at the fingertips. During physical activity, pain in the joints is felt. At a young age, the main symptoms are crackling and snapping of the fingers.
Osteoarthritis is primary, arising from unknown causes, and secondary, appearing as a result of other diseases. Its development is facilitated by joint injuries, their deformation and overload. To identify osteoarthritis allow pain in the joints. An accurate diagnosis is made on the basis of X-ray examination and magnetic resonance imaging. X-ray is informative in the later stages of the development of the disease. During it, it is determined how much the bone is destroyed and the cartilage tissue is damaged. Aspiration of the joint, that is, the study of joint fluid, is rarely used.
Exercise can help relieve pain and inflammation. The specific type of load should be prescribed by a doctor. The state of rest should be alternated with physical activity. Too soft mattresses, chairs should be replaced with more rigid ones. If you have excess weight, you need to get rid of it. It puts extra stress on the joints. Reducing weight will increase mobility and prevent deformation.
Treatment for osteoarthritis of the fingers includes physical therapy and thermal treatments. It is recommended to make paraffin baths with the addition of mineral oil. Aspirin and ibuprofen help relieve pain and reduce swelling. Other anti-inflammatory agents may also be used. Paracetamol is used as an analgesic.
Anesthesia is carried out not only with medication, but also with the help of warm and cold compresses, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation using a special device. Massage sessions warm up the muscles, improve blood circulation, which has a positive effect on the joints.
On the subject: All information about osteoarthritis!
It is often called trigger finger disease, when it is fixed in a bent position and is difficult to return. This happens due to inflammation of the tendon, when it increases in size and knots form on it. Because of this, when the finger is bent, the tendon does not enter the vagina, so some force is required. Under normal circumstances, this is not required.
High sensitivity of the finger, numbness, pain during its flexion and extension, swelling of the joint, the appearance of a bump - all these are symptoms of stenosing ligamentitis. They appear more strongly after a long immobility of the fingers. The cause of the development of the disease is rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes mellitus and excessive stress on the joints. To get rid of pain and to cope with stenosing ligamentitis allow injections into the tendon sheath, taking anti-inflammatory drugs.
Gout
It manifests itself in the form of acute attacks of arthritis, accompanied by severe pain. Gout often causes kidney stones. The blood contains uric acid. If the kidneys stop functioning normally, it accumulates in the body. The amount of uric acid can also increase due to a number of diseases, for example, cancer. Its excess leads to deposits in the joints of its crystals - urates. This is how gout develops.
Attacks provoke operations and injuries, alcohol abuse, excessive amounts of protein in the diet, stress. With gout, pain occurs in the wrist and is most strongly felt at night. The skin in this place turns red, a swelling appears. The patient experiences general weakness, heart rate increases, temperature rises, chills are possible. An attack of gout lasts for several days. Over time, its duration increases, the pain intensifies. If treatment is not started on time, attacks will occur more often, become more severe and involve more joints. In the chronic form of gout, their deformation occurs, urate crystals accumulate under the skin in large quantities, and can be released to the outside.
The disease is diagnosed based on the results of a biochemical blood test. But in some cases, uric acid levels may be normal even during an acute attack. The main task in the treatment of gout is to reduce pain, for which indomethacin, colchicine is used. After a few hours, the discomfort in the joints weakens, and a few days after the start of taking the drugs they disappear completely. Corticosteroids and analgesics help reduce inflammation. Tophi, which are deposits of urate, gradually decrease in size. Sometimes you have to resort to surgery to remove them. The reason for going to the doctor in the case of gout is severe pain in the joints, redness of the skin in this place, swelling. All this can be accompanied by chills, tachycardia and general malaise. The pain in the joints is most severe at night.
It is not uncommon for older people to have crooked fingers. The cause of such a deformation is far from old age, but arthritis of the hands. A similar pathological process occurs due to inflammatory reactions in the articular tissues. Such a pathological process needs early diagnosis and treatment, since delay is fraught with complete immobility of the hands.
Among all arthritis, inflammation of the joints of the hand accounts for about 15% of clinical cases.
Causes of Arthritis
Various factors can provoke arthritis of the hands, the most common of them are:
- trauma factor. This includes minor bruises, operations performed on the hands or independent injuries;
- Hypothermia. When the hands are very cold, then vascular narrowing occurs, leading to a slowdown in blood circulation, which serves as an impetus for the development of an inflammatory reaction in the articular membranes;
- infection factor. Anyone who has recently had a cold, sore throat, flu, diabetes, syphilis or chlamydia, gonorrhea or tuberculosis can earn inflammation of the joints. Pathogens such as staphylococci or streptococci almost instantly affect the cartilage, causing an inflammatory reaction;
- genetic factor. It has been proven that arthritis can be hereditary. If relatives were ill with a similar ailment, then descendants are recommended to take up its prevention;
- Hyperreactivity or weakness of the immune system also contributes to the development of inflammatory processes in the articular tissues;
- professional factor. Overload or heavy physical labor provokes overstrain of the joints, leading to arthritis;
- Metabolic disorders and immune failures due to excess weight contribute to the development of pathological changes in the articular tissues, leading to arthritis;
- Harmful addictions like smoking or alcoholism, gluttony and others contribute to the slow destruction of all body systems, including joints.
Signs and symptoms of pathology
The pathological inflammatory process in the joints is characterized by chronic and acute course. Acute arthritis of the hands is characterized by a sudden onset with vivid and intense symptoms, while its chronic form proceeds secretly and develops gradually, often showing up in relatively advanced stages. Both forms are characterized by the following symptomatic manifestations:
- Feeling that the wrist is stiff or stiff. Such a symptom is most characteristic of inflammations of rheumatoid origin, when the disease is based on autoimmune processes and the body independently destroys its articular cartilage tissues;
- Articular stiffness in the morning. The patient's fingers do not lend themselves to final flexion-extension, and weather changes cause a feeling of eversion of the joints;
- Pain syndrome is present in all forms of the inflammatory process. Chronic arthritis may be accompanied by dull, dull pain that occurs mainly after a period of rest. Acute arthritis is characterized by a particular intensity of pain symptoms, when even a slight movement causes pain, accompanied by local and even general hyperthermia;
- A state of fever with malaise and fever;
- Hyperemia of the hand and its noticeable swelling, indicating an active inflammatory process, and the fingers in the area of \u200b\u200bthe bends noticeably thicken;
- Cartilaginous tissues under the influence of pathological processes wear out a lot, which causes the joint to crunch and creak with any physical activity;
- The patient may be disturbed by sleep disturbance, lack of appetite, signs of chronic fatigue;
- When the inflammatory reaction is neglected, rust syndrome develops, which is characterized by deformation changes in the articular tissues of the hand.
Complex of therapeutic measures
Early forms of arthritis are easily amenable to medical correction and elimination. For the treatment of infectious inflammatory processes, a course of antibiotic therapy is indicated, as well as taking corticosteroid drugs such as Methylprednisolone, Dexamethasone or Prednisolone. The pain syndrome is stopped by means of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as Ketoprofen, Ibuprofen or Diclofenac, Movalis, Piroxicam or Indomethacin.
To relieve pain and inflammation, analgesics are also prescribed, and to inhibit the destructive-deformation process, chondroprotective agents based on chondroitin or glucosamine sulfates, etc. are indicated. Infectious causes of the pathological process are eliminated with the help of drugs of the sulfanilamide, cytostatic or penicillamide group.
Surgical treatment is radical in nature, therefore, it is resorted to only in cases where there are no other therapeutic options. Destroyed articular elements of the hand are replaced with prostheses, or the bones are simply fixed motionless (arthrodesis) to eliminate pain symptoms.
The treatment complex must also include physiotherapy, which helps to relieve pain and inflammation, eliminate stiffness and maintain joint functionality. Among the most popular procedures, it is worth highlighting the most effective ones:
- Infrared, laser or UV heating;
- electrophoresis;
- Cryotherapy;
- Phonophoresis;
- Ultrasound treatment;
- Magnetotherapy;
- mud therapy;
- Treatment with mineral waters, etc.
No less effective after removing the exacerbation massage sessions and exercise therapy. Joints under the influence of inflammatory processes lose their endurance and motor activity. Gymnastic elements, performed correctly and regularly, restore the ability to move the hands, and massage helps to warm up the tissues and improve blood flow, which speeds up the healing process.
Nutrition Features
One of the necessary requirements for the lifestyle of a patient with arthritis of the hands is the correction of the diet. The basis of nutrition should be predominantly foods rich in antioxidant compounds, vitamins like cholecalciferol (D₃) or tocopherol (E). Therefore, the diet should be based on fish, liver, bran, nuts and vegetables, dairy products. But rheumatologists recommend to refuse the use of salt, fried and smoked foods.
Attention! Timely access to a specialist and qualified therapy will help to avoid serious articular deformity, immobility and disability. In the initial stages, arthritis of the hands can still be cured irrevocably.
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