Joint pain in the hand not only interferes with normal life, reduces physical activity, leads to a decrease in performance, but also worsens the emotional state due to constantly arising painful discomfort.
Therefore, when a person has pain in the joints of the fingers, the first thing he is interested in is the causes of this phenomenon and possible treatment.
Causes of pain
Arm pain can be caused by a variety of diseases, many of which have fairly similar symptoms.Most diseases are chronic, and the prerequisites for their development often go unnoticed.Let's find out why the joints in the fingers of one or both hands hurt.
Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is a constantly progressive connective tissue disease that affects joints (mainly peripheral). Due to chronic inflammation of the synovial membrane, the destruction of the cartilage occurs. Periarticular tissues are affected. Pathology develops as a result of immune autoaggression.The clinical picture is characterized by:
- destruction of cartilage tissue;
- osteoporosis;
- pain, joint deformities (primarily hands), subluxations, contractures;
- deterioration of blood vessels, damage to lymph nodes;
- changes in the skin, nails, increased pigmentation;
- formation of specific rheumatoid nodules;
- heart disorders (rheumatoid carditis);
- dystrophic changes in muscles;
- various pathologies of the kidneys (most often amyloidosis), liver;
- functional disorders of the gastrointestinal tract;
- neurological disorders, rheumatoid neuropathy.
The disease can be caused by infections, hypothermia, trauma, physical or nervous stress.There is a genetic predisposition to this disease.Women get arthritis about 3 times more often.
The earliest and most important symptom is the feeling of morning stiffness in the whole body, especially in the joints of the hands, which disappears after physical activity. In the initial phase, there may be a temporary worsening of the general condition, when the joints of the fingers and toes occasionally hurt, the appetite decreases, the heart rate increases, sweating and a low temperature occurs.
Later, the pain - primarily in the small joints of the hands and feet - intensifies, especially in the morning, after sleeping and when moving.The period of morning stiffness is prolonged, which becomes painful.Joint mobility is increasingly limited. Pronounced inflammatory edema appears, hyperemia, skin temperature rises above the site of inflammation, fever begins.
Rheumatoid arthritis is characterized by alternating periods of exacerbations and remissions, sometimes lasting for months or even years. With each exacerbation, the process covers new joints.
Osteochondrosis
Osteochondrosis of the spine leads to lumbago in the back, neck, neurovascular disorders, formation of disc herniations, blood flow disorders in the vertebral arteries, pinching of nerve roots and signs of other neurological symptoms. Most often, the disease is accompanied by a feeling of numbness in the fingers, but the pain can be mistaken for pain in the joints.
Osteochondropathy. Kienböck's disease
Finger pain can be caused by osteochondropathy - necrosis of bone tissue caused by increased mechanical stress, mainly in childhood and adolescence. In adults, the disease is diagnosed less often.The development of pathology is provoked by injuries, functional overload, infections, rapid growth of children, characteristics of the constitution, and sometimes vitamin imbalance.
One such disease is Kienböck's disease, which affects the wrist joint. This type of osteochondropathy is predominantly characteristic of men aged 18 to 30 with chronic microtraumatization or overstrain of the hand (locksmiths, turners, carpenters, carpenters). The symptom complex includes:
- persistent pain covering the fingers, wrist area;
- persistent swelling;
- increased pain when pressing on the wrist joint;
- destruction of bones, subluxation of intercarpal joints in the final stage of the disease.
The process, as a rule, affects only one side.
Reactive arthritis
A recent infectious disease (1-1. 5 months ago) and the development of joint inflammation after it can explain why the fingers hurt, especially when they are bent. Reactive arthritis is probably the result of an immune response to microbial antigens located outside the joint, which causes the development of immune complex synovitis in the synovial membrane.
The symptomatology of the disease is expressed:
- pain in affected joints, tendons;
- deterioration of the skin condition, changes in the nails;
- diseases of genitourinary, cardiovascular, lymphatic system.
The clinic of reactive arthritis is diverse and depends on the causative agent of the infection: streptococci, salmonella, meningococci, shigella and many others.
Gout
Gout belongs to the group of metabolic arthritis - diseases of the musculoskeletal system caused by metabolic disorders, in this case - uric acid. The disease mainly affects men over 40 years of age, but it is possible to develop gout in young people aged 20-30, in menopausal women.
Violation of purine metabolism can be caused by:
- increased synthesis due to a genetically inherited trait;
- kidney failure;
- some blood diseases;
- taking medication;
- significant consumption of food with a high purine and fat content (meat, fish), alcohol;
- infections;
- a combination of different factors that affect the metabolism of uric acid.
The disease is accompanied by the development of hyperuricemia - an excess of uric acid in the blood serum, which results in the deposition of urate in the tissues of the joints.
Gout is characterized by an attack course with the involvement of an increasing number of joints and tendons in the process, the gradual appearance of persistent visible deformities, stiffness, osteoarthritis and the formation of tophi (gout nodes).
Symptomatic worsening of inflammation is manifested by:
- sharp pains, usually at night;
- joint swelling, hyperemia;
- weakness, fever, chills;
- increased nervousness;
- stool disorders.
The localization of gouty arthritis in the small joints of the hands is atypical. However, gout can be a very possible explanation for why the knuckles hurt.
Psoriatic arthritis
Patients with psoriasis often develop chronic inflammation - psoriatic arthritis, the classic form of which is considered damage to the joints of the hands and feet. The disease usually develops imperceptibly, with gradual intensification of symptoms, although sometimes an acute onset is possible.You can suspect the development of arthritis according to the following signs:
- joints of fingers and feet hurt in the morning or during the day;
- there is painful swelling;
- the skin above the joint becomes cyanotic;
- trophic changes occur.
The defeat of the joints in the future becomes the cause of deformation of the fingers, contractures, leads to the development of chronic synovitis, arthrosis.
Extra-articular rheumatism
Extra-articular rheumatism in the form of diseases of soft peri-articular tissues often leads to pain in the fingers. The main factors of development are injuries, prolonged stereotypy of movements, hypothermia, moisture, infections, and lack of nutrition and blood supply often occurs.Pain can be caused by:
- tendonitis - degenerative tendon lesion;
- tendovaginitis (otherwise - tenosynovitis, ligamentitis) - inflammation of the middle part of the tendons, inner lining of the vagina, extra-articular ligaments;
- bursitis - an inflammatory process in the serous sac, usually due to tendovaginitis.
In the hands, the tendons of the wrist and hand are most often affected, which is related to their almost constant functional stress.The most common reasons why a finger hurts all over or in the joint are syndromes caused by:
- de Quervain's disease - tendovaginitis of the tendons of the muscles responsible for abduction and extension of the thumb;
- carpal tunnel syndrome - finger flexor tendovaginitis, often combined with Guyon's canal syndrome - compression in the palmar ligament of the ulnar nerve and ulnar artery;
- tendonitis of the wrist;
- Knott's disease ("crack" of the finger), which affects the tendons of the superficial flexors of the fingers and their sheaths;
- bursitis (tendobursitis).
Pains usually occur or intensify when moving, disturbing at night.Swelling, stiffness and sensory disturbances may occur.
Osteoarthritis
Degenerative-dystrophic processes in the articular cartilage with the formation of osteophytes - osteoporosis - are the most common variant of joint pathology, the frequency of which increases with age. It occurs due to two reasons: increased mechanical impact on the joint and deterioration of the cartilage.
Damage to the joints of the hands leads to pain in the finger or the entire palm, initially only when bending, significant physical effort, and then also at rest, in the morning, sometimes at night.In addition, the disease is accompanied by:
- stiffness, contractures;
- joint deformities;
- sometimes hot swelling.
Osteoarthritis is characterized by a long-term course with gradually increasing symptoms, usually without sharp exacerbations. The main types of diseases that affect the hands are osteoarthritis of the interphalangeal joints and the metacarpal joint.
%20and%20affected%20by%20osteoarthritis%20(right).jpg)
Systemic lupus erythematosus
It is an autoimmune polysyndromic disease with a chronic course, generalized vascular damage and changes in the connective tissue. It mainly affects adolescent girls and young women in their 20s and 30s.
The development of the disease can be imperceptible and acute, sudden. The gradual onset occurs against the background of weakness, weight loss, subfebrile temperature, signs of arthritis (synovitis), minor skin manifestations. Acute - characterized by severe joint pain, fever and a bright rash on the skin.Also, the disease can be accompanied by:
- hair loss, nail changes;
- sensitivity disorders;
- stomatitis;
- damage to the cardiovascular system, most often pericarditis;
- sometimes muscle atrophy (primarily hands), deformation of finger joints, wrist, ankle joint;
- pulmonary pathologies (pneumonitis, candidiasis, tuberculosis, etc. );
- kidney damage (lupus glomerulonephritis);
- vegetative and emotional disorders;
- reduced intelligence, hallucinations, convulsions.
Arthritis is the most common symptom of systemic lupus erythematosus.
That is why the appearance of skin erythema and discomfort caused by the fact that the joints of the fingers hurt (especially if the causes of the pain lie in the force created when clenching the fist) is the basis for examination for this disease.
Diagnostics
Since pain in the joints of the hands can be caused by a very wide range of disorders, it is necessary to determine the exact reason why the fingers are stiff, swollen and/or injured.The diagnosis is made using the following studies:
- radiography;
- scintigraphy;
- ultrasound examination;
- magnetic resonance imaging or computer tomography;
- immunological tests;
- laboratory analyzes of blood and urine.
If necessary, tissue biopsy and synovial fluid analysis are performed to accurately diagnose the cause of pain in the finger joints.
Treatment methods
It is impossible to independently determine what to do if painful swelling or finger joints hurt. Treatment is prescribed exclusively by a doctor after diagnosis and examination.
Treatment
In the event that the finger on the hand (during flexion, abduction movement, rest) hurts too much, it is allowed to take analgesics for a short time before the examination by a specialist.
The joint must not be heated, anti-inflammatory and antibacterial agents must not be taken uncontrollably.
You can use an ointment that relieves acute pain in the joints of the fingers.
Further therapy depends on the disease and is usually complex.The treatment is aimed at:
- to relieve exacerbation with drugs, relieve pain with painkillers, anti-inflammatory ointments, gels;
- to the normalization of metabolic and immune processes;
- restore blood supply, improve joint nutrition, increase its functionality.
Treatment of syndromes that have developed against the background of the underlying pathology is carried out. Blood purification procedures are used: plasmapheresis, hemosorption. In severe cases, resort to surgical treatment methods.
Physiotherapy
If the exact reason why the finger joints hurt is determined, the main treatment is supplemented with various physiotherapeutic procedures and balneotherapy methods: electrophoresis, mud applications, amplipulse therapy, etc.
Physiotherapy improves metabolic processes, normalizes blood circulation in the fingers.
Physiotherapy
Basic therapy necessarily includes relieving the joint, however, it is necessary to restore the range of motion. To correct motor disorders of the fingers, gymnastics is performed using various compressions, pinching, abduction, stretching, which allows you to restore joint mobility and sensitivity to the terminal phalanges. Joint pain that occurs in the fingers requires careful introduction of new exercises and a gradual increase in load.
Massage courses
Therapeutic massage improves tissue trophism, helps alleviate symptoms of the disease.However, there are often contraindications for massage with pain in the finger joints, so the treatment should be carried out only with the permission of the doctor.
Folk remedies
Phytotherapy, compresses, rubbing, prepared according to folk recipes, can be useful when there are no contraindications and there is no refusal of drug treatment. They help to relieve the condition if the fingers on the hand hurt too much and for a long time.