Are you worried about the pain in your fingers and you don't know what's wrong with you? Perhaps this is a consequence of trauma, rheumatoid arthritis, polyosteoarthrosis, or rhizarthrosis. There are other causes of arthralgia that can only be identified with the help of instrumental diagnostics.
Contact the clinic, and specialists will establish the clinical picture and conduct complex therapy. With the help of drugs, physiotherapy, rehabilitation methods, inflammation will be removed, destructive processes will stop, and the working capacity of the limbs will be restored.
Why the finger joints hurt: causes and treatment
Arthralgia often appears as a harbinger or symptom of a primary disease. Acute sensations arise as a result of inflammatory arthropathies, degenerative-dystrophic pathologies, predominantly of traumatic origin. Pain syndrome causes irritation of the nerve endings, provoked by:
- toxins;
- sodium or potassium urates;
- bone growths;
- allergens;
- autoimmune processes.
The cause of pain in the finger joints can be a neurological disease or a problem that is not directly related to the extremities. Referred pain radiating to the left extremity is a common occurrence in a heart attack. This also happens with problems in the upper part of the cervical region. With an intervertebral hernia, it gives to the shoulder and forearm, hands.
However, there are a number of direct reasons why the phalanges go numb and the small joints of the limbs suffer. Fingers hurt after infections, hypothermia, inflammation of soft tissues and bone structures.
Rheumatoid arthritis
The disease in 7% of cases affects people over 30 years of age. It all starts with inflammation of the metacarpophalangeal bones of the main fingers. Then the catarrhal process spreads to the wrist joint, covers all structures. It affects one hand, then spreads to the second. A symmetrical lesion of the proximal joints with a change in shape is typical of this pathology. For the company, the bones of the pelvis, ankle and ankle suffer. Arthritis is characterized by rolling pains. During the day and in the first half of the night they are tolerable, in the second they intensify and do not allow sleep.
Psoriasic arthritis
It represents 5% of cases. The disease affects men and women equally from the age of 20. For the most part, it develops in people with skin manifestations - psoriatic plaques and characteristic spots on the body. The pathology is characterized by "vertical" inflammation with simultaneous thickening of all joints. At the same time, the phalanx of the finger on the arm hurts, the skin turns red, it becomes like a sausage. Unlike rheumatoid inflammation, the process affects both hands, but affects different bones.
Drop
With this problem, less than 5% of patients turn to doctors. These are men aged 25-55 plus. The inflammation begins with the big toes, gradually rises through the joints and affects the phalanges of the hands. The pain develops suddenly. It permeates the entire limb, does not disappear for a long time. The affected area turns purple and warm to the touch. In women, the process is milder and lasts from 3 to 10 days. However, after a while everything repeats itself. A wave-shaped course is a sign of the development of gouty inflammation.
Arthritis
Under the collective definition we understand joint anomalies of a different nature. They appear as a consequence of past infections, with systemic diseases. Signs of acute inflammation: swelling, redness, temperature, pain in the joints of the fingers. They suffer more frequently metacarpophalangeal and interphalangeal. In chronic arthritis, episodic acute sensations are disturbing. Over time, muscles lose strength and function. Finger arthritis leads to loss of physiological abilities and disability.
poliosteoarthrosis
The finger joint is very sore with degenerative changes in the bones. It all begins with the thinning of cartilage tissue, damage to the interphalangeal ball joints. The reasons are hidden in the compaction and sclerosis of the synovial membrane, endocrine abnormalities. Doctors consider primary polyosteoarthritis as an independent disease provoked by physical overload, hypothermia. Secondary - as a complication after infections and mechanical injuries. In both cases, acute pain exasperates, flexion contracture appears.
Rhizarthrosis or osteoarthritis
This is another cause of finger pain, leading to arthralgia and causing problems at the junction of the thumb and wrist. The process affects the entire joint. This results in:
- to reduce depreciation;
- friction and layer-by-layer destruction of bone tissue;
- thickening in the interphalangeal area;
- the appearance of nodules and stiffness.
- crunch.
An orthopedic surgeon comments:
Symptoms vary depending on the stage. In people who load the thumb for a long time and monotonously, in 30% of cases, rhizarthrosis develops as an independent disease. Since the symptoms are 90% compatible with de Quervain's tenosynovitis, the problem is differentiated using an x-ray. The image clearly shows bony deformities and not soft tissue, such as occurs with tendon inflammation.
trigger finger disease
In the medical reference book, trigger finger syndrome is known as stenosing ligamentitis. Symptoms: acute pain in the finger: swelling, lumps, numbness. The peculiarity is the inflammation of the tendon and the formation of nodules that prevent bending the phalanges. In the absence of therapy at stage 3, the finger takes a fixed position, at stage 4 secondary deformation occurs, the process becomes irreversible. Among the many provocative causes, anatomical abnormalities of the ligamentous tendinous apparatus are most often mentioned.
de Quervain's tenosynovitis
Due to De Quervain's disease, the finger bones hurt 4% due to muscle inflammation. Acute sensations occur suddenly at the junction with the wrist joint and are aggravated by flexion. Pathology leads to damage of the synovial membranes of the finger extensors. The problem is reduced by monotonous movements, due to constant pressure on the hand and palm, which causes scarring changes in the ligament. It's:
- play keyboard instruments;
- Print;
- work on the conveyor.
Raynaud's syndrome
Fingers hurt due to strong vasoconstriction due to systemic diseases: vasculitis, scleroderma, lupus erythematosus, blood diseases, compression of blood vessels and nerve fibers. Vasospastic pathology is accompanied by paroxysmal circulatory disorders under the influence of low temperatures. The clinical syndrome does not appear for years. Over time, attacks appear that cause whitening or reddening of the skin, cyanosis. As a result, the symptoms lead to trophic changes in the soft tissues.
carpal tunnel syndrome
Finger joints also hurt due to injuries and the development of carpal tunnel syndrome. An unsuccessful fall, the impact causes damage to the integrity of the tissues, blood vessels, leads to the formation of a hematoma or a fracture of the hand. The development of the syndrome is facilitated by compression of the median nerve under the ligament that supports the tendons. Clinical manifestations: palm numbness, decreased motor skills, decreased muscle volume in the large tubercle. Diseases associated with inflammation of tendon fibers are more common in women.
Finger bones hurt:
- Due to bursitis of various forms.
- Childhood anomalies - Still's disease, Kawasaki syndrome.
- Systemic diseases: diffuse fasciitis, Lyme, Sjögren, Crohn, Bechterev diseases.
- Tumors: myelon disease, lymphoblastic leukemia.
Diagnosis
It is impossible to establish why the fingers of the hands hurt without a differential examination. First of all, a visual inspection is carried out. A rheumatologist or arthrologist pays attention to the symmetry of the injury, symptoms, and other clinical signs. The patient is consulted by a traumatologist and an allergist, then sent for laboratory tests.
Blood biochemistry determines rheumatoid factors, uric and sialic acid levels, erythrocyte sedimentation rate in the blood. In infectious and immune pathologies, a reactive protein is detected, indicating tissue destruction.
Why the fingers of the hands hurt, the cause and treatment help to establish x-ray, ultrasound. The doctor examines problem structures, makes a symmetric diagnosis of a healthy hand. Necessary:
- to assess the degree of damage to structures;
- cartilage and ligament condition;
- detection of primary signs of abnormalities, cysts and nodules.
MRI is prescribed for suspected degenerative and neoplastic disease. Tomography helps to obtain 3D images of soft tissues in different projections, to identify recent and chronic injuries. Informative methods show displacement, width of the joint space in arthritis, thinning of cartilage in arthrosis, bone displacement, growths. Sometimes a densitometry is prescribed to determine bone density.
Because of what the phalanges of the fingers hurt, they will suggest other methods of research - electrospondylography and electroneuromyography. The first technology reveals the part of the spine responsible for limb movements. The second determines the state of the peripheral muscles and nerves. With stabbing pain in the finger, a specialist may recommend a prick. The percutaneous aspiration method makes it possible to secretly take, at the same time administering an antibiotic or analgesic to relieve acute symptoms.
Diagnosis
- Ultrasound diagnosis.A non-invasive study is indicated for inflammation and damage to soft tissues, muscles, ligaments, tendons, joint capsules using ultrasonic waves.
- Bone scan.Assign by injuries: dislocations and fractures of bones, diseases of the joints: arthrosis and arthritis of the joints.
- Analysis.General blood and urine tests, blood biochemistry show signs of inflammation, the presence of infection, disorders in bone and cartilage tissues.
- Magnetic resonance imaging.A high-precision method for diagnosing joints with up to 99% information content.
Fingers hurt: causes and treatment
Regardless of the etiology, NSAIDs are prescribed to relieve acute sensations, fever, and inflammation. Effective: nimesil, phenylbutazone, indomethacin, teraflex, diflofenac sodium. If the finger joints are very sore, ketorolac and tenoxicam are suitable for treatment. With a drip or intramuscular infusion, they eliminate symptoms for 3 days.
Corticosteroid drugs - dexamethasone, prednisolone also relieve the catarrhal process. At the same time, swelling is reduced, metabolic processes in cartilage are improved, which contributes to the rapid restoration of mobility. Chondroprotectors thicken the structure of bone tissue, prevent the aggravation of degenerative processes.
Physiotherapy: ultrasound and electrical impulse therapy, acupuncture improves blood circulation. Therapeutic gymnastics helps to build muscles, restore mobility of the joints. Patients are advised to review their diet, go on a diet with a predominance of protein and plant foods, and undergo a spa treatment.
treatment methods
- Reception of a traumatologist-orthopedist
- hand shockwave therapy
- Plasmolifting of joints
- PRP therapy for the wrist
- Wrist joint lock.
- injections in the brush
- phonophoresis
- electrophoresis
- hand ultrasound
- Physiotherapy
- drug therapy
- orthotics
- magnetotherapy