In older age groups, finger pain is very common in both men and women. They are often accompanied by swelling, stiffness, and crunching when flexing or extending the joints. Such symptoms are not only a sign of natural aging of the body, but also clinical manifestations of various pathologies. Therefore, the cause of finger joint pain should be established and treatment should be done immediately.
Causes of pain in the joints of the fingers.
If the pain occurs every week, it can no longer be attributed to increased muscle tension after long manual work. In the initial stage of development, inflammatory or degenerative-dystrophic pathologies manifest themselves in this way. Finger pain is associated with the gradual destruction of bone and cartilage tissue, which can lead to joint deformations, total or partial immobilization (ankylosis).
Arthritis
The joints of the fingers of the hands can be affected by rheumatoid, reactive and psoriatic arthritis, inflammatory diseases that progress quickly. In addition to severe pain, inflammation is observed - redness of the skin and its swelling, limitation of range of motion. And the course of infectious arthritis is often accompanied by signs of general intoxication of the body - increased body temperature, chills, fever.
Still's disease
This is a serious autoimmune pathology, which presumably develops due to an inadequate response of the immune system to the introduction of pathogenic microorganisms. Still's disease affects not only the large and small joints. The skin, organs of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, and lymph nodes are damaged.
Osteoarthritis
This pathology is characterized by the destruction of bone tissue with further deformation of the joints. With osteoarthritis in the morning, the fingers swell and when you try to bend or straighten them, there is some resistance. Acute pains appear only during the relapse period and in the remission stage, only slight discomfort.
Stenosing ligamentitis
Pathology develops due to often repetitive monotonous movements. Stenosing ligamentitis affects the tendon-ligamentous apparatus of the hand, in which there is a blockage of the finger in an extended or bent position. But such a pronounced symptom occurs at the final stage of pathology, and at the initial stage it is manifested by pain, cracking or clicking when flexing the joints.
Gout
With gout, crystals of uric acid salts begin to deposit in the joints of the fingers, causing irritation of the soft bone and cartilaginous tissues. An inflammatory process develops in which ligaments, muscles and tendons gradually become involved. During a gout attack, stabbing, burning, and sharp pains occur. The skin over the joints becomes swollen, red, warm to the touch.
Polyosteoarthritis
Polyosteoarthritis is a form of osteoarthritis that affects several joints at the same time. Cartilaginous tissues become thinner, thicker, and lose their cushioning properties. To stabilize the joints, bone structures begin to deform, grow with the formation of osteophytes. These growths damage soft tissues, which often leads to the development of an inflammatory process.
Injury
Pain in the joint of the fingers can be a consequence of a fracture, dislocation, subluxation, rupture of muscles, ligaments, tendons. A person receives such injuries when falling on an outstretched arm, a strong directional impact or a bruise. If the victim does not seek medical help, the joint structures fuse in the wrong anatomical position, due to which the pain in the hands becomes constant, increases after hypothermia or a sudden change in weather.
Vibration disease
This pathology develops in mechanized manual workers associated with the use of percussion or rotary instruments. Clinically, vibration disease manifests itself not only by uncomfortable sensations in the joints of the fingers of the hands, but also by vascular disorders, angioespasm, circulatory disorders, and blood pressure spikes.
Tunnel syndrome
The cause of the appearance of tunnel syndrome is any pathology that causes a decrease in the volume of the carpal tunnel (osteoarthritis, arthritis, lipoma). The result is an ischemic compression injury to the median nerve. Pain occurs, sensitivity decreases, patients complain to the doctor about sensations of numbness, tingling sensations, crawling. Any movement with the hand is accompanied by weakness, especially if you need to grasp an object with your thumb.
Symptoms
Sharp, stabbing, stabbing pain in the finger joint is the main symptom of gouty infectious rheumatoid arthritis, including juvenile. Concomitant symptoms are an increase in local temperature, redness and swelling of the skin.
Osteoarthritis and other degenerative-dystrophic pathologies in the initial stage of development are asymptomatic. Occasionally, a slight pain occurs, which disappears after a short rest. But its severity is constantly increasing. The pain is accompanied by stiffness, clicking sounds when flexing and / or extending the fingers.
Effects edit
In the absence of medical intervention, the intensity of pain increases against the background of the deformation of the interphalangeal joints. In the final stage of any pathology, a partial or complete fusion of the joint space occurs. A person cannot bend or flex the fingers, which causes loss of work ability, disability.
The inflammatory and destructive processes gradually spread to healthy soft, cartilaginous and bone tissues. Therefore, pain in various joints or fingers will soon be felt.
Diagnostics
Primary diagnosis is made on the basis of an external examination, patient complaints, anamnesis data, and the results of a series of functional tests. To confirm this, X-rays, MRI, computed tomography, arthroscopy are performed. If an infectious origin of the pathology is suspected, a biological sample is inoculated in a nutrient medium to establish the type of bacteria, its resistance to antibiotics.
Treatment
When determining therapeutic tactics, the doctor (orthopedist, rheumatologist, traumatologist) takes into account the type of disease, the form of its course, the degree of tissue damage and the number of complications that have developed. Often times, to reduce the severity of the patient's pain, it is recommended to use soft bandages, splints, or rigid and semi-rigid orthoses.
Medicines
In the treatment of pathologies manifested by pain in the joints of the fingers of the hands, drugs of various clinical and pharmacological groups are used. These are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), muscle relaxants, glucocorticosteroids, chondroprotectors. Also used are drugs to improve blood circulation, B vitamins, warming ointments. To relieve acute pain, drug administration is practiced intramuscularly and sometimes intra-articularly. The use of tablets or ointments will allow you to get rid of less pronounced discomfort.
Massage
After relief from acute pain and inflammation, patients are assigned sessions of classic, acupressure, vacuum, including hardware massage. Revitalizing procedures help improve blood circulation, eliminate muscle spasms, and accelerate the recovery of damaged tissues.
Physiotherapy
Electrophoresis, ultraphonophoresis procedures help to relieve pain or get rid of them completely. During its implementation, hormonal agents, chondroprotectors, anesthetics, analgesics, vitamins of group B are used. For the treatment of joint pathologies, patients can also be prescribed up to 10 sessions of magnetotherapy, laser therapy, UHF therapy.
Physical exercises
Regular exercise therapy can quickly strengthen the muscles in the hand and prevent the progression of osteoarthritis or arthritis. The set of exercises is performed by the physiotherapy doctor, taking into account the type of disease. Usually includes hand rotations, finger flexion-extension, grasping and holding small objects.
Diet
In the diet of a patient with arthritis or osteoarthritis, there should be a lot of fresh herbs, vegetables and fruits. It is necessary to completely exclude semi-finished products, smoked meats, fast food, fatty meats and any alcohol from the daily menu. Instead, it is useful to eat rabbit meat, beef, fatty sea fish, light soups, cereals, dairy products.
Home remedies
After the main treatment, the elimination of pain and inflammation, doctors can allow the use of traditional medicine. During the rehabilitation period, the use of certain decoctions, hand baths, homemade ointments is allowed.
The use of herbal teas and decoctions.
The course of pathologies that provoke pain in the fingers is often aggravated by a deterioration in the psycho-emotional state of a person. The use of infusions will help to improve it. St. John's wort, valerian, motherwort, thyme, lemon balm and oregano have a tonic, calming and normalizing effect on sleep. To prepare a drink, prepare a teaspoon of dried plant materials (without slides) with a glass of boiling water. Leave to infuse for a couple of hours, then filter and take 100 ml before going to bed.
Baked Onion and Wax Ointment
Two medium peeled onions are baked until soft, ground in a mortar until soft, adding 20 g of melted wax in portions in a water bath. The resulting mass is applied to the joints, fixed with a gauze bandage. The duration of the treatment procedure is 1-2 hours.
Herb mustard and honey ointment.
Pour a tablespoon of dried marigold and chamomile flowers in a container, pour 0. 5 cups of boiling water, let it brew for 5 hours. Mix a teaspoon of dry mustard and fatty sour cream in a mortar, add 2 tablespoons of honey. The resulting infusion is injected dropwise until a homogeneous mass is formed. Before using the ointment, the skin is lubricated with vegetable oil.
Herbal baths
Put in a thermos 5 berries of rose hip, juniper, barberry, pour a tablespoon of helenium, St. John's wort, birch buds. Pour a liter of boiling water, leave for 2 hours. Cool slightly, filter, pour into a cup, add more warm water if necessary. Soak the brushes in the resulting infusion for 30 minutes.
Oil baths
Fill a small container with warm water (1. 5-2 liters), add 1-2 drops of essential oils of rosemary, eucalyptus, pine. Pour a tablespoon of cosmetic almond oil, shake. They put their hands in the water for 30-40 minutes. After the procedure, the skin is rubbed with any nourishing or moisturizing cream.
Straw trays
Pour 0. 5 liters of chopped oat straw into a small saucepan, pour 2 liters of hot water. Bring to a boil, simmer for 30-40 minutes. Cool to room temperature, filter. Pour the warm broth into a cup, keep the brushes in it for about half an hour.
Preventive actions
To avoid pain in the finger joints, you should undergo a complete physical examination every 6-12 months. The pathology detected in the initial stage of development usually responds well to conservative treatment. It is also necessary to avoid traumatic situations, not smoke, limit alcohol consumption, exclude from the diet foods high in fat and simple carbohydrates.