Worried about pain in the fingers, and you don't know what's wrong? 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 the specialists will establish the clinical picture, conduct complex therapy. With the help of medication, physiotherapy, rehabilitation methods, inflammation will be removed, destructive processes will be stopped, and limbs will be restored to working capacity.
Why the joints of the fingers 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 a traumatic origin. Pain syndrome causes irritation of nerve endings, provoked by:
- toxins;
- sodium or potassium urates;
- bone growths;
- allergens;
- autoimmune processes.
The cause of pain in the joints of the fingers can be a neurological disease or a problem that is not directly related to the limbs. Radiating referred pain to the left limb 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 due to which the phalanges become numb, small joints of the limbs suffer. Fingers hurt after infections, hypothermia, inflammation of soft tissue and bone structures.
Rheumatoid arthritis
The disease in 7% of cases affects people over 30+. It all starts with swelling of the metacarpophalangeal bones of the leading 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 for this pathology. For the company, the bones of the pelvis, ankle, and ankle suffer. Arthritis is characterized by undulating 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.
Psoriatic arthritis
It accounts for 5% of cases. The disease equally affects men and women after 20 years. For the most part, it develops in people with skin manifestations - psoriatic plaques and characteristic spots on the body. 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.
Gout
With this problem, less than 5% of patients turn to doctors. It concerns men of 25-55 years more. Inflammation begins with the big toes, gradually rises through the joints, affects the phalanges of the hands. The pain develops suddenly. It permeates the entire limb, does not go away for a long time. The affected area becomes purple and hot to the touch. In women, the process is milder, lasting 3-10 days. However, after a while everything repeats itself. A wave-like course is a sign of the development of gouty inflammation.
Arthritis
Under the collective definition understand articular anomalies of a different nature. They appear as a result of past infections, with systemic diseases. Signs of acute inflammation - swelling, redness, temperature, pain in the joints of the fingers. More often suffer metacarpophalangeal and interphalangeal. In chronic arthritis, episodic sharp sensations are disturbing. Over time, muscles lose strength and function. Arthritis of the fingers leads to loss of physiological skills and disability.
Polyosteoarthrosis
The joint of the finger on the hand is very sore with degenerative changes in the bones. It all starts with thinning of the cartilaginous tissue, damage to the interphalangeal spherical joints. The reasons are hidden in the compaction and sclerosis of the synovial membrane, endocrine anomalies. Physicians consider primary polyosteoarthritis as an independent disease provoked by physical overload, hypothermia. Secondary - as a complication after infections and mechanical injuries. In both cases, sharp pains exasperate, flexion contracture appears.
Rhizarthrosis or osteoarthritis
This is another cause of pain in the fingers, causing arthralgia and causing problems at the junction of the thumb and the 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 zone;
- 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% consistent with de Quervain's tenosynovitis, the problem is differentiated using an x-ray. The picture clearly shows bone deformities, and not soft tissues, as with tendon inflammation.
trigger finger disease
In the medical reference book, trigger finger syndrome is known as stenosing ligamentitis. Symptoms: sharp pain in the finger: swelling, lump formation, numbness. The peculiarity is the inflammation of the tendon and the formation of nodes 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 provoking causes, anatomical anomalies of the ligamentous tendon apparatus are more often mentioned.
Tenosynovitis de Quervain
Due to de Quervain's disease, the bones on the fingers hurt in 4% due to muscle inflammation. Sharp sensations occur suddenly at the junction with the wrist joint and are aggravated by flexion. Pathology leads to damage to the synovial membranes of the extensors of the fingers. The problem is brought down by monotonous movements, due to constant pressure on the hand and palm, causing cicatricial changes in the ligament. It:
- playing keyboard instruments;
- printing;
- work on the conveyor.
Raynaud's syndrome
Fingers hurt due to a sharp 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 cold temperatures. The clinical syndrome does not appear for years. Over time, attacks appear that cause blanching or redness of the skin, cyanosis. As a result, symptoms lead to trophic changes in soft tissues.
carpal tunnel syndrome
The joints of the fingers also hurt due to injuries and the development of carpal tunnel syndrome. An unsuccessful fall, impact provoke damage to the integrity of tissues, blood vessels, lead 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 holding the tendons. Clinical manifestations: numbness of the palm, decreased motor skills, decreased muscle volume on the large tubercle. Diseases associated with inflammation of the tendon fibers are more common in women.
Bones on the fingers hurt:
- Because of bursitis of various forms.
- Childhood anomalies - Still's disease, Kawasaki syndrome.
- Systemic diseases - diffuse fasciitis, Lyme, Sjögren, Crohn's, Bechterev's diseases.
- Tumors - myelon disease, lymphoblastic leukemia.
Diagnostics
It is impossible to establish why the fingers on the hands hurt without a differential examination. First, a visual inspection is carried out. A rheumatologist or arthrologist pays attention to the symmetry of the lesion, 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, levels of uric and sialic acids, erythrocyte sedimentation rate in the blood. In infectious and immune pathologies, a reactive protein is detected, indicating tissue destruction.
Why the fingers on the hands hurt, the cause and treatment help to establish the x-ray, ultrasound. The doctor examines problematic structures, conducts a symmetrical diagnosis of a healthy hand. It's necessary:
- to assess the degree of damage to structures;
- condition of cartilage and ligaments;
- detection of primary signs of anomalies, cysts and nodes.
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, cartilage thinning in arthrosis, bone displacement, growths. Sometimes densitometry is prescribed to determine bone density.
Because of what the phalanges of the fingers hurt, other research methods will suggest - electrospondylography and electroneuromyography. The first technology reveals the part of the spine responsible for the movements of the limbs. The second determines the state of the muscles and peripheral nerves. With throbbing pain in the finger, a specialist may recommend a puncture. The percutaneous aspiration method allows you to take a secret, at the same time administer an antibiotic or analgesic to relieve acute symptoms.
Diagnostics
- Ultrasound diagnostics.A non-invasive study is indicated for inflammation and damage to soft tissues, muscles, ligaments, tendons, joint capsules using ultrasonic waves.
- Radiography.Assign for injuries: dislocations and fractures of bones, diseases of the joints: arthrosis and arthritis of the joints.
- Analyzes.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 information content up to 99%.
Fingers hurt: causes and treatment
Regardless of the etiology, NSAIDs are prescribed to relieve acute sensations, fever, inflammation. Effective: nimesil, phenylbutazone, indomethacin, teraflex, sodium diflofenac. If the joints of the fingers are very sore, ketarolac and tenoxicam are suitable for treatment. With a drip or intramuscular infusion, they remove the symptoms for 3 days.
Corticosteroid drugs - dexamethasone, prednisolone also relieve the catarrhal process. At the same time, swelling is reduced, metabolic processes in the 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 improve blood circulation. Therapeutic gymnastics helps to develop muscles, restore mobility to the joints. Patients are advised to review their diet, make a diet with a predominance of protein and plant foods, and undergo spa treatment.
Treatment Methods
- Reception of a traumatologist-orthopedist
- Shock wave therapy of the hand
- Plasmolifting of joints
- PRP Therapy for the Wrist
- Blockade of the wrist joint
- Injections in the brush
- Phonophoresis
- electrophoresis
- Ultrasound of the hand
- Physiotherapy
- Drug therapy
- Orthotics
- Magnetotherapy