Worried about finger pain, 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 diagnoses.
Contact the clinic and specialists will establish the clinical picture, carry out complex therapy. With the help of medication, physical therapy, rehabilitation methods, inflammation will be removed, destructive processes will be stopped, and limbs will be restored to working capacity.
Why 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 nerve endings, caused by:
- toxins;
- sodium or potassium urates;
- bone growths;
- allergens;
- autoimmune processes.
The cause of finger joint pain can be a neurological disease or a problem that is not directly related to the limbs. Radiation of 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 the shoulder and forearm, hands.
However, there are several direct reasons why 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 years. It all starts with swelling of the metacarpophalangeal bones of the main fingers. Then the catarrhal process spreads to the wrist joint, covers all structures. Affects one hand and then spreads to the second. A symmetrical lesion of the proximal joints with change in shape is typical of this pathology. For the company, the bones of the pelvis, ankle and ankle suffer. Arthritis is characterized by rippling pains. During the day and in the first half of the night they are tolerable, in the second they intensify and do not allow you to sleep.
psoriatic arthritis
It corresponds to 5% of cases. The disease affects men and women equally after age 20. Most often, 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 turns 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. It concerns men aged 25-55 years older. Inflammation starts in the big toes, gradually ascends through the joints, affects the phalanges of the hands. The pain develops suddenly. It permeates the entire member, does not disappear for a long time. The affected area turns purple and hot to the touch. In women, the process is milder, lasting from 3 to 10 days. However, after a while everything repeats itself. A wavy course is a sign of the development of gouty inflammation.
Arthritis
Under the collective definition, joint anomalies of a different nature are understood. They appear as a result of past infections, with systemic diseases. Signs of acute inflammation - swelling, redness, temperature, finger joint pain. Most 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 abilities and disability.
polyosteoarthrosis
The finger joint is very painful with degenerative changes in the bones. It all starts with thinning of the cartilaginous tissue, damage to the interphalangeal ball joints. The reasons are hidden in the compaction and sclerosis of the synovial membrane, endocrine anomalies. Doctors consider primary polyosteoarthritis to be an independent disease caused by physical overload, hypothermia. Secondary - as a complication after infections and mechanical injuries. In both cases, the sharp pains exasperate, and the flexion contracture appears.
Rhizarthrosis or osteoarthritis
This is another cause of finger pain causing arthralgia and causing thumb and wrist joint problems. The process affects the entire joint. This results in:
- reduce depreciation;
- friction and layer-by-layer destruction of bone tissue;
- thickening in the interphalangeal zone;
- appearance of nodules and stiffness.
- crushing.
An orthopedist comments:
Symptoms vary by stage. In people who carry the thumb for a long time and monotonously, in 30% of cases rhizarthrosis develops as an independent disease. As the symptoms are 90% consistent with de Quervain's tenosynovitis, the problem is differentiated using an x-ray. The image clearly shows bone deformities, not soft tissue, as in 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, formation of nodules, numbness. The peculiarity is inflammation of the tendon and the formation of nodules that prevent flexion of the phalanges. In the absence of therapy in stage 3, the finger assumes a fixed position, in stage 4 secondary deformation occurs, the process becomes irreversible. Among the many provocative causes, the anatomical anomalies of the tendinous ligament apparatus are the most cited.
de Quervain's tenosynovitis
Due to De Quervain's disease, finger bones hurt by 4% due to muscle inflammation. Sharp sensations occur suddenly at the junction with the wrist joint and are aggravated by flexion. The pathology leads to damage to the synovial membranes of the finger extensors. The problem is alleviated by monotonous movements, due to constant pressure on the hand and palm, causing scarring changes in the ligament. This:
- play keyboard instruments;
- print;
- work on the conveyor.
Raynaud's Syndrome
Fingers hurt due to marked vasoconstriction due to systemic diseases - vasculitis, scleroderma, lupus erythematosus, blood disorders, compression of blood vessels and nerve fibers. Vasospastic pathology is accompanied by paroxysmal circulatory disorders under the influence of cold temperatures. The clinical syndrome has not appeared for years. Over time, attacks appear that cause whitening or redness 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 tissues, blood vessels, leads to the formation of hematoma or 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 at the greater tuberosity. Diseases associated with inflammation of tendon fibers are more common in women.
Bones in fingers hurt:
- Because of bursitis in various ways.
- Childhood anomalies - Still disease, Kawasaki syndrome.
- Systemic diseases - diffuse fasciitis, Lyme, Sjögren, Crohn, Bechterev diseases.
- Tumors - myeloid disease, lymphoblastic leukemia.
Diagnosis
It is impossible to establish why fingers hurt without a differential examination. First, a visual inspection is performed. A rheumatologist or arthrologist pays attention to lesion symmetry, symptoms, and other clinical signs. The patient is consulted by a traumatologist and an allergist and then referred for laboratory tests.
Blood biochemistry determines rheumatoid factors, uric and sialic acid levels, erythrocyte sedimentation rate in the blood. In infectious and immunological pathologies, a reactive protein is detected, indicating tissue destruction.
Why fingers hurt, cause and treatment help to establish x-ray, ultrasound. The doctor examines problem structures, performs a symmetrical diagnosis of a healthy hand. It is necessary:
- assess the degree of damage to structures;
- condition of cartilage and ligaments;
- detection of primary signs of anomalies, cysts and nodules.
MRI is prescribed for suspected degenerative and neoplastic disease. Tomography assists in obtaining 3D images of soft tissues in different projections, to identify recent and chronic injuries. Informative methods show displacement, joint space width 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 limb movements. The second determines the state of peripheral muscles and nerves. With throbbing pain in the finger, a specialist may recommend a puncture. The percutaneous aspiration method allows taking a secret, 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.
- X-ray.Assign to injuries: dislocations and fractures of bones, joint diseases: osteoarthritis and arthritis of the joints.
- analyses.General blood and urine tests, blood biochemistry show signs of inflammation, presence of infection, disorders in bone and cartilage tissues.
- MRI image.A highly accurate method for joint diagnosis with information content of up to 99%.
Bruised fingers: causes and treatment
Regardless of the etiology, NSAIDs are prescribed to relieve acute sensations, fever, inflammation. Effective: nimesyl, phenylbutazone, indomethacin, teraflex, diclofenac sodium. If the finger joints are very painful, cetarolac and tenoxicam are suitable for treatment. With an intramuscular drip or infusion, they remove 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 develop muscles, restore joint mobility. Patients are advised to review their diet, eat a high-protein, plant-based diet, and have a spa treatment.
treatment methods
- Reception of a traumatologist-orthopedist
- Hand shock wave therapy
- Joint plasmolifting
- PRP therapy for the wrist
- Wrist joint lock
- Brush injections
- phonophoresis
- electrophoresis
- hand ultrasound
- Physiotherapy
- drug therapy
- orthotics
- magnetotherapy