In older age groups, pain in the fingers is very common in both men and women. They are often accompanied by swelling, stiffness, and crunching when flexing or extending 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 pain in the joints of the fingers should be established, and treatment should be carried out immediately.
Causes of pain in the joints of the fingers
If pain occurs every week, then they can no longer be attributed to increased muscle tension after long hand work. At the initial stage of development, inflammatory or degenerative-dystrophic pathologies manifest themselves in this way. Soreness of the fingers is associated with the gradual destruction of bone and cartilage tissue, which can cause joint deformation, complete or partial immobilization (ankylosis).
Arthritis
The joints of the fingers on the hands can be affected by rheumatoid, reactive, psoriatic arthritis - inflammatory, rapidly progressing pathologies. In addition to severe pain, inflammation is observed - reddening 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 - an increase in body temperature, chills, fever.
Still's disease
This is a severe autoimmune pathology, presumably developing due to an inadequate response of the immune system to the introduction of pathogenic microorganisms. Still's disease affects not only small and large 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, some resistance occurs. Sharp pains appear only during the period of relapse, and at the stage of remission - only mild discomfort.
Stenosing ligamentitis
Pathology develops due to often repetitive monotonous movements. Stenosing ligamentitis affects the ligamentous-tendon 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 the pathology, and at the initial stage it is manifested by soreness, crunching or clicks when flexing the joints.
Gout
With gout, crystals of uric acid salts begin to deposit in the joints of the fingers, provoking irritation of soft, cartilaginous, bone tissues. An inflammatory process develops, in which ligaments, muscles, tendons are gradually involved. During a gouty attack, sharp, burning, throbbing pains occur. The skin over the joints swells, turns red, becomes hot to the touch.
Polyosteoarthritis
Polyosteoarthritis is a form of osteoarthritis that affects several joints at once. Cartilaginous tissues become thinner, thicken, and lose their shock-absorbing properties. To stabilize the joints, bone structures begin to deform, grow with the formation of osteophytes. These growths injure 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 fracture, dislocation, subluxation, rupture of muscles, ligaments, tendons. A person receives such injuries when he falls on a straight arm, a strong directional impact, or a bruise. If the victim does not seek medical help, then the articular structures are fused in the wrong anatomical position, so the pain in the hands becomes constant, increases after hypothermia or a sharp change in weather.
Vibration disease
This pathology develops in manual mechanized workers associated with the use of percussion or rotary instruments. Clinically, vibration disease is manifested not only by uncomfortable sensations in the joints of the fingers of the hands, but also by vascular disorders, angiospasms, circulatory disorders, and blood pressure surges.
Tunnel Syndrome
The cause of the appearance of tunnel syndrome is any pathology that provokes a decrease in the volume of the carpal tunnel (arthrosis, arthritis, lipoma). The result is a compression-ischemic lesion of the median nerve. Pain occurs, sensitivity decreases, patients complain to the doctor about sensations of numbness, tingling sensations, crawling creeps. Any movement with the hand is accompanied by weakness, especially if you need to grab an object with your thumb.
Symptoms
Twitching, throbbing, sharp pain in the joint of the finger is the leading symptom of gouty, infectious, rheumatoid arthritis, including juvenile. Concomitant symptoms are an increase in local temperature, redness and swelling of the skin.
Arthrosis and other degenerative-dystrophic pathologies at the initial stage of development are asymptomatic. Occasionally, mild pain occurs, which disappears after a short rest. But their severity is constantly increasing. The pain is accompanied by stiffness, clicks when flexing and / or extending the fingers.
Effects
In the absence of medical intervention, the intensity of pain increases against the background of deformation of the interphalangeal joints. At the final stage of any pathology, partial or complete fusion of the joint space occurs. A person is not able to bend or unbend fingers, which causes loss of working capacity, disability.
Inflammatory and destructive processes gradually spread to healthy soft, cartilaginous, and bone tissues. Therefore, soreness may soon be felt in several joints or fingers.
Diagnostics
The primary diagnosis is made on the basis of an external examination, patient complaints, anamnesis data, the results of a number of functional tests. To confirm it, X-ray, MRI, CT, arthroscopy are performed. If an infectious origin of the pathology is suspected, a biological sample is inoculated into nutrient media to establish the type of bacteria, their resistance to antibiotics.
Treatment
Determining the 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, to reduce the severity of patient pain, it is recommended to wear soft bandages, splints or semi-rigid, 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, intramuscular and sometimes intra-articular administration of drugs is practiced. To get rid of less pronounced discomfort will allow the use of tablets or ointments.
Massage
After relief of acute pain and inflammation, patients are assigned sessions of classical, acupressure, vacuum, including hardware massage. Revitalizing procedures improve blood circulation, eliminate muscle spasms, and accelerate the recovery of damaged tissues.
Physiotherapy
The procedures of electrophoresis, ultraphonophoresis help to relieve pain or completely get rid of them. During their implementation, hormonal agents, chondroprotectors, anesthetics, analgesics, vitamins of group B are used. For the treatment of articular 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 of the hand, prevent the progression of arthrosis or arthritis. The set of exercises is made by the exercise therapy doctor taking into account the type of disease. It usually includes hand rotations, flexion-extension of the fingers, gripping and holding small objects.
Diet
In the diet of a patient with arthritis or osteoarthritis, there should be a lot of fresh herbs, vegetables, fruits. It is necessary to completely exclude semi-finished products, smoked meats, fast food, fatty meat, any alcohol from the daily menu. Instead, it is useful to eat rabbit meat, beef, fatty sea fish, clear soups, cereals, dairy products.
Folk remedies
After the main treatment, the elimination of pain and inflammation, doctors may allow the use of traditional medicine. During the rehabilitation period, the use of certain decoctions, hand baths, homemade ointments is allowed.
The use of infusions and decoctions of herbs
The course of pathologies that provoke soreness of the fingers is often aggravated by a deterioration in the psychoemotional state of a person. To improve it will help the use of teas from medicinal plants. St. John's wort, valerian, motherwort, thyme, lemon balm, oregano have a tonic, calming, sleep-normalizing effect. To prepare a drink, a teaspoon of dry plant materials (without a slide) is brewed with a glass of boiling water. Leave to infuse for a couple of hours, then filter and take 100 ml at bedtime.
Baked onion and wax ointment
Two peeled medium-sized onions are baked until soft, ground in a mortar until smooth, adding in portions 20 g of wax melted in a water bath. Apply the resulting mass to the joints, fix with a gauze bandage. The duration of the treatment procedure is 1-2 hours.
Honey and mustard ointment with herbs
Pour a tablespoon of dried flowers of calendula and chamomile into a container, pour 0. 5 cups of boiling water, leave for 5 hours. Mix a teaspoon of dry mustard and fat 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 hips, juniper, barberry, pour in a tablespoon of elecampane, St. John's wort, birch buds. Pour in a liter of boiling water, leave for 2 hours. Cool slightly, filter, pour into a cup, add more warm water if necessary. Dip the brushes into 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 in a tablespoon of cosmetic almond oil, shake. They put their hands in the water for 30-40 minutes. After the procedure, any nourishing or moisturizing cream is rubbed into the skin.
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 over low heat 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 joints of the fingers, you should undergo a full physical examination every 6-12 months. Pathology detected at the initial stage of development usually responds well to conservative treatment. You also need to avoid traumatic situations, do not smoke, limit alcohol consumption, exclude foods high in fat and simple carbohydrates from the diet.