In older groups, pain in the fingers is very common in both men and women. They are often accompanied by swelling, stiffness, and cracking 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 the 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 the pain occurs every week, it can no longer be attributed to an increase in muscle tension after long manual work. At the initial stage of development, inflammatory or degenerative-dystrophic pathologies are manifested in this way. Pain in the fingers is associated with the gradual destruction of bone and cartilage tissue, which can lead to joint deformation, complete or partial immobilization (ankylosis).
Arthritis
The joints of the fingers on the hands can be affected by rheumatoid, reactive, psoriatic arthritis - rapidly developing inflammatory pathologies. In addition to severe pain, inflammation is observed - redness of the skin and its swelling, limitation in 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 disease, which probably develops 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, there is some resistance. Sharp pains appear only during the period of relapse and at the stage of remission - slight discomfort.
Stenosing ligamentitis
Pathology develops due to monotonous, often repetitive movements. Stenosing ligamentitis affects the ligament-tendon apparatus of the hand, in which there is a blockage of the finger in the 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 pain, cracking or clicking when flexing the joints.
Drop
With gout, crystals of uric acid salts begin to deposit in the joints of the fingers, causing irritation to soft bone and cartilage tissue. An inflammatory process develops, in which ligaments, muscles, tendons are gradually involved. During a gout attack, sharp, burning, throbbing pains occur. The skin on the joints swells, turns red, becomes hot to the touch.
Polyosteoarthritis
Polyosteoarthritis is a form of osteoarthritis that affects more than one joint at the same time. Cartilage tissue becomes thinner, thickens, and loses its cushioning properties. To stabilize the joints, bone structures begin to deform, develop 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 suffers such injuries when falling on a right arm, strong directional impact or bruising. If the victim does not seek medical help, the joint structures are fused in the wrong anatomical position, so the pain in the hands becomes constant, increases after hypothermia or a sudden change in weather.
Vibration disease
This pathology develops in manual mechanized workers associated with the use of percussion or rotary instruments. Clinically, vibrational disease manifests itself not only with uncomfortable sensations in the joints of the fingers of the hands, but also with vascular disorders, vasospasm, circulatory disturbances and spikes in blood pressure.
Tunnel syndrome
The cause of the appearance of tunnel syndrome is any pathology causing a decrease in the volume of the carpal tunnel (osteoarthritis, arthritis, lipoma). The result is ischemic compression injury to the median nerve. Pain occurs, sensitivity decreases, patients complain to the doctor of feelings of numbness, tingling, crawling. Weakness is associated with any movement of the hand, especially if you have to grasp an object with your thumb.
Symptoms
Sharp, stabbing, trembling pain in the finger joint is the main symptom of gouty, infectious, and rheumatoid arthritis, including juvenile. Concomitant symptoms are an increase in local temperature, redness and swelling of the skin.
Osteoarthritis and other degenerative-dystrophic pathologies at the initial stage of development are asymptomatic. Sometimes a slight 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 bend the fingers, which leads to loss of ability to work, disability.
Inflammatory and destructive processes gradually spread to healthy soft, cartilage and bone tissue. Therefore, pain can soon be felt in several joints or fingers.
Diagnostic
The primary diagnosis is made on the basis of an external examination, patient complaints, history data and the results of a number of functional tests. To confirm this, an X-ray, an MRI, a CT scan, an 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 the patient's pain, it is recommended to wear soft bandages, splints or semi-rigid and rigid orthotics.
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 nonsteroidal 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 performed. The use of tablets or ointments will allow you to get rid of less pronounced discomfort.
Massage
After the relief of acute pain and inflammation, patients are assigned sessions of classical massage, acupressure, vacuum, including material massage. Revitalizing procedures help improve blood circulation, eliminate muscle spasms, and speed up recovery of damaged tissue.
Physiotherapy
Electrophoresis, ultraphonophoresis procedures help to relieve pain or get rid of it completely. During their 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 of the hand, prevent the progression of osteoarthritis or arthritis. The set of exercises is carried out by the exercise therapy doctor, taking into account the type of disease. This usually includes hand rotations, finger flexion-extension, 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 and fruits. It is necessary to completely exclude semi-finished products, smoked meats, fast food, fatty meats, any alcohol from the daily menu. Instead, it is useful to eat rabbit meat, beef, fatty sea fish, light soups, cereals, dairy products.
Folk 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 infusions and decoctions of herbs
The course of pathologies that cause pain in the fingers is often aggravated by a deterioration in the psycho-emotional state of a person. Using herbal teas will help improve it. St. John's Wort, Valerian, Motherwort, Thyme, Lemon Balm, Oregano have a tonic, calming and normalizing effect of sleep. To prepare a drink, a teaspoon of dry plant material (without a blade) is brewed with a glass of boiling water. Leave to infuse for a few hours, then filter and take 100 ml at bedtime.
Baked onion and wax ointment
Two medium-sized peeled onions are cooked until tender, ground in a mortar until smooth, adding in portions 20 g of melted wax in a double boiler. The resulting mass is applied to the joints, fixed 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 calendula and chamomile flowers into a container, pour 0. 5 cups of boiling water, leave 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 rosehip berries, juniper, barberry, pour a tablespoon of elecampane, St. John's wort, birch buds. Pour a liter of boiling water, let stand for 2 hours. Let cool slightly, strain, pour into a cup, add more lukewarm water if necessary. Dip the brushes in the resulting infusion for 30 minutes.
Oil baths
Fill a small container with lukewarm 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 to 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 to 40 minutes. Cool to room temperature, filter. Pour the hot broth into a mug, keep the brushes in it for about half an hour.
Preventive actions
To avoid pain in the joints of the fingers, you should have a complete physical exam every 6 to 12 months. Pathology detected at the initial stage of development usually responds well to conservative treatment. You should also avoid traumatic situations, do not smoke, limit alcohol consumption, exclude foods high in fat and simple carbohydrates from the diet.