why?The causes of pain in the finger joints can be completely different, but the resulting problems are the same. This is an incredible discomfort, which is quite capable of poisoning life, because with our hands we make many movements during the day.
What to do?There are many ways to reduce pain. It is very difficult to completely eliminate the problem, but it is also possible. The main thing is to make a correct diagnosis with the help of a specialist and choose a treatment regimen. However, it is more important not to neglect preventive measures.
The main cause of pain in the finger joints
Hand injury
The pain from a finger bruise is mild and goes away quickly. True, not without consequences: bleeding, bruising, hyperemia or swelling may occur in the bruised area. But the finger will work as usual, with a slight interruption. Hematoma on the finger from the palm is characterized by pain of moderate intensity and subsequent peeling of the skin (dark blood accumulates in the cavity).
Subungual hematoma is much more difficult to bear: it is accompanied by severe throbbing and twitching pain, which is especially felt when lowering the arm down. After a bruise, the nail plate may peel off completely or partially.
Severe, exploding pain can be caused by a broken finger. Such an injury is accompanied by a sharp pain, which then weakens, but does not go away. The finger stops functioning normally, swells, turns into one continuous bruise, sometimes becomes pathologically immobile, becomes deformed (in the joint and not only), and makes a crackling sound. If you try to move a painful finger joint, it will grow and resist.
Frostbite on the hand is accompanied by mild tingling pain in the first few hours, which then increases and becomes burning. Fingers become bluish and swollen. With severe frostbite, the distal part loses sensitivity, the fingers become pale and remain cold, and pain is felt between the injured and healthy areas.
Contagious infection
The cause of increasing pain in the finger joints may be panaritium. An abscess forms, the finger swells, turns blue, and hyperemia is observed. The nature of the pain is throbbing and twitching. It bothers the patient at night, especially if the culprit has developed under the nail or deep in the limb (tendon, bone, articular culprit). Superficial forms of the disease (subcutaneous and skin, peri- and subungual) do not affect general well-being, but deep panaritium can cause fever and general intoxication.
A more exotic cause of pain in the finger joints is chinga. It affects people who cut and process commercial marine animal carcasses. A small cut, crack or abrasion on the skin is enough for the infection to penetrate and affect the entire finger. The disease begins with a small dull pain at the site of the injury, but after a day or two discomfort arises and in the joint, usually the proximal one, the pain intensifies, the joint begins to ache and throbbing, the fingers swell, become pale. or become bluish in color.
Arthritis in the joints
Rheumatoid arthritis is a common cause of symmetrical pain in the joints of the upper extremities. The intensity of the symptoms varies: in the first stage - only a little arthralgia and stiffness of movement (which, however, quickly passes), in the second - a long period of stiffness, redness of the affected joints, limitation of their movements, constant pain (both duringresting and moving), and with the third, it becomes impossible to move the diseased joint at all, stiffness and swelling do not disappear, hyperemia and pain are constant and very noticeable.
It is usually women who wonder about the causes and methods of treating pain in the finger joints: the fair half of humanity most often suffers from gouty arthritis. It can affect either one or several finger joints at once, causing sudden severe pain, swelling, hyperemia, increased body temperature and immobilization of the affected finger.
Common symptoms of this disease are increased pain at night and during rest, but reduced during the day and during movement, as well as swelling of the fingers, blue or purple skin. The interphalangeal joints of the fingers are most often affected. Fingers gradually become deformed in several places.
Post-traumatic arthritis affects only one joint. With arthritis caused by allergic and infectious causes (for example, viral and bacterial diseases), several finger joints may be affected at once. Occupational peripheral arthritis affects only the joints that bear the most weight.
In any case, pain in the finger joints, the cause is arthritis of one form or another, bothers mainly at night, and disappears during the day, leaving only local swelling, difficulty moving and some stiffness in the morning. Long-term advanced arthritis leads to finger deformities.
Degeneration of joints due to disease
In the early stages of hand arthrosis, pain in the fingers is characterized by a short duration, periodicity and uncertainty. In the morning, joint movement is restricted. When arthrosis develops, the pain becomes stronger and longer, accompanying every movement of the fingers, their character is sometimes burning. Housework and small operations become more difficult to do with the affected hand. Lateral deformation occurs, and Bouchard's and Heberden's nodes become prominent.
Pathology of tendons and ligaments
Pain in the palm of the hand and at the base of the fingers is usually caused by stenosing ligamentitis. At first, pain is felt only with some small amplitude movements and with pressure, but gradually begins to appear at rest. Movement is constrained, joints click. The more the disease progresses, the more pronounced the setback after the click and the flexion contracture.
If the cause of the pain in the finger joint is de Quervain's disease, then the discomfort at first can only be seen when bending and abducting this finger, but then any movement causes pressing pain, pain (and sometimes you don't need to move. anything, the jointalso sick at rest). The pain syndrome often radiates to the distal phalanx, in some cases to the forearm on the side where the first finger grows.
Angiotrophoneuroses
When vasospasm occurs, Raynaud's syndrome occurs. Because of that, the fingers become cold and numb paroxysmally. The second phase of the attack is accompanied by aching pain with bursting and burning effects. The attack did not last long. After that, the distal part of the hand becomes red and feels hot. The causes of this condition, which causes pain in the finger joints, are very diverse. It can be:
- rheumatoid arthritis;
- systemic lupus erythematosus;
- scleroderma;
- Sharp syndrome;
- antisynthetase syndrome;
- thromboangiitis obliterans of the hand;
- occupational diseases, metabolic and endocrine system pathologies.
If the patient is not diagnosed with any of these diseases, then the cause of the pain in the finger joints is Raynaud's disease with its characteristic set of symptoms. Women are more susceptible to it.
Hematological, neurological and endocrine diseases can cause erythromelalgia, but it can also occur on its own. The disease is expressed in the form of hyperemia and swelling of the fingers, burning pain, paroxysmal and paroxysmal, sometimes in both hands at once or first in one and then in the second. The pain attacks are so intense that it is impossible to move your fingers. You can relieve the pain by elevating or cooling the affected arm (when the limb is heated and lowered, the pain worsens).
Nervous disease
If you feel a burning or burning pain in the joints of your fingers, it may be caused by a nerve. Especially if, in addition to pain, the sensitivity of the hands is affected and vegetative-trophic disorders are observed.
This may be, for example, neuropathy of the median nerve. With this disease, the palm part of the first to third fingers hurts, and they cannot be bent. It is impossible to move the first finger forward, and there is also a serious problem with making a fist.
Attacks of pain in the finger joints at night and loss of pain when shaking or lowering the hand may indicate carpal tunnel syndrome. With this type of median nerve neuropathy, the pain is also localized on the side of the palm.
If neuropathy has developed on the radial nerve, then, on the other hand, the dorsum of the hand and the first (sometimes also the second and third) fingers ache, provided the wrist or forearm is affected. The back of the hand may become numb, and the pain may radiate to the forearm, even if it itself is healthy.
If the cause of pain in the finger joint is neuropathy of the ulnar nerve, then this pain (in the fourth and fifth hand and fingers) naturally radiates, and the main source of discomfort is located in the elbow joint. Elbows and hands hurt especially in the morning.
Tumors
In addition to malignant neoplasia on the hand (which people rarely have), benign tumors can also cause pain in the finger joints: chondroma or osteoid chondroma. The pain in the first case is mild and not localized, but osteoid osteoma, on the contrary, leads to a sharp pain strictly in the affected area.
Another reason
Writer's cramp, which accompanies some neurological and mental disorders (in particular, professional neurosis), also causes pain in the finger joints in men and women and requires treatment. Writing, typing on a computer keyboard or typewriter becomes painful. Disturbing pain and pain accompanied by sharp weakness, trembling in the hands, and localized spasms. Pain in the finger joints can also be caused by other pathologies:
- leukemia (Waldenström macroglobulinemia);
- neoplasm in the adrenal gland (aldosteroma);
- complications of diabetes (diabetic neuropathy);
- vascular lesions (distal digital embolism in case of subclavian artery blockage);
- inherited disease (Fabry disease);
- usually childhood diseases, for example, neuro-arthritis diathesis.
Diagnosis and treatment of pain in the finger joints
The correct diagnosis will allow you to determine the true cause of the pain in the finger joints, whether it is an inflammatory process or another pathology. If the pain is severe and it is difficult to straighten and bend your fingers, be sure to seek medical help. Your doctor will probably send you for tests, which usually consist of:
- laboratory tests of blood, urine, rheumatic tests;
- radiography;
- MRI,
- finger computed tomography.
Treatment tactics aim not only to relieve the patient of pain in the finger joints, but also to eliminate the cause. For example, for inflammation, anti-inflammatory drugs (hormonal or non-steroidal) are prescribed, and for infection, antibiotics are prescribed.
The main goal of therapy in the case of dystrophic joint damage is the restoration of cartilage tissue, for which massage, physiotherapy and chondroprotectors are used. To restore joint mobility, special exercises are prescribed.
Physical therapy has been proven to be the most effective way to treat small joints, including fingers. These are electrosleep, MRI and electrophoresis with novocaine, as well as some other procedures. During remission, it is advisable to undergo treatment at a sanatorium or resort using a radon or hydrogen sulfide source.
As for the diet, for pain in the finger joints, whatever the cause, it is recommended:
- eat more seafood and fish to get phosphorus, calcium and iron;
- take apple cider vinegar to remove toxins from the body;
- take fish oil and linseed oil (the fatty acids contained in them help normalize fat metabolism).
It is also very useful to add nuts, ginger, fruits (currants and pomegranates), radishes and salads to your diet. But it is advised to limit mayonnaise, sweet and starchy, spicy and smoked foods, as well as fatty dairy products.
Prevent pain in the finger joints
Eliminate the causes of finger joint pain in men and women so that treatment is not required:
- do not overcool your hands;
- limit your alcohol consumption, and if you smoke, quit the habit;
- maintain a balance of vegetables and fruits in your diet, and reduce canned, spicy and fried foods;
- treat all runny noses and ARVI, without hoping that the disease will go away by itself;
- Make sure your weight is normal;
- stop snapping your fingers.
Do simple exercises to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome, so you don't have to think about how to treat pain in your finger joints and what the cause is. If you work a lot on the computer, then this is a must. Clench all your fingers into a fist, raise your thumb as if giving permission, and rotate it first clockwise, then counterclockwise. There are many other exercises for your finger joints.
Exercise against pain in the finger joints
Make a fist
Spread your palms, fingers extended, so that tension is felt in all joints and muscles. This simple action should not be accompanied by pain.
Do a simple stretch: hold your palms together for half a minute to a minute so that your thumb rests on top of the other, then open and extend all your fingers, stretching them. Do this at least four times for each hand.
Stretch your fingers
To make your finger joints more mobile and relieve pain when bending them (whatever the cause of the pain), repeat simple exercises.
The palms are placed on a flat surface with the back facing upwards. The fingers should be straightened without straining the joints and held there for 30-60 seconds. Then relax your arms and return to the starting position. Repeat four times with each hand.
Use this exercise to relieve pain and improve joint mobility.
Paint nails
Another exercise for finger joint mobility.
Turn your palm with the inside facing you and bend your fingers so that the tips are at the base of the joint and the hand looks like a clawed claw. Hold for half a minute or a minute, repeating four or more times for each hand.
Practice your grip
Regardless of the reason that causes pain in the finger joints, a person has to hold objects, handle door handles, etc. , so it is recommended to train the fingers.
Squeeze the soft ball as hard as you can for a few minutes. Let go. Repeat 10-15 times with each hand, two or three times a week (but with an interval of at least two days between sessions). This exercise is contraindicated for injuries to the thumb joint.
pinch
This exercise trains the muscles of the fingers so that it is easier to open various packages and doors with keys and fill the car with oil. Pinch the soft ball with your thumb and any other fingers, hold for half a minute or a minute. For each hand you need to repeat pinching 10-15 times. As with the previous exercise, pinching is done two to three times a week with a mandatory 48-hour interval between sessions and only if the thumb joint is not injured.
Raise your finger
These exercises help make your joints more mobile and your fingers flexible.
The palms are placed on a smooth surface with the back facing up. You have to lift each finger one at a time and put them back down, but you can quickly use all fingers at the same time. You need to do this 10-12 times with each hand.
Pull back your thumb
This exercise trains the muscles of the thumb to make it easier to grasp and lift objects (for example, cans and bottles).
Wrap your palms and thumbs with an elastic band and place them on a table or any flat surface with the backs facing up. Using the resistance of the rubber band, move your thumb to the side, hold it there for half a minute or a minute and then relax, and so on 10-15 times with each hand. Training is done two or three times a week, but not more often than once every 48 hours.
This exercise trains the muscles of the thumb to make it easier to grasp and lift objects (for example, cans and bottles).
Wrap your palms and thumbs with an elastic band and place them on a table or any flat surface with the backs facing up. Using the resistance of the rubber band, move your thumb to the side, hold it there for half a minute or a minute and then relax, and so on 10-15 times with each hand. Training is done two or three times a week, but not more often than once every 48 hours.
Bend your thumb
Thumb mobility also needs to be developed.
Raise your palms in front of you, turn the back down. Alternately, move your thumb to the side and bend it toward your palm to touch the base of your little finger. After holding it for half a minute or a minute, relax. Repeat this step four times for each hand.
Touch with thumb
Stiffness and pain in the finger joints are caused by various reasons, but, in any case, it is useful to train the thumb so that daily operations such as writing, holding a spoon, brushing teeth, etc. do not cause problems. .
Place your palms in front of you, straighten your wrists, and touch your thumbs to everything else to form the letter O. After holding it for half a minute or a minute, relax your palms. A minimum of four repetitions for each arm.
Stretch your thumb
Thumbs need stretching.
Raise your arms in front of you, turn your palms toward you, and bend your thumbs toward your index fingers for half a minute to a minute, then relax. Do this four times with each hand. Then, from the same position, stretch your thumb over your palm so that the lower joint is tense, and hold for half a minute to a minute. There are also four repetitions.
The most common causes of pain in the finger joints when bending are not only injuries and infections, but also overwork. If your finger joint hurts, you need to take action immediately: first of all, consult a specialist doctor - a surgeon, neurologist, or traumatologist. To relieve pain, make your joints more mobile, and your muscles strong, exercise your fingers and palms regularly.