Why?The causes of pain in the joints of the fingers can be completely different, but the resulting problem is the same. This is an incredible nuisance that can poison life, because we do a lot of movements with our hands during the day.
What to do?There are various ways to minimize pain. It is very difficult to completely eliminate the problem, but it is also possible. The main thing is to make a correct diagnosis and choose a treatment regimen with the help of specialists. However, it is more important not to neglect preventive measures.
The main causes of pain in the joints of the fingers
Hand injuries
The pain caused by a bruised finger is quite mild and passes quite quickly. True, it is not inconclusive: there may be a bruise at the site of bleeding, bruises, hyperemia or swelling. But the finger will work as usual with minor irregularities. A hematoma on the finger of the palm is characterized by pain of moderate intensity and subsequent peeling of the skin (dark blood accumulates in the cavity).
Subungual hematomas are more difficult to tolerate: they are accompanied by severe throbbing and twitching pain, especially felt when lowering the arm. After a bruise, the nail plate peels off completely or partially.
Severe, exploding pain may be the cause of a broken finger. Such injuries are accompanied by sharp pain, which then weakens a little, but does not disappear. The finger ceases to function normally, swells, turns into continuous bruises, sometimes becomes pathologically immobile, deforms (in the joints and not only) and makes creaking sounds. If you try to move the painful finger joint, it springs and resists.
Frostbite in the hands is accompanied by a slight tingling pain during the first few hours, then it becomes stronger and burns. The finger becomes blue and swollen. With severe frostbite, the distal parts lose sensitivity, the fingers become pale and cold, and pain is felt between the injured and healthy areas.
Contagious infections
Panaritium may be the cause of rapidly increasing pain in the finger joint. An abscess forms, the finger swells, turns blue, hyperemia is observed. The nature of the pain is trembling and twitching. It bothers the patient at night, especially if it has developed under the nail or deep in the limb (tendon, bone, articular felon). Superficial forms of this disease (subcutaneous and cutaneous, peri- and subungual) do not particularly affect the general well-being, but deep panaritium can cause fever and general intoxication.
A more exotic cause of finger joint pain is chinga. This affects people who butcher and process commercial marine animal carcasses. A small wound, crack or abrasion on the skin is enough for the infection to penetrate and affect the entire finger. The disease begins with small dull pains at the site of the injury, but after a day or two, discomfort arises and the pain in the joint, in most cases proximal, intensifies, the joint begins to ache and pulsate, the finger swells, turns pale. or turns blue.
Arthritis of the joints
Rheumatoid arthritis is a common cause of symmetrical pain in the finger joints of the upper extremities. The intensity of symptoms varies: in the first degree - only mild arthralgia and stiffness of movement (it passes quickly), in the second - long-term stiffness, redness of the affected joints, limitation of mobility, constant pain (both at rest and in movement), and with the third - the diseased joint in generalit becomes impossible to move, stiffness and swelling do not go away, hyperemia and pain are constant and very noticeable.
It is usually women who are interested in the causes and methods of treatment of pain in the joints of the fingers: the fair half of humanity suffers from gout arthritis the most. It can affect one or more finger joints at once, causing sharp sudden pain, swelling, hyperemia, increased body temperature and immobilization of the affected finger.
The usual symptoms of the disease are pain that increases at night and at rest, but decreases during the day and with movement, as well as swelling of the fingers, blue or purple skin. The interphalangeal joints of the fingers are most affected. The finger is gradually deformed in several places.
Post-traumatic arthritis affects only one joint. With arthritis caused by allergic and infectious causes (for example, diseases of a viral and bacterial nature), several finger joints can be affected at once. Professional peripheral arthritis affects only the most loaded joints.
In any case, pain in the joints of the fingers caused by arthritis of one form or another is mainly bothersome at night and disappears during the day, leaving only local swelling, difficulty in movement and some stiffness in the morning. Long-term developed arthritis leads to deformation of the fingers.
Joint degeneration due to disease
In the initial stage of arthrosis of the hands, pain in the fingers is characterized by short duration, periodicity and uncertainty. Joint movements are limited in the morning. As arthrosis progresses, the pain intensifies and becomes longer, accompanying every movement of the fingers, their character is sometimes burning. It becomes increasingly difficult to perform household chores and small operations with the affected hand. Lateral deformations occur, Bouchard and Heberden nodes are noticeable.
Pathologies of tendons and ligaments
Pain in the palm and under the finger is usually caused by stenosing ligamentitis. At the beginning, the pain is felt only with some movements and pressure of small amplitude, but gradually it begins to appear at rest. Movements are limited, joints click. The more the disease develops, the more noticeable the retraction and flexion contracture after such clicks.
If the cause of the pain in the joints of the fingers is de Quervain's disease, then the discomfort is noticeable at first only when bending and abducting this finger, but later any movement causes pressing, excruciating pain (and sometimes it is not even necessary to move. if anything, the joint also hurts at rest). The pain syndrome often spreads to the distal phalanx, and in some cases to the forearm from the side where the first finger grows.
Angiotrophoneurosis
When vasospasm occurs, Raynaud's syndrome occurs. Therefore, the fingers become cold and paroxysmally numb. The second stage of the attack is accompanied by exploding and burning pain. The attack does not last long. After that, the distal parts of the hands become red and warm. The causes of this condition, which causes pain in the joints of the fingers, are very diverse. Can be:
- rheumatoid arthritis;
- systemic lupus erythematosus;
- scleroderma;
- Sharp's syndrome;
- antisynthetase syndrome;
- thromboangiitis obliterans of the hands;
- occupational diseases, pathologies of metabolic and endocrine systems.
If none of these diseases are detected in the patient, the cause of pain in the finger joints is Raynaud's disease with a 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, then in the second. The pain attack is so strong that it is simply impossible to move your fingers. You can relieve the pain by elevating or cooling the affected limb (the pain gets worse when the limb is warmed and lowered).
Nervous diseases
If you experience a burning or shooting pain in your finger joint, the cause is most likely neurological. Especially if, in addition to pain, sensitivity of the hand is impaired and vegetative-trophic disorders are observed.
This can be, for example, median nerve neuropathy. With this disease, the palmar side of the first to third fingers hurts and cannot be bent. It is impossible to move the first finger forward, there are also serious problems in squeezing the palm into a fist.
Attacks of pain in the joints of the fingers at night and the disappearance of pain when shaking or lowering the hands can indicate carpal tunnel syndrome. With this type of median nerve neuropathy, the pain is also localized on the palm side.
If neuropathy has developed in the radial nerve, on the contrary, if the wrist or forearm is affected, the back of the hand and the first finger (and sometimes the second and third) hurt. The back of the hand may go numb and the pain may spread to the forearm, even if it is healthy.
If the cause of pain in the joints of the fingers is neuropathy of the ulnar nerve, these pains (in the hand and the fourth and fifth fingers) radiate in nature, and the main source of discomfort is located in the elbow joint. The elbow and hand are very painful, especially in the morning.
Tumors
In addition to malignant neoplasia of the hands (people suffer very rarely), benign tumors can also cause pain in the finger joints: chondroma or osteoid chondroma. In the first case, the pain is mild and not localized, but osteoid osteomas, on the contrary, cause sharp pain in the affected area.
Other reasons
Writer's cramp, which accompanies a number of neurological and mental disorders (especially professional neurosis), causes pain in the finger joints in men and women and requires treatment. Typing, typing on a computer keyboard or typewriter is painful. Nagging, aching pain is accompanied by sharp weakness, tremors in the hands and local cramps. Pain in the joints of the fingers can also be caused by other pathologies:
- leukemia (Waldenström macroglobulinemia);
- neoplasms in the adrenal glands (aldosteroma);
- complications of diabetes (diabetic neuropathy);
- vascular lesions (distal digital embolism in case of blockage of the subclavian artery);
- hereditary diseases (Fabry's disease);
- usually childhood diseases, for example, neuro-arthritic diathesis.
Diagnosis and treatment of pain in finger joints
The correct diagnosis, whether it is an inflammatory or another pathological process, will allow you to determine the real causes of pain in the joints of the fingers. If the pain is very severe and it is difficult to straighten and bend your fingers, be sure to consult a doctor. Your doctor will likely send you for a test, which usually includes:
- laboratory tests of blood, urine, rheumatic tests;
- radiography;
- MRI,
- computed tomography of the fingers.
Treatment tactics are aimed not only at relieving the patient of pain in the joints of the fingers, but also at eliminating its causes. For example, anti-inflammatory drugs (hormonal or non-steroidal) are prescribed for inflammation, and antibiotics are prescribed for infection.
In the case of dystrophic joint damage, the main goal of therapy is the restoration of cartilage tissue, for which massage, physiotherapy and chondroprotectors are used. Special exercises are prescribed to restore joint mobility.
Physical therapy has proven to be the most effective way to treat small joints, including the fingers. These are electrosleep, MRI and electrophoresis with novocaine, as well as a number of other procedures. During the period of remission, it is advisable to receive treatment in a sanatorium or resort using radon or hydrogen sulfide sources.
As for the diet, for pain in the joints of the fingers, regardless of 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;
- consume fish oil and linseed oil (the fatty acids in them help to normalize fat metabolism).
Adding nuts, ginger, fruits (currants and pomegranates), radish and lettuce to your diet is also very useful. However, it is advisable to limit mayonnaise, sweet and starchy, spicy and smoked foods, as well as fatty dairy products.
Prevention of pain in the joints of the fingers
Eliminate the causes of finger joint pain in men and women that do not require treatment:
- do not overcool your hands;
- limit alcohol consumption and if you smoke, quit the habit;
- maintain a balance of vegetables and fruits in your diet, less canned, spicy and fried foods;
- treat all runny noses and ARVI without hoping that the disease will go away by itself;
- Make sure your body weight is normal;
- stop snapping your fingers.
Do a simple exercise to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome, so you don't need to think about how to treat pain in the joints of your fingers and their causes. This is a must if you work a lot on the computer. Form all your fingers into a fist, raise your thumb as if in confirmation, and rotate first clockwise, then counterclockwise. There are many other exercises for the joints of the fingers.
Exercises against pain in the joints of the fingers
Make a fist
Spread your palm, stretch your fingers so that tension is felt in all joints and muscles. This simple movement should not be accompanied by pain.
Do a simple stretch: press your palm into a fist for half a minute to a minute so that your thumb is on top of the rest, then open and spread all your fingers apart. Do this at least four times for each hand.
Stretch your fingers
Repeat a simple exercise to make the joints of the fingers more mobile and relieve pain when bending them (whatever the cause of the pain).
The palm is placed on a flat surface with the back side facing up. The fingers should be straightened without straining the joints and should be held there for 30-60 seconds. Then relax your hand and return to the starting position. Repeat four times with each hand.
Use this exercise to relieve pain and improve joint mobility.
Draw paws
Another exercise for the mobility of the finger joints.
Turn your palm so that the inside is facing you and bend your fingers so that their tips are at the base of the knuckles and the hand looks like a clawed claw. Hold for half a minute or a minute, repeat four times or more for each hand.
Practice your grip
Regardless of the reasons that cause pain in the joints of the fingers, a person must somehow hold things, handle door handles, etc. , so it is advisable to exercise the fingers.
Squeeze the soft ball as hard as you can for a few minutes. let goRepeat 10-15 times with each hand, two or three times a week (but with a break of at least two days between sessions). Exercise is contraindicated for injuries of the joints of the thumb.
pinching
This exercise trains the muscles of the fingers to open various locks and doors with keys, making it easier to refuel the car. Pinch the soft ball with your thumb and any other fingers, hold for half a minute or a minute. It is necessary to repeat pinching for each hand 10-15 times. Like the previous exercise, pinching is performed two to three times a week with a mandatory 48-hour break between sessions and only if the joints of the thumb are not damaged.
Raise your finger
This exercise helps make your joints more mobile and your fingers flexible.
The palm is placed on a smooth surface with the back side facing up. You have to lift and put back each finger one at a time, but you can immediately use all fingers at the same time. This should be done 10-12 times with each hand.
Pull your thumb back
This exercise trains the muscles of the thumb to make it easier to grip and lift objects (such as boxes and bottles).
Wrap your palm and thumb with an elastic band and place it on a table or any flat surface with the back 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 do 10-15 times with each hand. Exercise is done two or three times a week, but no more than once every 48 hours.
This exercise trains the muscles of the thumb to make it easier to grip and lift objects (such as boxes and bottles).
Wrap your palm and thumb with an elastic band and place it on a table or any flat surface with the back 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 do 10-15 times with each hand. Exercise is done two or three times a week, but no more than once every 48 hours.
Twist your thumb
It is also necessary to develop the mobility of the thumb.
Raise your palm in front of you with the back facing down. Alternatively, pull your thumb out to the side and bend it toward your palm to touch the bottom of your little finger. After holding for half a minute or a minute, relax. Repeat these steps four times for each hand.
Touch with your thumb
Stiffness and pain in the joints of the fingers occur for various reasons, but in any case, it is useful to exercise the thumbs so that handwriting, holding a spoon, brushing teeth, etc. such as daily operations should not cause problems. .
Straighten your wrist and place your palm in front of you and touch your thumbs to all the others to form the letter O. After holding for half a minute or a minute, relax your palm. A minimum of four repetitions per arm.
Extend your thumb
Thumbs should be extended.
Raise your hand in front of you, turn your palm toward you, and curl your thumb toward your index finger for half a minute to a minute, then relax. Do this four times with each hand. Then, from the same position, extend your thumb to your palm so that the lower joint is tensed and hold for half a minute to a minute. There are also four repetitions.
The most common causes of pain in the joints of the fingers when bending are not only injuries and infections, but also overwork. If your finger joint is sick, you should take urgent measures: first of all, consult a specialized doctor - a surgeon, neurologist or traumatologist. To eliminate pain, make your joints more mobile and strengthen your muscles, exercise your fingers and palms regularly.