Quite often, patients complain that their finger joints hurt. All pathologies have clear specific symptoms, so a specialist will quickly make a diagnosis and prescribe the correct treatment.
Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is a serious disease accompanied by an inflammatory process. It causes pain in the joints and their deformation. The disease often occurs in people over 30 years old. Women suffer from this disease 3 times more often than men.
Rheumatoid arthritis appears suddenly and is associated with impaired immune system function. In this disease, immune cells mistake match cells for viruses or bacteria and try to eliminate them. The destruction process can take many years.
The following symptoms of the disease are distinguished:
- severe joint pain, worse at night or in the morning;
- joint stiffness after sleep;
- high body temperature;
- sleep disorders;
- fatigue quickly;
- decreased appetite;
- sudden weight loss;
- formation of nodules in the elbow area.
Rheumatoid arthritis develops due to the following factors:
- previous sore throat or flu;
- joint injury;
- infectious diseases;
- long-term stress and depression;
- genetic tendency.
A distinguishing feature of inflammatory rheumatoid arthritis is pain relief with exercise. If the finger joints of the right hand are painful and swollen, similar symptoms appear on the left hand. Over time, the disease can affect other joints.
If you start treatment at an early stage, you can avoid joint deformity and destruction.
Shade!Breastfeeding for two years reduces a woman's risk of rheumatoid arthritis by twofold.
Treatment
Modern treatments for rheumatoid arthritis include:
- ultraviolet light therapy;
- cytostatic drugs;
- taking anti-malarial drugs;
- sulfonamides;
- D-penicillamine.
On average, it takes even an experienced rheumatologist about 6 months to choose the correct treatment, as he examines the patient's characteristics and the patient's ability to tolerate the drug.
What is UV phototherapy?
Chiropractic Therapy Chiropractic Therapy Chiropractic Therapyacupuncture acupuncture acupuncture acupunctureOsteotherapy by doctors is said to be the use of drugs containing gold salts.
Doctors advise using gold preparations at the early stages of the disease. With their help, it is possible to achieve a positive effect in the treatment of acute, rapidly developing pathologies with severe pain and early degenerative changes in the joints. Medicines containing gold are prescribed to patients in cases where non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs do not alleviate their condition.
The main advantage of aurora therapy is that it can be used for concomitant inflammatory pathologies and the presence of malignant tumors. In addition, during research, scientists discovered that gold salts have a positive effect against fungi and some bacteria, including Helicobacter pylori.
The course of treatment with gold preparations is 2-3 months. If during this time the patient's condition does not improve, this technique will be canceled.
Note!Many people experience a recurrence of rheumatoid arthritis some time after gold treatment. A rheumatologist may re-prescribe acupuncture therapy. Sometimes such treatment can last many years if it does not cause negative consequences for other organs.
Is cytostatic therapy effective?
To eliminate the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, people often use cytostatic drugs.
Since the disease is autoimmune in origin, it is not surprising that doctors prescribe immunosuppressants. Their main advantage is high effectiveness at a relatively low dosage. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis are prescribed cytostatic drugs in doses 5 or even 20 times less than cancer patients. The drugs have proven themselves in the fight against severe forms of the disease with a high degree of progression.
Another advantage of treatment with immunosuppressants is the fewest side effects. Very rarely, patients complain of the following symptoms:
- skin rash;
- bowel dysfunction;
- chills;
- difficulty urinating.
If you stop taking the medication or your doctor adjusts the dosage, the side effects will quickly go away. The course of treatment is 1 month.
Treat finger joints with anti-malarial drugs
Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with antimalarial drugs is extremely rare. The main advantage of this treatment is good drug tolerability. A significant disadvantage of this treatment is that the antimalarial drugs act slowly. Their effects are evident after 6-12 months, but the treatment effect is quite weak.
Do sulfonamides help treat rheumatoid arthritis?
Drugs belonging to the sulfonamide group are successfully used to treat finger pain. Their advantages include:
- Good tolerance.
- The level of complications is low, if any.
- Good price.
The disadvantage of these drugs is that they act slowly. Positive effects are evident just 3 months after starting the treatment process.
How to treat disease with D-penicillamine?
If the patient is suitable for treatment with gold preparations or the use of cytostatic drugs, D-penicillamine does not need to be prescribed. It is much inferior to the listed treatments in terms of effectiveness, but is significantly superior in the number of side effects, frequency of occurrence and degree of complications. Therefore, treatment with D-penicillamine is used in cases where the patient does not tolerate gold salts and cytostatic drugs well.
D-penicillamine is used effectively in patients with complications of the heart, respiratory system, or kidneys. It should be done for 3 to 5 years, then take a break for a few years, then repeat the treatment.
Gout - symptoms and treatment
One of the dangerous diseases of joints and tissues is gout. It occurs due to metabolic disorders in the body. Gout is characterized by an increased amount of uric acid in the lymph.
Symptoms of the disease include:
- arthritis of the big toe;
- severe pain in the morning or evening;
- increased body temperature;
- red skin;
- growth in the legs or arms.
If treatment is not started promptly, the patient may develop gouty arthritis. Possible complications also include urinary stones and kidney failure, which can lead to death.
To treat gout, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are used for 1-2 weeks.
To quickly reduce uric acid levels in the body, anti-gout drugs are prescribed.
To eliminate acute symptoms of gout, experts prescribe a drug based on alkaloids of worms of the beautiful lily family. Glucocorticoids are used to reduce swelling and pain. These drugs quickly eliminate inflammation but have a negative effect on the immune system.
Psoriatic arthritis
About 15% of patients diagnosed with psoriasis have finger joint problems. Signs of this disease are:
- joint deformity;
- pain syndrome at night;
- numbness of limbs;
- discoloration of the skin to purplish red at the site of disease development;
- swollen fingers;
- limited mobility.
Most patients with psoriatic arthritis have damage to the nail plates. First, small pits form on their surface, then their color changes due to disruption of microcirculation.
Quite often, pregnant women are diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. This is because the disease also has a hormonal origin and a woman experiences hormonal changes in her body during pregnancy. Increased signs of arthritis in pregnant women are often related to weight gain.
The following causes of psoriatic arthritis are identified:
- injury;
- severe stress and emotional stress;
- excessive physical activity;
- Infectious Diseases;
- genetic tendency.
The following groups of medications are used to treat psoriatic arthritis:
- Non-steroidal drugs. Designed to eliminate inflammation and relieve pain.
- Glucocorticosteroid: injected into the joint cavity.
- Cytostatic drugs belong to the group of folic acid antagonists: they are the most common drugs with systemic effects.
- Immunosuppressants that selectively act on T lymphocytes: are used to slow down changes that occur in bone and cartilage tissue.
For psoriatic arthritis, it is recommended to abandon alcoholic beverages, reduce the consumption of citrus fruits and smoked foods, and adhere to a low-calorie diet.
Osteoarthritis – what is the treatment and consequences of the disease?
Elderly people often complain that their finger joints are swollen. This could be one of the signs of osteoarthritis. The disease can appear for the following reasons:
- hormonal imbalance;
- genetic predisposition;
- occupational stress and trauma;
- Age-related metabolic disorders.
Joint pain can help identify the disease. The correct diagnosis is made by a specialist after X-ray and MRI examination.
Gymnastics will help alleviate the patient's condition. The set of exercises is selected by the doctor, focusing on the individual characteristics of patients with osteoarthritis. Therapy also includes following a diet to lose excess weight, if any. You cannot do without thermal procedures. You should bathe with paraffin, you should add mineral oil.
To eliminate pain and reduce swelling, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug from the group of propionic acid derivatives and acetylsalicylic acid is prescribed. Among analgesics, drugs of the anilide group are often used. Massage sessions will help warm up muscles and improve blood circulation.
If treatment is not started promptly, the person will not be able to perform daily activities in the future. In such cases, joint replacement surgery cannot be avoided.
What is rhizarthrosis?
If a patient has pain in the thumb, this may indicate that he has rhizarthrosis. The causes of this phenomenon may be:
- joint overload;
- past infectious diseases;
- injury;
- body poisoning.
Treatment of rhizarthrosis in stages 1-2 includes taking chondroprotective drugs. They trigger the appearance of new cartilage cells, helping to eliminate diseases.
The use of manual therapy to treat rhizarthrosis is quite common. The therapist can re-adjust the changed joint, thanks to which the pain syndrome disappears. Additionally, you can massage your thumb to increase the tone of cartilage tissue and improve joint mobility.
If the patient is diagnosed with stage 3 rhizarthrosis, intra-articular injection of hyaluronic acid will be indicated. It is also effective when using glucocorticosteroids and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. They increase blood flow to the affected joint, eliminate pain and reduce swelling.
Folk remedies for sore fingers
You can cope with pain not only with the help of drugs, but also by using folk remedies. For acute pain, using a compress soaked in apple cider vinegar will be effective. To reduce swelling, compresses with grilled onions or boiled potatoes are perfect. It is useful to warm sore joints with hot sea salt and rub with fir oil.
tincture
A popular treatment is tinctures. You can use vodka for its preparation. You should take 50 ml of vodka and 30 ml of valerian tincture, mix both ingredients and add a few red peppers. After 3 hours, moisten a cotton swab in the resulting mixture and apply to the knuckles. The positive effect is noticeable after a month of such treatment.
Another effective remedy is a tincture made from chestnut flowers. It is enough to collect raw materials and mix them with vodka. Leave for 14 to 20 days. Rub the product when your fingers are numb and you feel pain. Instead of chestnut inflorescences, it is allowed to use lilac flowers.
Ointment
If your joints hurt when squeezing your fingers, you should use mustard and honey ointment. To prepare, combine 5 g of mustard and 15 g of honey. Next, add 30 ml of olive oil, boil the mixture in a water bath until it thickens, cool and use daily to treat affected joints.
To relieve pain in the index finger joint of the right hand, it is recommended to use an ointment made from bay leaves and juniper needles. Both ingredients should be mixed in equal proportions, then add 50 g of butter. You can use the ointment during regular joint massage.