Hands are very important for a person.With their help, we do almost everything, besides, only the delicate movements of the fingers allow us to write, draw, play musical instruments and create works of art.But it often happens that pain in the joints of the fingers prevents us from doing familiar and everyday actions.Only then does a person begin to appreciate this part of the body.Why such a symptom develops, what can warn us and how to deal with it - we will talk below.
Briefly about anatomy
The hand is the distal part of the human upper limb, which consists of many bones, joints, muscles and ligaments.The hand is made of 3 anatomical parts - wrist, metacarpus and the skeleton of the phalanges of the fingers.When they say pain in the joints of the fingers, they mean the metacarpophalangeal, proximal and distal interphalangeal joints.These joints are the most sensitive to the negative effects of all the joints of the hand due to their superficial location and high motor activity.
The metacarpophalangeal joints consist of the heads of the metacarpal bones and the bases of the proximal phalanges of the fingers.The shape of the joint is spherical, which provides a range of motion in the range of flexion and extension, adduction and abduction, as well as circular rotation.
Interphalangeal joints are divided into proximal (between the proximal and middle phalanx of the fingers) and distal (between the middle and distal phalanx of the fingers).Only the skeleton of the first finger has an interphalangeal joint due to its characteristics and functions (because the finger is not made of three phalanges like the others, but of two).These joints are block-like, allowing them only a range of motion in the range of flexion and extension.
The main causes of pain
If your finger joints hurt at rest or when you move, you probably have a disease that affects these structures of the musculoskeletal system.Pain in the fingers rarely develops due to normal fatigue.This is possible, for example, in schoolchildren after the summer vacation, when the fingers are not stressed for a long time and in similar situations.However, such pain is characterized as a feeling of fatigue, does not require treatment, and passes quickly after minimal rest.
Constant pain in the joints of the fingers can indicate the following diseases:
- rheumatoid arthritis;
- polyosteoarthrosis;
- gouty arthritis;
- psoriatic arthritis;
- stenosing ligamentitis;
- acute infectious arthritis (bacterial, viral, fungal).
Let's consider each option separately.Knowing the characteristics of a particular disease will help to suspect the true causes of pain in the joints of your fingers and prescribe the right treatment in each case.
Factors contributing to finger joint damage:
- the presence of autoimmune diseases and disorders;
- the presence of chronic infection centers in the body (carious teeth, chronic tonsillitis, sinusitis);
- hormonal imbalance in the body, endocrine pathology;
- diseases accompanied by metabolic disorders;
- genetic predisposition;
- history of traumatic injuries of the hands;
- constant negative impact of environmental factors (cold, hot water or air, vibration);
- occupational hazards.
Rheumatoid arthritis
This chronic autoimmune disease of the musculoskeletal system is the most common cause of damage to small joints, especially the joints of the fingers.The disease has an undulating course with periods of exacerbation and remission.It affects all age groups of patients and is more common in women than in men.
The initial stages of rheumatoid arthritis are characterized by pain in the small joints of the hand, sometimes it hurts even to make a fist.Exacerbation is accompanied by inflammatory changes in the diseased joints - swelling, redness, increased temperature of the local skin over the diseased joints, first pain, and then the inability to fully perform the range of motion due to deformations of the hand.
A characteristic symptom of rheumatoid arthritis is pain and stiffness in the hands in the morning.Sometimes it hurts to do any movement for a long time - the stiffness disappears by lunch time or even in the evening.
In the later stages of the disease, irreversible changes occur in the articular and musculo-ligament apparatus of the hands with the development of typical deformations, which are called signs of rheumatoid arthritis:
- hand with lorgnette;
- as a boutonniere;
- swan neck;
- fingers have a keying position.
With the exacerbation of the disease, general symptoms can also be observed - fever, loss of appetite, muscle pain and deterioration of health.Rheumatoid arthritis can affect any joint in the body, but a favorite place is the joints of the fingers.
Polyosteoarthrosis
This is a chronic degenerative-dystrophic disease of the joints.Typically, osteoarthritis affects the large joints of the body (knee, hip, ankle), but sometimes the small joints of the hands are also involved in the pathological process.Moreover, the symptoms occur most often in women during menopause, which confirms the connection of the disease with the body's estrogen background.
With polyosteoarthritis, pain in the fingers appears more often in the evening after a working day and physical stress on the joints, not in the morning, as in rheumatoid arthritis.It is accompanied by a crackling sound in the affected joints, rarely occurs with signs of inflammation.Over time, as the pathological process progresses, the joints are deformed and their mobility is lost, which often leads to the inability to perform small movements, and sometimes even to stand independently.
Characteristic signs of polyosteoarthrosis of the fingers are specific formations - Bouchard's and Heberden's nodes.Bouchard nodes are formations that gradually develop near the affected proximal interphalangeal joints.Their favorite location is the lateral surfaces of these joints, which causes a peculiar fusiform thickening of the fingers and limited mobility in the hands.
Heberden's nodes are formations that grow on the lateral surface of the distal interphalangeal joints.Their growth, unlike Bouchard's nodes, is accompanied by symptoms of inflammation and pain.As polyosteoarthrosis progresses, the fingers become knotted, which can be called the pathognomonic signs of this disease.
A type of polyosteoarthrosis of the fingers is rhizarthrosis.This is an injury to the metacarpophalangeal joint of the first finger of the hand.It develops due to constant loads in this joint.Difficulties often arise when making a diagnosis, because the pathology of this location is also characteristic of psoriatic and gouty arthritis.
Psoriatic arthritis
Contrary to popular belief, psoriasis is not just a skin disease;In 10-15% of cases, the pathology occurs with damage to the joints.The disease occurs with periods of exacerbation and remission.A favorite site is the distal interphalangeal joints.In some cases, psoriatic arthritis occurs as pandactylitis, the whole finger suffers - it swells, reddens, hurts only in the morning, but constantly, practically does not bend and is in the shape of a sausage.Psoriatic arthritis is usually not difficult to recognize - typical psoriatic skin rashes can be seen along with finger lesions.
Gouty arthritis
Gout is a metabolic disease characterized by disruption of purine metabolism with excessive formation of uric acid stored in the form of salts in peripheral tissues and joint capsule.Although gout mainly affects the thumb, localization in the fingers is also common.The metacarpophalangeal joints, especially the thumb, are involved in the pathological process.
Gouty arthritis has a paroxysmal course.During an exacerbation, the pain becomes so strong that the patient cannot even touch the affected area.Pain is accompanied by signs of inflammation - swelling, redness and local temperature increase.
You can also observe the painless subcutaneous deposits of uric acid salts characteristic of gout, which can vary in size from barely noticeable to huge.
Stenotic ligamentitis
This pathology is often confused with arthrosis and arthritis.It is based on inflammation of the annular ligaments of the fingers.This causes pain during active and passive movements in them with specific clicks.X-rays help in diagnosis;with ligamentitis, pathological changes will not be visible in the images.As a rule, local therapy for this disease, for example, anesthetic ointment, is more effective than for other lesions.
Acute infectious arthritis
In most cases, infectious lesions occur as monoarthritis - damage to one joint, rarely two or more joints are involved in the pathological process.This pathology can be caused by any pathological microorganisms that can penetrate directly into the joint from the external environment, can be carried by the blood stream, or can penetrate from neighboring tissues.Infectious arthritis occurs with severe pain, inflammation and deterioration of the patient's general condition.
Determining the real cause of pain in the joints of the fingers plays a very important role, because after recognizing the enemy by sight, it is easier to deal with it.Therefore, the treatment of articular pathology should be etiological first, and then symptomatic.