Hands are very important to humans.With their help, we do almost all the work, moreover, only the graceful movements of the fingers allow us to write, draw, play musical instruments and create works of art.However, it often happens that pain in the finger joints prevents us from carrying out familiar and everyday movements.Only then does a person begin to appreciate this part of their body.Why such a symptom develops, what it can warn us about and how to deal with it - we'll talk about this below.
Briefly about anatomy
The hand is the distal part of the human upper extremity, consisting of a variety of bones, joints, muscles and ligaments.The hand consists of three anatomical parts - the wrist, the metacarpal bone and the skeleton of the phalanges.When we talk about pain in the finger joints, we mean the base joints, the base joints and the end joints.Due to their superficial location and high motor activity, these joints are the most susceptible to negative effects of all the joints of the hand.
The basal joints consist of the heads of the metacarpals and the bases of the basal phalanges of the fingers.The shape of the joint is spherical, allowing a range of movements in flexion and extension, adduction and abduction, and circular rotation.
Interphalangeal joints are divided into proximal (between the proximal and middle phalanges) and distal (between the middle and distal phalanges).Only the skeleton of the first finger, due to its characteristics and functions, has an interphalangeal joint (since the finger consists of two, and not three phalanges like the others).These joints have the shape of a block, which provides them with a range of motion that is only in the range of flexion and extension.
Main causes of pain
If your finger joints hurt when resting or hurt when you move, you most likely have a disease that affects these musculoskeletal structures.Due to normal fatigue, pain in the fingers rarely occurs.This is possible, for example, with school children after the summer holidays, when the fingers have not been exposed to stress for a long time, and in similar situations.However, such pain is characterized as a feeling of fatigue, does not require treatment and disappears quickly after minimal rest.
Persistent pain in the finger joints can indicate the following diseases:
- rheumatoid arthritis;
- polyosteoarthrosis;
- gouty arthritis;
- psoriatic arthritis;
- stenosing ligamentitis;
- acute infectious arthritis (bacteria, viruses, fungi).
Let's consider each option individually.In any case, knowing the characteristics of a particular disease, you can identify the true causes of pain in the finger joints and prescribe the correct treatment.
Factors contributing to damage to finger joints:
- presence of autoimmune diseases and disorders;
- the presence of chronic foci of infection in the body (carious teeth, chronic tonsillitis, sinusitis);
- hormonal imbalance in the body, endocrine pathology;
- Diseases associated with metabolic disorders;
- genetic predisposition;
- history of traumatic injuries to the hands;
- constant negative impact of environmental factors (cold, hot water or air, vibration);
- Occupational hazards.
Rheumatoid arthritis
This chronic autoimmune musculoskeletal disease is the most common cause of damage to small joints, especially the finger joints.The disease progresses in waves with alternating phases of exacerbation and remission.It affects all age groups of patients and is more commonly observed in women than in men.
The initial stages of rheumatoid arthritis are characterized by pain in the small joints of the hand, sometimes it even hurts to bend the hand into a fist.An exacerbation is accompanied by inflammatory changes in the diseased joints - swelling, redness, an increase in local skin temperature over the diseased joints, the inability to perform full range of motion, initially due to pain and later due to deformities of the hand.
A characteristic symptom of rheumatoid arthritis is pain in the hands in the morning and a feeling of stiffness.Sometimes it hurts to perform any movements for a long time - the stiffness disappears by midday or even in the evening.
In the later stages of the disease, irreversible changes occur in the joint and musculoskeletal system of the hands with the development of typical deformations, which are known as the hallmarks of rheumatoid arthritis:
- hand with lorgnette;
- like a boutonniere;
- gooseneck;
- The fingers have a button position.
If the disease worsens, general symptoms can also be observed - fever, loss of appetite, muscle pain and poor health.Rheumatoid arthritis can affect any joint in the body, but a favorite location is the finger joints.
Polyosteoarthrosis
This is a chronic degenerative-dystrophic disease of the joints.Typically, osteoarthritis affects large joints of the body (knees, hips, ankles), but sometimes small joints of the hands are also involved in the pathological process.In addition, the symptoms most often occur in women during menopause, which confirms the connection of the disease with the estrogen background of the body.
Pain in the fingers in polyosteoarthritis occurs more often in the evening, after a day of work and physical stress on the joints, and not in the morning, as in rheumatoid arthritis.Signs of inflammation are rarely accompanied by a crunching noise in the affected joints.As the pathological process progresses, the joints become deformed over time and their mobility is lost, which often means that small movements are no longer possible and sometimes even impossible to maintain independently.
Characteristic signs of polyosteoarthrosis of the fingers are specific formations – Bouchard and Heberden nodes.Bouchard's nodes are formations that gradually develop near the affected proximal interphalangeal joints.Their preferred location is the lateral surfaces of these joints, which leads to a peculiar fusiform thickening of the fingers and limited mobility of the hands.
Heberden's nodes are formations that grow on the lateral surface of the distal interphalangeal joints.In contrast to Bouchard's nodes, their growth is accompanied by symptoms of inflammation and pain.As polyosteoarthrosis progresses, the fingers become knotted, which can be described as a pathognomonic sign of this disease.
One form of polyosteoarthrosis of the fingers is rhizarthrosis.This is a lesion of the metatarsophalangeal joint of the index finger.Caused by constant strain on this joint.Difficulties often arise when making a diagnosis, since the pathology of this localization 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 progresses with periods of exacerbations and remissions.The preferred location is the distal interphalangeal joints.In some cases, psoriatic arthritis occurs as pandactylitis, when the entire finger suffers - it swells, turns red, hurts not only in the morning but constantly, practically does not bend and has the shape of a sausage.Recognizing psoriatic arthritis is usually not difficult - in addition to damage to the fingers, typical psoriatic skin rashes can also be observed.
Gouty arthritis
Gout is a metabolic disease characterized by a disorder of purine metabolism with excessive formation of uric acid, which is stored in the form of salts in the peripheral tissues and joint capsule.Although gout primarily affects the big toe, it also commonly occurs on the fingers.The basal joints, especially the thumb, are involved in the pathological process.
Gouty arthritis has a paroxysmal course.During an exacerbation, the pain is so severe that the patient cannot even touch the affected area.Pain is accompanied by symptoms of inflammation – swelling, redness and increased local temperature.
You may also observe painless subcutaneous deposits of uric acid salts characteristic of gout called tophi, which can vary in size from barely noticeable to gigantic.
Stenosing ligamentitis
This pathology is very often confused with arthrosis and arthritis.It is caused by inflammation of the ring ligaments of the fingers.This leads to pain during active and passive movements with targeted clicks.X-rays help with diagnosis;Pathological changes will not be visible on the images if the ligaments are inflamed.As a rule, local therapy for this condition, such as an 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 the joint directly from the external environment, are transported through the bloodstream, or can invade from neighboring tissues.Infectious arthritis occurs with severe pain, inflammation and disruption of the patient's general condition.
Determining the true cause of pain in the finger joints plays a very important role, because once you recognize the enemy by sight, it becomes much easier to fight him.Therefore, treatment of joint pathology should be primarily etiological and then symptomatic.