Quite often, patients complain that their finger joints hurt. All pathologies have pronounced specific symptoms, so the 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. Pathology usually occurs in people over 30 years of age. Women suffer from it 3 times more often than men.
Rheumatoid arthritis comes on suddenly and is associated with impaired immune system function. In this disease, the immune cells mistake the joint cells for viruses or bacteria and try to eliminate them. The demolition process can take many years.
The following symptoms of the disease are distinguished:
- severe pain in the joints, worse at night or in the morning;
- stiffness in joints after sleep;
- high body temperature;
- sleep disorder;
- rapid fatigue;
- 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 injuries;
- infectious pathology;
- long-term stress and depression;
- genetic predisposition.
A distinctive feature of rheumatoid arthritis from arthrosis is the reduction of pain during exercise. If the joints of the fingers of the right hand hurt and swell, then the same symptoms appear on the left hand. Over time, the disease can affect other joints.
If you start the therapy at an early stage, you can avoid deformation and destruction of the joint.
Nuance!Breastfeeding for two years reduces the risk of rheumatoid arthritis in women by 2 times.
Treatment
Modern methods of treating rheumatoid arthritis include the following:
- aurotherapy;
- cytostatics;
- taking antimalarial drugs;
- sulfonamides;
- D-penicillamine.
On average, even an experienced rheumatologist takes about 6 months to choose the right treatment method by studying the patient's characteristics and his tolerance to drugs.
What is aurotherapy?
Aurotherapy involves taking drugs that contain gold salts.
Doctors recommend the use of gold preparations in the initial stage of the disease. With their help, it is possible to achieve a positive effect in the treatment of acute, rapidly developing pathology with severe pain and early degenerative changes in the joints. Gold-based drugs are prescribed to patients in cases where non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have not relieved their condition.
The main advantage of aurotherapy is that it can be used for concomitant inflammatory pathologies and the presence of malignant tumors. Also, during the study, scientists found that gold salts actively fight fungi and some bacteria, including Helicobacter pylori.
The course of treatment with gold preparations is 2-3 months. If during this period the patient's condition does not improve, then this technique is canceled.
Note!Many people experience relapses of rheumatoid arthritis some time after gold treatment. The rheumatologist can prescribe aurotherapy again. Sometimes such treatment can last for years if it does not lead to negative consequences for other organs.
Is cytostatic therapy effective?
To eliminate the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, it is common to use cytostatics.
Since the disease is of autoimmune origin, it is not surprising that doctors prescribe immunosuppressants. Their main advantage is high efficiency at a relatively low dosage. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis are prescribed 5 or even 20 times smaller doses of cytostatics than cancer patients. Medicines 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 minimal number of side effects. Quite rarely, patients complain of the following symptoms:
- skin rash;
- bowel dysfunction;
- chills;
- difficulty urinating.
If the drug is stopped or the doctor adjusts the dose, the side effects quickly disappear. The course of treatment is 1 month.
Treatment of finger joints with antimalarial drugs
Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis with antimalarial drugs is extremely rare. The main advantage of this treatment is the good tolerability of the drugs. A major disadvantage of this treatment is that the antimalarial drugs work slowly. Their effect is noticeable after 6-12 months, but the therapeutic effect is quite weak.
Will sulfonamides help rheumatoid arthritis?
Medicines from the group of sulfonamides are used successfully to treat pain in the fingers. Their advantages include:
- Good tolerance.
- Low rate of complications, if any.
- Affordable price.
The disadvantage of these drugs is their slow action. The positive effect is noticeable only 3 months after the start of the course of therapy.
How to treat the disease with D-penicillamine?
If the patient is suitable for treatment with gold preparations or the use of a cytostatic, then it is not necessary to prescribe D-penicillamine. It is much lower than the listed methods of treatment in terms of effectiveness, but it significantly surpasses them in the number of side effects, the frequency of their occurrence and the degree of complications. Therefore, treatment with D-penicillamine is used in cases where patients do not tolerate gold salts and cytostatics well.
D-penicillamine is used effectively in patients who have complications in the heart, respiratory system, or kidneys. It should be taken from 3 to 5 years, then a break for several years will be necessary, after which the course should be repeated.
Gout - symptoms and treatment
One of the dangerous diseases of joints and tissues is gout. This is 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:
- inflammation of the big toe joint;
- severe pressing pain in the morning or at night;
- increased body temperature;
- redness of the skin;
- growths on the legs or arms.
If treatment is not started promptly, the patient may develop gouty arthritis. Possible complications also include urolithiasis and kidney failure, which can lead to death.
For the treatment of gout, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are used for 1-2 weeks.
Anti-gout drugs are prescribed to quickly reduce the concentration of uric acid in the body.
To eliminate the acute symptoms of gout, experts prescribe a drug based on the alkaloid of the bulbs of the magnificent lily family. Glucocorticoids are used to relieve 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 problems with the finger joints. Signs of this disease are:
- deformity of the joint;
- pain syndrome at night;
- numbness of the limbs;
- discoloration of the skin in burgundy color at the site of development of the disease;
- swelling of the finger;
- limited mobility.
Most patients suffering from psoriatic arthritis experience 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 due to the fact that the disease also has a hormonal origin and a woman undergoes hormonal changes in her body during pregnancy. Increased signs of arthritis in pregnant women are often associated with weight gain.
The following causes of psoriatic arthritis have been identified:
- injuries;
- strong stress and emotional stress;
- excessive physical activity;
- infectious diseases;
- hereditary predisposition.
The following groups of drugs are used to treat psoriatic arthritis:
- Nonsteroidal drugs. Designed to eliminate inflammation and reduce pain.
- Glucocorticosteroids: injected into the joint cavity.
- Cytostatic from the group of folic acid antagonists: is the most popular systemic drug.
- An immunosuppressant that selectively acts on T-lymphocytes: it is used to slow down changes occurring in bone and cartilage tissue.
In psoriatic arthritis, it is recommended to give up alcoholic beverages, reduce the consumption of citrus fruits and smoked foods, and stick to a low-calorie diet.
Osteoarthritis - how to treat it and what are the consequences of the disease?
Elderly people quite often complain that the joints of their fingers are swollen. This may be one of the signs of osteoarthritis. The disease can appear due to the following reasons:
- hormonal imbalance;
- genetic predisposition;
- occupational stress and injuries;
- age-related metabolic disorder.
Joint pain can help identify the disease. The exact diagnosis is made by a specialist after X-ray examination and MRI.
Gymnastics will help alleviate the patient's condition. The complex of exercises is selected by the doctor, focusing on the individual characteristics of the patient with arthrosis. The therapy also includes following a diet to lose extra pounds, if any. You can not do without thermal procedures. Paraffin baths to which mineral oil is added are recommended.
To eliminate pain and relieve swelling, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug from the group of derivatives of propionic acid and acetylsalicylic acid is prescribed. Among the analgesics, a drug from the anilide group is often used. Massage sessions will help warm up your muscles and improve blood circulation.
If treatment is not started on time, the person will become unable to cope with his 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, it may mean that he has rhizarthrosis. The reasons for this phenomenon can be:
- joint overload;
- past infectious disease;
- injuries;
- intoxication of the body.
Treatment of rhizarthrosis at stages 1-2 includes taking chondroprotectors. They activate the process of the appearance of new cartilage cells, which helps to eliminate the disease.
The use of manual therapy for the treatment of rhizarthrosis is quite popular. The therapist can realign the changed joint, as a result of which the pain syndrome will disappear. In addition, you can massage the thumb to increase the tone of the cartilage tissue and improve the mobility of the joints.
If the patient is diagnosed with the 3rd stage of rhizarthrosis, then intra-articular injections of hyaluronic acid are prescribed. It is also effective to use glucocorticosteroids and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. They increase blood flow to the affected joint, relieve pain and reduce swelling.
Traditional medicine for finger pain
You can cope with the pain not only with the help of drugs, but also by resorting to folk remedies. For acute pain, it is effective to use gauze soaked in apple cider vinegar. To relieve swelling, compresses with baked onions or boiled potatoes are perfect. It is helpful to warm the affected joint with hot sea salt and rub it with fir oil.
Tinctures
One common treatment method is tinctures. You can use vodka for preparation. You need to take 50 ml of vodka and 30 ml of valerian tincture, mix the two components and add a few pods of red pepper. After 3 hours, moisten a cotton pad in the resulting mixture and apply to the phalanx. The positive effect is noticeable after a month of such treatment.
Another effective remedy is a tincture based on chestnut blossom. It is enough to collect the raw materials and mix them with vodka. Leave for 14 to 20 days. Rub the product when your fingers are numb and feel pain. Instead of chestnut inflorescences, it is allowed to use lilac.
Ointments
If your joints hurt when you squeeze your fingers, you should use mustard and honey ointment. To prepare it, mix 5 g of mustard and 15 g of honey. Then add 30 ml of olive oil, evaporate the mixture in a water bath to a thick consistency, cool and use daily to treat the affected joints.
For pain in the joint of the index finger of the right hand, an ointment based on bay leaf and juniper needles is recommended. Both components should be mixed in equal proportions, after which 50 g of oil should be added. You can use the ointment during regular joint massage.