Hands are very important for a person.With their help, we perform almost all tasks, besides, only the graceful movements of our 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 performing familiar and everyday movements.Only then does a person begin to appreciate this part of his body.Why such a symptom develops, what it can warn us about and how to deal with it - we will talk below.
Anatomy in brief
The hand is the distal part of the human upper limb, which consists of a large number of bones, joints, muscles and ligaments.The hand is made up of 3 anatomical parts - the wrist, the metacarpus and the skeleton of the phalanges of the fingers.When pain in the finger joints is mentioned, the metacarpophalangeal, proximal and distal interphalangeal joints are meant.These joints are the most susceptible to negative effects of all hand joints 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 enables a range of movements 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 phalanges of the fingers) and distal (between the middle and distal phalanges of the fingers).Only the skeleton of the first finger, due to its characteristics and functions, has one interphalangeal joint (since the finger is made of two and not three phalanges, like the others).These joints are shaped like a block, which allows them a range of motion in the range of just flexion and extension.
The main causes of pain
If your finger joints hurt at rest or become painful when moving, then you most likely have a disease that affects these structures of the musculoskeletal system.Pain in the fingers rarely occurs due to normal fatigue.This is possible, for example, with schoolchildren after the summer vacation, when the fingers have not been under stress for a long time and in similar situations.But such pain is characterized as a feeling of fatigue, does not require treatment and quickly disappears after minimal rest.
Persistent pain in the finger joints may 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 certain disease will help you in any case to suspect the real causes of pain in the finger joints and prescribe the correct treatment.
Factors that contribute to finger joint damage:
- the presence of autoimmune diseases and disorders;
- the presence of chronic foci of infection in the body (caries teeth, chronic tonsillitis, sinusitis);
- hormonal imbalance in the body, endocrine pathology;
- diseases that are accompanied by metabolic disorders;
- genetic predisposition;
- history of traumatic hand injuries;
- constant negative influence of environmental factors (cold, hot water or air, vibrations);
- occupational hazards.
Rheumatoid arthritis
This chronic autoimmune disease of the musculoskeletal system is the most common cause of damage to small joints, especially finger joints.The disease has an undulating course with alternating periods of exacerbation and remission.It affects all age groups of patients and is observed more often in women than in men.
The initial stage of rheumatoid arthritis is characterized by pain in the small joints of the hand, sometimes it even hurts to bend the hand into the fist.Worsening is accompanied by inflammatory changes in the affected joints - swelling, redness, increase in local temperature of the skin over the affected joints, inability to fully perform movements, first due to pain, and later due to deformity 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 lunch or even in the evening.
In the later stages of the disease, irreversible changes occur in the joint and muscle-ligament apparatus of the hands with the development of typical deformities, which are called the hallmark of rheumatoid arthritis:
- hand with lornette;
- like a button;
- swan's neck;
- the fingers have a buttoning position.
Along with the worsening of the disease, 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 the favorite location is the joints of the fingers.
Polyosteoarthrosis
This is a chronic degenerative-dystrophic joint disease.Osteoarthritis typically affects the large joints of the body (knees, hips, ankles), but sometimes the small joints of the hands are also involved in the pathological process.Moreover, the symptoms most often occur in women in menopause, which confirms the connection of the disease with the estrogenic background of the body.
Finger pain in polyosteoarthritis occurs more often in the evening, after a working day and physical stress on the joints, and not in the morning, as in rheumatoid arthritis.Accompanied by creaking in the affected joints, it rarely occurs with signs of inflammation.Over time, as the pathological process progresses, the joints are deformed and lose their mobility, which often leads to the inability to perform small movements, and sometimes even self-maintenance.
Characteristic signs of finger polyosteoarthrosis are specific formations - Bouchard's and Heberden's nodes.Bouchard nodes are formations that gradually develop near the affected proximal interphalangeal joints.Their favorite place of localization is the lateral surfaces of these joints, which leads to 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.Unlike Bouchard's nodes, their growth is accompanied by symptoms of inflammation and pain.As polyosteoarthrosis progresses, the fingers become knotty, which can be called the pathognomonic signs of this disease.
A type of finger polyosteoarthrosis is rhizarthrosis.This is a lesion of the metacarpophalangeal joint of the first finger of the hand.It develops due to constant loads on this joint.Difficulties often arise when establishing a diagnosis, because 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 joint damage.The disease occurs with periods of exacerbations and remissions.The preferred location is the distal interphalangeal joints.In some cases, psoriatic arthritis occurs as pandactylitis, when the whole finger suffers - it becomes swollen, red, hurts not only in the morning, but constantly, it practically does not bend, and it is in the shape of a sausage.Recognizing psoriatic arthritis is usually not difficult - typical psoriatic skin rashes can be seen along with damage to the fingers.
Gouty arthritis
Gout is a metabolic disease characterized by a disorder of purine metabolism with excessive production of uric acid, which is stored in the form of salt in peripheral tissues and the joint capsule.Although gout mainly affects the big toe, localization on the fingers is also common.Metacarpophalangeal joints, especially the thumb, are involved in the pathological process.
Gouty arthritis has a paroxysmal course.During an exacerbation, the pain is so strong 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 notice 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 based on inflammation of the annular ligaments of the fingers.This leads to pain during active and passive movements in them with specific clicks.X-rays help with diagnosis;pathological changes will not be visible on images with ligamentitis.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 appear 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, be transmitted through the bloodstream or penetrate from neighboring tissues.Infectious arthritis occurs with severe pain, inflammation and disturbance of the patient's general condition.
Determining the real cause of pain in the joints of the fingers plays a very important role, because once you recognize the enemy by sight, it becomes much easier to fight with him.Therefore, the treatment of joint pathology should be primarily etiological and then symptomatic.