Arthritis of hands and fingers: what is it? Methods of treatment

Arthritis is a different kind of inflammation of the joints, accompanied by the defeat of the synovial membrane (snowball), capsule or articular cartilage, other elements.

The most common forms of arthritis are rheumatoid, ankylosing spondylitis and gouty. This disease can be acute, subacute and chronic.

Arthritis of the hands: what is it?

The hand brush itself is a complex and delicate tool of the human body and more often than not its other parts are susceptible various trams, infectious diseases, pathological changes and injuries that provoke development disease. Most often the disease affects the small joints of the fingers.

Symptoms of arthritis include:

• prolonged painful sensations in the morning;
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• constant fatigue and malaise;
• pain and stiffness, which occurs when moving after being in a stationary state (characterizes the chronic form);
• creaking in joints or their deformation;
• the formation of nodules under the skin;
• tingling and partial numbness in the wrist area (with rheumatoid arthritis of the hands);
• severe pain, high fever, swelling in the joint area (indicating an acute form).

The disease develops in stages. In the beginning, there is inflammatory pain, which increases when you try to move. After that, the periarticular tissues begin to become inflamed, and the joint itself - to change the appearance (swells and becomes hot, redness and small swelling appear).

The most common types of arthritis:

• rheumatoid;
• osteoarthritis;
• infectious.

In the first case, the disease affects small joints and connective tissue. A clear sign is the symmetry of the lesion (if inflammation is found on the right hand, then it will also appear on the left), the deformation of the fingers acquiring a spindle shape.

In the second, wear of cartilaginous tissues is implied. This form is manifested through pain in the wrist, metacarpal and wrist joints.

With infectious arthritis, the patient experiences aching pain in the hand, especially during the night or after physical exertion.

Methods of treatment

To effectively treat this disease, you need to undergo the appropriate diagnosis. Treatment is carried out by a stationary doctor-rheumatologist. It also includes preventive measures and a number of medications.

Additionally for treatment can be applied:

• Therapeutic physical training (swimming or gymnastics);
• heating (using UV, laser, infrared radiation);
• magnetotherapy (the magnetic field affects the hand, thereby expanding the blood vessels and reducing blood viscosity, so the tissues are provided with normal nutrition, the pain disappears, and the swelling subsides);
• electrophoresis (with concomitant drug treatment the current helps the drugs taken penetrate deep into the affected arthritic joints of the hands);
• special diet;
• operative intervention.

With the help of diet you can get rid of unpleasant symptoms of the disease. To do this, it is necessary to exclude from the diet fatty and starchy foods, salted and fried, and instead of them use dairy products, a large number of fruits and vegetables, as well as foods rich in antioxidants and vitamin E).

Treatment of joints involving surgical intervention is the most radical method. In this case, there are two options: either a prosthesis will be implanted in the place of the affected joint, or will be performed artodes (allows bones that take part in the formation of a damaged joint, grow together).

Arthritis of the fingers: causes and symptoms

Since the fingers often perform heavy and rather difficult work, they are especially prone to inflammation.

The disease can be caused by:

• rheumatism, rheumatoid arthritis and other connective tissue diseases;
• a metabolic disorder in the form of gout and diabetes mellitus;
• septic infections;
• tuberculosis, syphilis and other specific infectious diseases;
• adverse external influences (hypothermia of the fingers, high humidity, constant vibration);
• age-related changes.

How correctly and correctly to treat illness? Everything depends on the mechanism of the disease. For example, if the fingers are injured by the rheumatoid form, the connective tissue in the joints changes under the influence of its own immune system, which leads to an autoimmune disease.

Symptoms of arthritis of the fingers:

• painful sensations in the region of the joints, arising and amplifying when trying to move a hand;
• increased body temperature;
• discomfort when trying to perform any action with your fingers;
• swelling, redness.

Diagnosis of the disease can be done only after examination by a doctor.

To detect the disease, a qualified doctor will:

• interviewing the patient (to find out what complaints he has, than the patient is sick or sick in the past);
• examination (to identify the characteristic symptoms);
• standard examination (will appoint a general urine test, general and biochemical blood tests);
• X-ray examination (the most informative method, allowing to establish the degree of severity and the stage at which arthritis is present at the moment);
• additional examinations (if necessary).

How to treat arthritis of fingers: traditional methods and folk remedies

Most often, doctors prescribe medications that prevent the destruction of cartilage tissue (for this there is chondroprotective drugs) and various physiotherapy procedures in order to normalize functioning and mobility finger joints.

Physiotherapy procedures include:

• thermal procedures;
• electrophoresis, ultrasound (allows to remove puffiness and pain);
• massage;
• applications of mud and paraffin;
• Gymnastics in water for fingers of a hand, and also in a lying position.

As folk remedies use:

• wiping with fruit vinegar;
• the use of juices, herbal teas, as well as salads of black elderberry, horseradish leaves, dandelion;
• curd, flour or potato compresses, superimposed on the sick fingers of the hand;
• calendula and eucalyptus baths;
• massage with rubbing hands with warming ointments.

It is recommended to use ointments based on NSAIDs, to which belongButadine, "Fastum-gel"andIndomethacin. To anesthetize the joints rubbingIbuprofen, "Aspirin"orKetoprofen, used in conjunction with other methods of treatment. In chronic form, they can not be cured, but can significantly reduce pain.