It is not uncommon for patients to complain about pain in their finger joints. All pathologies have pronounced specific symptoms, so a specialist can quickly make a diagnosis and prescribe the correct treatment.
Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is a serious disease associated with an inflammatory process. It causes pain in the joints and their deformation. The pathology usually occurs in people over 30 years old. Women suffer from it three times more often than men.
Rheumatoid arthritis occurs suddenly and is associated with impaired immune system function. In this disease, immune cells mistake joint cells for viruses or bacteria and try to eliminate them. The destruction process can take many years.
The following symptoms of the disease are distinguished:
- severe joint pain that worsens at night or in the morning;
- Stiffness of joints after sleeping;
- high body temperature;
- sleep disorder;
- rapid fatigability;
- decreased appetite;
- sudden weight loss;
- Nodule formation in the elbow area.
Rheumatoid arthritis occurs due to the following factors:
- previous sore throat or flu;
- joint injuries;
- infectious pathology;
- long-term stress and depression;
- genetic predisposition.
A characteristic feature of rheumatoid arthritis caused by osteoarthritis is a reduction in pain during exercise. If the finger joints of the right hand hurt and swell, the same symptoms appear on the left hand. Over time, the disease can also affect other joints.
If you start therapy early, you can avoid joint deformation and destruction.
Nuance!Two years of breastfeeding reduces the risk of rheumatoid arthritis in women by two times.
Treatment
Modern methods of treating rheumatoid arthritis include:
- aurotherapy;
- cytostatics;
- taking antimalarial medication;
- sulfonamides;
- D-penicillamine.
On average, even an experienced rheumatologist needs about 6 months to select the right treatment method by studying the patient's characteristics and his tolerance to medications.
What is Aurotherapy?
Aurotherapy involves taking medications that contain gold salts.
Doctors recommend using gold preparations in the initial stages of the disease. With their help, a positive effect can be achieved in the treatment of acute, rapidly developing pathologies with severe pain and early degenerative changes in the joints. Gold-based drugs are prescribed to patients if non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs have not relieved their condition.
The main advantage of aurotherapy is that it can be used in concomitant inflammatory diseases and the presence of malignant tumors. During the research, scientists also found that gold salts actively fight fungi and some bacteria, including Helicobacter pylori.
The duration of treatment with gold preparations is 2-3 months. If the patient's condition has not improved during this period, this technique is stopped.
Take note!Many people experience rheumatoid arthritis relapses some time after gold treatment. The rheumatologist may prescribe aurotherapy again. Sometimes such treatment can last for years if it does not cause negative consequences for other organs.
Is cytostatic therapy effective?
To eliminate the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, it is common to use cytostatic drugs.
Since the disease is of autoimmune origin, it is not surprising that doctors prescribe immunosuppressants. Their main advantage is their high effectiveness at relatively low doses. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis receive 5 or even 20 times lower doses of cytostatic drugs than patients with cancer. The drugs 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. Very rarely, patients complain of the following symptoms:
- Skin rash;
- intestinal dysfunction;
- Chills;
- Difficulty urinating.
If the medication is stopped or the doctor adjusts the dosage, the side effects disappear quickly. The duration of treatment is 1 month.
Treatment of finger joints with antimalarial drugs
Treating rheumatoid arthritis with antimalarial drugs is extremely rare. The main advantage of this treatment is the good tolerance of the medication. A major disadvantage of this treatment is that antimalarial drugs work slowly. Their effect is noticeable after 6-12 months, but the therapeutic effect is rather weak.
Do sulfonamides help rheumatoid arthritis?
Drugs from the sulfonamide group are successfully used to treat finger pain. Their advantages include:
- Good compatibility.
- Low, if any, complication rate.
- Affordable price.
The disadvantage of these drugs is their slow action. The positive effect is noticeable just 3 months after starting 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 agent, the prescription of D-penicillamine is not necessary. It is significantly inferior to the listed treatment methods in terms of effectiveness, but 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 when patients do not tolerate gold salts and cytostatics well.
D-penicillamine is used effectively in patients who have complications in the heart, respiratory tract, or kidneys. Taking it should last from 3 to 5 years, after which a break of several years is required, after which the course must be repeated.
Gout – symptoms and treatment
One of the most dangerous joint and tissue diseases is gout. It occurs due to a metabolic disorder 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 evening;
- increased body temperature;
- skin redness;
- Growths on the legs or arms.
If treatment is not started on time, the patient may develop gouty arthritis. Possible complications also include urolithiasis and kidney failure, which can lead to death.
To treat gout, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are used for 1-2 weeks.
To quickly reduce the concentration of uric acid in the body, medications for gout are prescribed.
To eliminate the acute symptoms of gout, experts prescribe a medication based on the alkaloid of the tubers of the 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 their finger joints. Signs of this disease are:
- joint deformation;
- pain syndrome at night;
- numbness of the limbs;
- Discoloration of the skin in burgundy color at the site where the disease develops;
- swelling of fingers;
- limited mobility.
Most patients with psoriatic arthritis experience damage to the nail plates. Small pits first form on their surface, then their color changes due to disruption of microcirculation.
Very often, pregnant women are diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. This is because the disease is also of hormonal origin and a woman experiences hormonal changes in her body during pregnancy. Increased signs of arthritis in pregnant women are often accompanied by weight gain.
The following causes of psoriatic arthritis are identified:
- injuries;
- severe stress and emotional distress;
- excessive physical activity;
- infectious diseases;
- hereditary predisposition.
The following groups of drugs are used to treat psoriatic arthritis:
- Non-steroidal drugs. Designed to eliminate inflammation and relieve pain.
- Glucocorticosteroids: injected into the joint cavity.
- Cytostatic from the group of folic acid antagonists: is the most popular systemic drug.
- An immunosuppressant that acts selectively on T lymphocytes: used to slow the changes in bone and cartilage tissue.
With psoriatic arthritis, it is recommended to avoid alcoholic beverages, reduce the consumption of citrus fruits and smoked foods, and follow a low-calorie diet.
Osteoarthritis – how do you treat it and what are the consequences of the disease?
Older people often complain about swollen finger joints. This can be one of the signs of osteoarthritis. The disease can occur for the following reasons:
- hormonal imbalance;
- genetic predisposition;
- occupational stress and injuries;
- age-related metabolic disorder.
Joint pain can help identify the disease. An accurate diagnosis is made by a specialist after an X-ray examination and MRI.
Gymnastics helps to alleviate the patient's condition. The exercise set is selected by the doctor and is based on the individual characteristics of the patient with osteoarthritis. Therapy also includes following a diet to lose any excess weight. You cannot do without thermal procedures. Paraffin baths to which mineral oil should be added are recommended.
To eliminate pain and reduce swelling, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug from the group of propionic acid derivatives and acetylsalicylic acid is prescribed. Among the analgesics, a drug from the anilide group is often used. Massage sessions help warm up your muscles and improve blood circulation.
If treatment is not started on time, the person will not be able to carry out 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, this may be an indication that he is suffering from rhizarthrosis. The reasons for this phenomenon can be:
- joint overload;
- previous infectious disease;
- injuries;
- Poisoning of the body.
Treatment of rhizarthrosis in stages 1-2 includes taking chondroprotectors. They activate the process of creating new cartilage cells, which helps eliminate the disease.
Manual therapy for the treatment of rhizarthrosis is widely used. The therapist can realign the changed joint, as a result of which the pain syndrome disappears. Additionally, you can massage the thumb to increase the tone of the cartilage tissue and improve joint mobility.
If the patient is diagnosed with rhizarthrosis of the 3rd stage, intra-articular injections of hyaluronic acid are prescribed. It is also effective to use glucocorticosteroids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. They increase blood flow to the affected joint, eliminate pain and relieve swelling.
Traditional medicine for pain in the fingers
You can cope with pain not only with the help of medication, but also by resorting to folk remedies. For acute pain, using a gauze bandage soaked in apple cider vinegar is effective. To relieve swelling, compresses with baked onions or boiled potatoes are perfect. It makes sense to warm the painful joint with hot sea salt and rub it with fir oil.
Tinctures
A common treatment method is tinctures. You can use vodka to prepare it. You should take 50 ml of vodka and 30 ml of valerian tincture, mix both components and add a few red peppers. After 3 hours, moisten a cotton swab in the resulting mixture and apply it to the phalanx. The positive effect is noticeable after just one month of such treatment.
Another effective remedy is a tincture based on chestnut inflorescences. It is enough to collect the raw materials and mix them with vodka. Leave on for 14 to 20 days. Rub the product if your fingers become numb and you feel pain. Lilac can also be used instead of chestnut inflorescences.
Anoint
If your joints hurt when you press your fingers, you should use an ointment made from mustard and honey. To prepare, mix 5 g mustard and 15 g honey. Then add 30 ml of olive oil, evaporate the mixture in a water bath to a thick consistency, allow to cool and use daily to treat affected joints.
If there is pain in the joint of the index finger of the right hand, an ointment based on bay leaves and juniper needles is recommended. Both components should be mixed in equal proportions, then add 50 g of butter. You can use the ointment during regular joint massage.