Arthritis of the fingers is a unifying name covering several dozen forms and etiological varieties of pathology. Regardless of the causes of the disease, all its types are subject to approximately the same development algorithm and, in the absence of proper treatment, lead to complete immobilization of the affected joints.
Causes of arthritis
Human hands are in a state of increased activity compared to other parts of the body, in addition, they are influenced by a huge number of negative external factors - exposure to industrial chemicals, temperature changes, minor household injuries (cuts, bruises, sprains). The initial classification division of the general concept of pathology occurs precisely on an etiological basis and implies the union of all symptoms of arthritis of the fingers into two large groups:
- Primary arthritis - this includes the development of joint pathology as a result of an infectious disease, rheumatic disease, injuries of the hands, or unsuccessful fusion of bones after a fracture. If arheumatoid arthritis of the fingers was observed in the next of kin, then with a high degree of probability the cause of its occurrence in the following generations will be a genetic predisposition.
- Secondary arthritis develops as a complication of most autoimmune or infectious diseases. It is possible to diagnose a pathology if the patient's medical history contains records of the following: tuberculosis, measles, sexually transmitted diseases, tonsillitis of acute or chronic forms, diabetes mellitus or scarlet fever.
The origin of arthritis in the joints of the fingers in children is occasionally associated with a reaction to the rubella, chickenpox or whooping cough vaccine.
Risk groups
The risk group for the detection of symptoms of arthritis of the fingers includes all workers of heavy physical labor associated with carrying heavy loads or receiving a large number of minor injuries. Pathology can also be safely attributed to an occupational disease of jewelers, assemblers of small structures, embroiderers, seamstresses, programmers and watchmakers.
With arthritis that has already become chronic, relapses will occur in those people whose main activity is accompanied by staying in conditions of low temperatures, constant dampness, or forced contact of hands with aggressive chemicals, detergents, construction mixtures.
Since hormonal imbalances and stress are common causes of finger arthritis, the risk group for the disease is led bywomen - they own 70% of all diagnosed cases.
Types of arthritis
Under the types of rheumatoid arthritis of the fingers understand the division of the main - primary and secondary forms of pathology - into smaller categories according to the etiological condition. Conventionally, five groups of the disease are distinguished:
- Reactive arthritis - occurs as a consequence of an infectious lesion of the gastrointestinal tract or urinary system. It is characterized by rapid development with moderate pain syndrome, inflammation of the infected joint and a slight increase in body temperature.
- Exchange arthritis - is the result of a violation of the water-s alt balance of the body, failure of the metabolic process, alcoholism, addiction to fatty foods. It is characterized by a course of increasing symptoms without temperature jumps.
- Rheumatoid arthritis is expressed by chronic development with periods of remission and periodic exacerbations, accompanied by an increase in rheumatoid nodes on the phalanges of the fingers and a deterioration in motor skills. Joint deformity occurs almost painlessly and in a symmetrical manner.
- Post-traumatic arthritis - as the name implies, occurs after bruising or open damage to cartilage or bone tissue.
- Psoriatic arthritis is a complication of psoriasis, characterized by high fever, thinning and erosion of bone and atrophy of muscle tissue.
The most effective in the defeat of the fingers with arthritis aretherapeutic actions taken at I-II stages of the disease.
Stages of disease
The progression of any type of arthritis in the absence of treatment or with an illiterate approach to therapy can take from one to five years and will definitely go through 4 stages of development:
- I stage - a sick person does not feel pain yet, but feels stiffness of the hands in the morning, which disappears in half an hour or an hour after waking up. Diagnosis of arthritis is possible already on this basis.
- II stage - the phalanges of the fingers swell, there is a deterioration in motor skills when working with small parts, pain and an unpleasant crunch in the joints appear.
- III stage - at the site of swelling, the joints increase in size, the normal pattern of the bone body is distorted. Pain, especially in the evening, becomes unbearable, and many simple household activities are now performed with great difficulty.
- IV stage - the articular cartilage is fused, completely immobilizing the fingers. A person loses the ability to work and the ability to serve himself.
At the IV stage of the pathology, the VTEK authorities issue a certificate of disability of the 1st degree.
How to treat arthritis of the fingers
Drug treatment for arthritis is prescribed, as a rule, from the II stage of the disease, when there are severe pains in the joints and there is a need for analgesic therapy. In addition to standard oral analgesics, patients are prescribed topical ointments and non-steroidal hormonal drugs, alsodesigned to reduce discomfort. In particularly difficult cases, the doctor will prescribe corticosteroids, but their use is only due to the patient's weak susceptibility to standard treatment.
To influence the cause of the pathology, drugs of directed action are used, for example, in arthritis of an exchange nature, drugs that regulate metabolic processes, including strong diuretics, can help. In the last decade, it has been possible to reduce the likelihood of complications and prolong the stages of remission with the help of homeopathic remedies.
To restore the elasticity of the cartilage at the first symptoms of arthritis of the fingers, the patient is recommended to perform a set of special exercises and perform daily intensive massage with a warming effect. It is important to know that any physiotherapy, including those performed at home, cannot be carried out during periods of exacerbation of the disease and when inflammation of the joints is noted.
With purulent symptoms of arthritis of the fingers, treatment and elimination of the main cause of the disease is surgical intervention. Before and after the operation, the patient drinks a course of antibiotics.
Ointments for the treatment of arthritis
For local anesthesia, special ointments are used, both exclusively analgesic and therapeutic. The former include adjuvant therapies, from which only emergency relief of pain is expected:
- Nise.
- Ketorol.
- Ketonal.
- Capsicam.
The second category is ointments with anti-inflammatory and antibacterial effects:
- Diclofenac.
- Voltaren.
- Levomekol.
- "Ointment Vishnevsky".
Using external therapeutic agents can also be used as a preventive measure, if the conditions of a permanent place of work predispose to the development of arthritis.
Mineral therapy for arthritis
Sanatorium treatment of arthritis and arthrosis has a whole range of rehabilitation and therapeutic measures using special purified mud and various types of clay. It is possible to carry out a series of mineral therapy procedures at home, using inexpensive pharmaceutical products available on the market.
Cosmetic Clay Treatments:
- Green and blue clay, taken 1 teaspoon each, are dissolved in a bowl of warm water, where the hands are immersed for 15 minutes.
- 2 teaspoons of green clay are diluted with hot water to a thick paste. Then a pinch of table s alt is introduced into the composition and a cake is molded from the thick mass, which is used as a compress under a warming bandage.
Good for arthritis help baths with mud from the Dead Sea. They can be bought at a pharmacy or in a cosmetology store and simply dissolved in hot water for warming procedures.
S alt treatments for arthritis
For external procedures, any s alt is taken - food or cosmetic, but the fraction of grains is chosen as medium. It is preferable that the s alt pass the minimumindustrial cleaning and was not white.
Recipes for arthritis of the fingers from the folk piggy bank:
- a handful of sea s alt is heated in the oven, then quickly sewn into a cotton bag and applied to the sore spot under a warming bandage for an hour;
- a full spoonful of any s alt is dissolved in warm water, where 2 drops of fir and eucalyptus essential oils are then added, after which the hands are immersed in the solution for 15 minutes.
After warming up, the joints must be rubbed intensively with fir oil until the sensation of heat in the fingers. If the procedures are carried out at night, it is recommended to put on cotton gloves and do not take them off until morning.
Compresses and applications
Folk treatment for arthritis of the fingers helps well in the initial stages of the pathology, but do not ignore it in the later stages of the development of the disease. The second most popular after therapeutic baths with herbs and mineral particles in external therapy are various compresses and applications:
- Hercules flakes steamed with boiling water are cooled to 60°, after which the hot mass is wrapped in gauze and applied to the sore spot. From above, the gauze compress is insulated with a plastic bag and a scarf and kept until the oatmeal paste has completely cooled.
- Take a large handful of rose hips and birch leaves and steam them with three cups of boiling water. After a 10-hour infusion, pour a third of a glass of table s alt into the infusion, dissolve it and soak a tissue compress in the liquid, which is held on a sore handhands for as long as you like until the pain is relieved.
- A medium, washed leaf of burdock is scrolled into a meat grinder and a juicy mass is applied under a bandage to the inflamed area. Compresses should be worn for 5-6 hours, changing the contents every hour.
Appliques are best done in the intervals between applying the therapeutic ointment, on cleanly washed hands.
Folk remedies for internal use
Who would have thought, but ordinary potatoes, thanks to the beneficial starches in the composition, are one of the best remedies for home treatment of arthritis. You can use it in different ways - drink a warm decoction of boiled potatoes in their skins, eat 1-2 teaspoons of raw grated vegetables 3-5 times a day, apply compresses with boiled and crushed hot potatoes to the affected area.
Of course, phytopreparations are also used for treatment:
- lingonberry leaves (3 teaspoons), brew with two cups of boiling water, and after an hour of infusion and straining, drink a small glass of solution three times a day;
- dry calendula flowers (2 tablespoons), brew half a liter of boiling water in a thermos, leave for 2 hours and drink the filtered liquid in a glass in the morning and evening;
- traditional healers recommend eating as much raw pumpkin seed as possible for arthritis of the thumbs and adding oil from this orange fruit to fresh salads (ground seeds can also be applied in the form of applications).
Juice Therapy
Juice therapy for joint diseases is only gainingpopularity and little is known that only 200 ml of several types of natural juice per day allow a person to refuse expensive multivitamin preparations and feel much better.
In case of bone and cartilage pathologies, the body needs vitamins and microelements contained in the juices of the following fruits and vegetables:
- cabbage;
- carrot;
- celery;
- cucumber;
- beets;
- strawberry;
- grapes.
All vegetable juices on the list can be combined with celery juice, all fruit juices with apple juice. In diabetes mellitus, the use of juice therapy is previously discussed with an endocrinologist.
Diet and lifestyle
General dietary recommendations for joint diseases pursue the main goal - to exclude excessive accumulation of fluid in the body and to facilitate the work of the digestive tract as much as possible in order to reduce the load on the endocrine and circulatory systems. To do this, various marinades and pickles, hot spices, confectionery and, if possible, sugar in general will have to be completely excluded from the daily table. From meat, only chicken and turkey are allowed (as a source of protein), and then in small quantities. From drinks, you should refuse flavored teas, any coffee, packaged juices, soda, alcohol.
Food should be consumed only in the form of heat, breaking the daily amount of food into 5 doses. The amount of fluid you drink per day, including natural juices and liquid meals, should notexceed one liter.
Already the first noticed signs of pathology involuntarily force us to think about the wrong way of life - most likely, this is continuous manual labor, a large number of bad habits, frequent hypothermia or physical activity disproportionate to the body's capabilities. If it is impossible to refuse the factors provoking the disease due to professional activities, you should allocate at least half an hour a day for special gymnastics or self-massage and, of course, do not neglect the recommendations for dietary nutrition.
