Recently, people are increasingly manifesting diseases of the joints. In most cases, a disease such as osteoarthritis affects the hands. Subsequently, a person loses the ability to normally bend his fingers, hold various objects, or perform elementary small work. It should be noted that this disease is not the only disease that affects the joints of the hands. But in any case, changes appear in the cartilaginous tissue itself, after which irreversible destruction occurs.
Causes of emergence and development
If you look for the original cause of osteoarthritis, you need to know what can give impetus to this disease.
- Congenital pathologies.
- Hereditary predisposition to bone disorders.
- Great physical activity, especially on the hands.
- Diabetes mellitus and other endocrine diseases.
- Age.
- Bad diet.
Osteoarthritis of the hands: symptoms
With thisdisease, such as osteoarthritis of the hand, you can feel the following ailments:
- Aching pain in the joints.
- Increased pain with changing weather conditions.
- Slight swelling of the hand.
- A noticeable deterioration in motor ability (hard to sew or knit, work with small objects, etc.).
- Constant crunching when driving.
- Obvious curvature or lengthening of the fingers.
Stages of development of osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis of the hand has several stages of development:
- First. There are no changes in the mobility of the hands, the pain is mild and can occur only at night, as well as when weather conditions change.
- Second. Mobility is noticeably impaired, the pain is pronounced and accompanied by a crunch.
- Third. Constant pain is accompanied by difficulty in moving the hands and lack of flexibility.
Treatment of disease
How to treat osteoarthritis of the hands? Therapy will be effective in the first stage. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to achieve the complete disappearance of the disease with its progression. If the disease manifests itself and has been going on for a long time, and its symptoms are very pronounced, doctors direct all their efforts to relieve the patient of pain and discomfort, bring the person's condition into a stable mode. Even such treatment will be long and complex.
There are several ways to fixosteoarthritis:
- Medical. The patient is prescribed anti-inflammatory drugs. Together with them, a person will be required to perform physiotherapy exercises. This will help improve blood flow and reduce pain.
- In order to remove pain and reduce the inflammation of the hands, physiotherapy is prescribed.
- Surgical. Used in extreme cases.
Osteoarthritis of the hands: diet
When a person has this disease, in addition to the usual treatment, it is recommended to follow a certain diet. The patient will need to exclude from his diet:
- Spicy food (pepper, spices, etc.).
- S alty food - do not abuse this product.
- Flour pastries, especially muffins.
- Fried food (preferably boiled, steamed and baked foods).
It is recommended to drink more water and eat fresh vegetables and fruits. It is important to adhere to such a diet not only for sick people, but also for he althy people, so that in the future they will never encounter such a problem as osteoarthritis of the hand. Treatment with folk remedies often gives a positive result.
Grandma's recipes
Many people, for any ailments, are accustomed to resorting to folk recipes that can reduce pain and symptoms of diseases, and sometimes lead to a full recovery. Is it possible to treat folk osteoarthritis of the hands? Yes, but the main thing to remember is that any intentions are best discussed with your doctor. Otherwise, you can cause even more harm to the body than it was before. Ifa disappointing diagnosis of osteoarthritis of the hands, treatment with folk remedies can be quite effective.
The following recipes can be cited as recommendations for fighting the disease, helping with osteoarthritis:
- You can prepare a compress. To do this, mix one tablespoon of honey and the same amount of vegetable oil. The mixture must be boiled and after cooling, apply to sore spots for two hours.
- Preparation of wormwood ointment. The dry plant is stirred and heated in a bath with olive oil. Such a composition must be infused for a couple of days before use.
- The most effective way is to lubricate the hands twice a week with a mixture of castor oil and turpentine.
Procedure of actions
You can sum up and put together all the recommendations for the treatment of this insidious disease. Since such a disease can overtake each person, it is necessary to know how to treat osteoarthritis of the hands, and what to do. It's not in vain that they say: "Forewarned is forearmed." To prevent the disease, you should follow these recommendations:
- Eat right food. Eat more natural vitamins.
- At the slightest symptoms of the disease, immediately consult a doctor, because at an early stage of development of osteoarthritis, you can get rid of the misfortune.
- For yourself, you need to do gymnastics of the hands and fingers more often. Daily warm-up will not only reduce pain, but also preventfurther development of the disease.
- Adhere to all the recommendations given by the doctor - this will make the treatment as successful as possible.
Types of disease and predisposition
Osteoarthritis is divided into two types:
- Primary.
- Secondary type that occurs with complications, injuries, etc.
People may be predisposed to the disease in the first place:
- Overweight.
- The beautiful half of humanity.
- With problems with the musculoskeletal system.
- Over forty years.
- Bone injuries.
Character of the disease
Osteoarthritis of the hand develops gradually, affecting the joints in turn. First, nodules may appear, then there are aching pains, especially after sleep. The patient has a crunch and unnatural movement of the fingers and hand. Sometimes there may be a burning sensation at the site of the lesion or a feeling of high temperature. Quite often, cysts appear and burst in the joints. If no action is taken to eliminate the disease, the pathology will successfully progress, bringing more and more pain and discomfort to the sick person. It is important to remember that in the last stages this disease is incurable, so timely contacting a medical institution will avoid big troubles in the future.
How to identify osteoarthritis?
To determine this disease, first of all, you need to go to the doctor. Most likely, he will send the patient for an x-ray, where they will clearlysee signs of illness. This option is suitable for the initial stages of osteoarthritis, when the symptoms are not yet so pronounced. You should tell the doctor in detail everything that you feel so that there are no omissions. In more severe cases, a disease such as osteoarthritis of the hands can be determined with the naked eye. The photos in the article demonstrate the external manifestations of this disease at different stages of its development.
Based on statistics, we can conclude that osteoarthritis is the main reason why people all over the world cannot fully live and work. This interference occurs in most elderly people.
Summing up
When medical treatment fails for a long time, doctors resort to surgery. Endoprosthetics allows you to correct the deformity of the cartilage or completely replace the joint of the limb. Often, neither patients nor doctors wait until the last stage of the disease, resulting in an elective operation.
It should be remembered that with inaction, osteoarthritis can progress. As a rule, after the defeat of the hand, the disease passes to the hip joint. Then it affects the knee and ankle. Therapy allows not to cure, but to slow down the course of the disease and relieve discomfort.
Osteoarthritis of the hand appears due to impaired blood flow, injuries and other body problems. Most of all, women after the onset of menopause and men over forty are predisposed to this disease.years.
To achieve the maximum effect in the treatment, you need to use several approaches at once:
- Drug treatment.
- Staying on a diet.
- Conducting regular physical education of the hands and fingers.
- Compliance with all doctor's recommendations.
If a person wants to resort to treatment with folk remedies, then various lotions and ointments can be made at home to alleviate the condition and reduce pain. Do not refuse to consult a doctor, even if the patient uses homemade home remedies. Perhaps he will recommend some of his medications or even say to use everything in combination. During treatment, physical activity should be excluded, especially those involving hands and fingers.
Because the joints are almost always involved in work throughout a person's life, they wear out over time, leading to irreversible and unpleasant consequences. Therefore, it is important to take care of your he alth in advance. “Saving a drowning man is the work of the drowning man himself.”
