Fingers and hands play a very important role in performing daily chores, any pain or discomfort can evidently affect the quality of life. It becomes very crucial to get a diagnosis and treat the underlying cause. In this blog...
Most of our daily chores are done by hands, any hand or finger pain can hamper and affect daily activities and can be extremely difficult. Finger pain can be caused due to a lot of reasons like arthritis, fracture etc. it becomes important to understand the reason behind the pain to cure it. Hands contain muscles, joints, bones, and ligaments that help perform movements and agility. Different diagnostic techniques target different structures. Some quick relief sources can be over-the-counter drugs like aspirin, and diclofenac-based drugs. Although the permanent relief lies in correcting the aetiology.
Causes of Finger Joint Pain
Injuries
- Most commonly finger joint pain comes as a result of hand injury. The injury to the hand can cause open wounds and cuts, bruises or fractured bones or muscle as well. Common hand injuries -
- Broken finger nails
- Any cuts
- Fractured or broken fingers, which can happen during playing sports or handling heavy duty equipments
Medical Conditions
- Medical conditions can affect any part of the hand like muscles, nerves , or bones which may cause finger pain. These conditions might be
- Osteoarthritis- causing damage to cartilage. When the cartilage is damaged, the finger bones rub together and cause pain and stiffness in hands.
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- boils
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Raynaud’s phenomenon, a disorder affecting blood vessels
- Tumours
- Cysts
- Nodules
- Osteoporosis
- Muscular dystrophy
- Systemic sclerosis (autoimmune disorder)
- Multiple sclerosis
- Compressed nerve in arm, wrist or hand can also cause finger joint pain
- Ganglion cysts
- Diabetes
Infections-
- Finger joint pain can be caused due to infection as well, such as-
- Septic arthritis
- Herpetic whitlow
- Acute paronychia
- Bacterial arthritis
- Cellulitis
- Abscess
- Deep hand and space infections
- Flexor tenosynovitis
- tendonitis
What Are the Symptoms of Finger Joint Pain?
Symptoms Relating to Injury
- Strain or sprain
- Mobility limited
- Numbness
- Dislocated joints
- Broken/fractured bones
Symptoms Relating Infection
- Swelling around the joint
- Pain
- Difficulty moving/stiffness
- Weakened limbs
- Inflammation
Symptoms Relating Medical Conditions
- Carpal tunnel syndrome- Numbness, weakness, pain in hand palm, shock like sensations in the fingers
- Tumour metastasis to bone- Bone pain, fatigue, weight loss, weakness in bones, swelling or tenderness.
- Arthritis- Fever, fatigue, swelling, inflammation, reduced motion, stiffness in joints, tender and warm joints along with strength loss.
- Ganglion cysts- Loss of mobility, pain, numbness, tingling sensation.
- Diabetes- It may complicate causing Dupuytren's contracture which represents pain or discomfort, nodular growth or pits, difficulty flattening palm, difficulty performing fine movements
Preventive Measures for Finger Pain
- Take breaks while doing work to give enough rest while doing repetitive movements
- Having a proper balanced diet to lead a good lifestyle.
- Consider taking medications and measures recommended by your doctor for any health condition that you have.
- Maintain normal blood sugar levels.
- Wear protective gear and take appropriate measures while playing sports that can potentially cause damage or finger pain.
- Apply ice on the injured area
- Use creams or other pain relievers topically.
How to Diagnose Finger Joint Pain?
Medical evaluation involves examining the structure for any abnormalities. Diagnostic methods for joint pain may include
What Are the Complications of Finger Pain?
Ignorance can lead to complications
- Functionality may decrease
- Psychologically adverse effect
- Motion range might reduce
- Performance in sports and hobbies might get impaired
- Loose grip strength
- Secondary developmental conditions
Treatment Measures for Finger Pain?
- Rest - Giving rest to your fingers from your daily activities can reduce exacerbation of pain, allowing you enough time to recover and heal.
- Imobalisaion- immobilising the painful fingers can provide your fingers the support which thereby reduces strain and promotes healing. Immobilising measures include splints
- Finger exercises- Exercising can help build flexibility and strengthen fingers and thereby reduce stiffness. Finger exercises include- finger stretch, fingertip stretch, finger flexing, etc.
- Hand therapy- You can go to a therapist for guidance for exercising techniques and modalities to reduce finger pain and improve hand function. These include- gentle fist, stretches, finger touches, grip and pinch strengtheners. Etc.
- Hot and cold therapy- Applying head and cold known as warm compresses and ice packs on the affected area can help reduce the pain. Heat helps relax the muscles and also improves the blood flow to the area while cold ice packs can help reduce the inflammation and also can numb the pain.
- Ergonomic adjustments- Making certain ergonomic modifications in the daily work space can also help reduce the strain to your fingers thereby reducing pain.
- Over-the-counter-medications- Over the counter drugs such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen can help reduce and eliminate the pain in the fingers.
- Topical pain relievers- topical anaesthetics which are particularly pain relieving creams, sprays or gels containing menthol or capsaicin can provide local pain relief.
- Prescription medicines- For many conditions involving severe and persistent pain can only be cured only once definite diagnosis and checkup by your doctor has been made. The doctor, after evaluation, prescribes appropriate medication such as muscle relaxants or anti-inflammatory drugs for certain specific conditions.
- Corticosteroid injections- Corticosteroid injections are used to reduce inflammation in certain conditions that help eliminate pain.
- Surgery- the last resort, once conservative treatment has failed to provide definite relief and treatment, surgery might become necessary.
Conclusion
Finger pain or finger joint pain can affect the quality of life you are spending. It can be a little difficult to get relief without getting a popper consult from the doctor. Consulting a healthcare provider and getting correctly diagnosed is very important to get definite relief. Personalised treatment plans can be obtained by taking necessary diagnostic methods. Choose the best diagnostic centre near you that provides the diagnostic method that you're looking for.
