Pain in the joints of the arms and legs: causes and treatment of pathology

The human body has more than 300 joints: from the largest - the hip and shoulder, to the small ones - the joints of the fingers and toes. And each of them is important and necessary for health and a full life. Minor and seemingly causeless pain in the joints of the legs and arms can indicate serious disorders in the body, problems with the circulatory and metabolic systems. Therefore, contacting an osteopathic specialist at the first manifestations of joint pain will be the right and timely decision. After all, it is osteopathy, with its idea of ​​the body as a complex interconnected system of the skeleton, joints, muscles and internal organs, that gives the most logical explanation for joint diseases and demonstrates high efficiency in their treatment.

Numbness and pain in the hand. Causes and diseases

Hand pain and numbness in the hands are usually caused by dysfunction (impaired functioning) of the cardiovascular system. Also, the causes may be neuralgic diseases of the cervical spine, pinched nerves of the hands. With heart disease, numbness of the left hand is often observed, which begins as a slight decrease in the sensitivity of the little finger and ring finger and gradually spreads along the limb to the forearm, affecting mainly the inner part.

Pain in the joints of both hands, accompanied by numbness of the thumb and index - and sometimes middle - fingers, indicates disorders in the cervical spine, possible pinched nerves, displacement of the intervertebral discs or the vertebrae themselves.

Numbness in the fingertips most likely indicates a lack of vitamins A and B in the body. This symptom is most pronounced in late winter and early spring, when the body is most depleted.

At the age of 45 years and older, numbness, reaching the complete inability to move the hand, even after slight stress on the joints (sewing, knitting, working with a keyboard), may indicate atherosclerosis of the blood vessels of the hands, as well as damage to the elbow and shoulder joints.

Many age-related diseases and previous injuries manifest themselves in the form of pain in the joints of the hands. These may be unhealed sprains, bruises and cracks of the scaphoid and lunate bones of the hand that were left untreated. The consequences of such an inattentive approach threaten partial or complete loss of mobility. Moreover, diagnosing fractures and cracks is quite simple - both with the use of x-rays and during a visit to an osteopathic doctor. The latter is also able to help with the consequences of such injuries, eliminating possible displacement of bones and damage to blood vessels, pinching of nerve endings that cause pain.

Literature

1. Berezutsky V.I. Computer mouse, keyboard and carpal tunnel syndrome // Medical Perspectives. 2021. No. 3-1. URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/kompyuternaya-mysh-klaviatura-i-sindro… (access date: 08/17/2021).
2. Causes and Treatment of Wrist Pain By Jonathan Cluett, MD https://www.verywellhealth.com/wrist-pain-causes-symptoms-and-treatments-2549458?print
3. Deykalo, Tolstik, Boloboshko Clinical anatomy of the hand and surgical approaches // Vitebsk: -2013, 123 p.
4. Olyunin Yu.A. Osteoarthritis of the joints of the hands. Differential diagnosis with inflammatory diseases of the joints and treatment tactics. Modern rheumatology. 2015;9(4):77-82. https://mrj.ima-press.net/mrj/article/view/657/644
5. Torshin I.Yu., Gromova Olga Alekseevna, Lila A.M., Limanova O.A. Systematic analysis of the molecular pathophysiology of tenosynovitis: the prospects of using chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine sulfate // Neurology, neuropsychiatry, psychosomatics. 2021. No. 2. URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/sistematicheskiy-analiz-molekulyarnoy-patofiziologii-tendovaginita-perspektivnost-primeneniya-hondroitina-sulfata-i-glyukozamina
6. Yarikov A.V., Tutkin A.V., Boyarshinov A.A., Fraerman A.P., Perlmutter O.A. Carpal tunnel syndrome: clinical picture, diagnosis and modern approaches to treatment (brief review) // Medical almanac. 2021. No. 3 (64). URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/karpalnyy-tunnelnyy-sindrom-klinika-diagnostika-i-sovremennye-podhody-k-lecheniyu-kratkiy-obzor
7. Instructions for use of the drug MOTRIN ® tablets //Reg. number P N002874/01// State Register of the Russian Federation. – URL: https://grls.rosminzdrav.ru/Grls_View_v2.aspx?routingGuid=868bad0c-d10e-47a9-b9d8-2595d9a01ac7&t=
8. A set of exercises for the prevention and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis of the hands. Author's technique N.K. Novikova/M.-2021// Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation Federal State Budgetary Institution "National Medical Research Center for Therapy and Preventive Medicine" https://gnicpm.ru/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/kompleks-uprazhnenij-kistej- ruk-book.pdf
9. Jung KS, Jung JH, Shin HS, Park JY, In TS, Cho HY. The Effects of Taping Combined with Wrist Stabilization Exercise on Pain, Disability, and Quality of Life in Postpartum Women with Wrist Pain: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Mar 30;18(7):3564. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18073564. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33808137/
10. Outpatient aspects of managing patients with articular syndrome: educational method. allowance / I. L. Mesnikova. – Minsk: BSMU, 2007. – 46 p. ISBN 978–985–462–675–8.
11. Treatment and prevention of osteochondrosis A.A. Pilipovich// General Medicine 2. 2015 - pp. 15-22
12. Rodomanova, L.A. Prevention of ischemic contractures of the hand after severe traumatic injuries: a manual for doctors / L.A. Rodomanova, D.I. Kutyanov, K.S. Melikhov. – St. Petersburg. : RNIITO im. R.R. Vredena, 2013. – 24 s
13. Stacy, Monica, “Assessment of Antebrachial and Carpal Muscle Activity During Smartphone Use: is “Selfie Wrist” a Real Phenomenon?” (2020). Honors Theses. 1339. https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/1339
14. Shehab, Ramsey, and Mark H Mirabelli. “Evaluation and diagnosis of wrist pain: a case-based approach.” American family physician vol. 87.8 (2013): 568-73. https://www.aafp.org/afp/2013/0415/p568.html
15. Sadokha K.A., Golovko A.M., Krotov V.V. Cervical compression radiculopathy // Medical news. 2021. No. 3 (294). URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/sheynaya-kompressionnaya-radikulopatiya
16. A systematic approach to a painful wrist. R Wang, J Reed, J Leone, M Bhandari, J K Moro. Canadian Journal of Diagnosis 18 (8), 86-97, 2001

Occupational diseases of the hand joints

Pain in the joints of the hands can be caused by regular overexertion, performing monotonous physical exercises, or adverse external influences on the joints. Most injuries and illnesses resulting from such exposures can be classified as occupational.

Thus, the joints of the hands often suffer in the following categories:

• People who spend a long time at the computer. In right-handed people, the right hand is more likely to suffer, while in left-handed people, the left hand is more likely to suffer. Due to the constant presence of the hand in the same position - on the computer mouse - swelling of the ligaments (tendons) and the nearby nerve occurs. Over time, increasing pain in the wrist can lead to numbness and even complete inability to move the hand. The disease is called “Tunnel syndrome”;
• Pregnant women. “Tunnel syndrome” also manifests itself in them, becoming most obvious after 3-4 months of pregnancy. Typically, pain in the joints of the hands is preceded by swelling, characteristic of late pregnancy. They, combined with growing body weight, lead to pinching of the carpal nerve. Pain sensations can be expressed in varying degrees from minor discomfort in the joint to complete numbness of the hands. Usually, after the birth of a child, the functionality of the joints is restored;
• Pianists, tailors, laundresses, cleaners. As a result of constant loads falling mainly on the tendon muscles responsible for the work of the thumb, pain in the hand is localized precisely in this area. Diagnosing the disease at an early stage makes it relatively easy to cope with. The main thing is to contact an osteopath before changes and the formation of scar tissue growths begin. This is usually preceded by severe pain, inflammation and swelling in the joints;
• Crane operators, carpenters, builders working with breaker tools. The so-called Kienbeck disease (avascular necrosis of the wrist bones) develops as a result of severe trauma or regular microtrauma of the hand joint. The disease is caused by poor circulation in the wrist area, which causes severe pain in the hand joint, and later changes and destruction of bone tissue begins. Usually the joints of the hand that is a person’s working one suffer.

Diagnostics

The causes of pain are determined by orthopedic traumatologists. To make a diagnosis, the results of a survey, physical examination, instrumental and laboratory techniques are used. May be assigned:

• X-ray of the hand.
  Performed in 2 or 3 projections, it makes it possible to diagnose fractures, dislocations, arthrosis, arthritis, osteomyelitis, and neoplasms.
• CT scan of the hand.
  More informative when studying solid structures. Recommended for complex fractures and fracture-dislocations, arthritis, arthrosis, osteoporosis. Allows you to accurately localize the area of ​​damage, assess the nature and extent of the pathological process.
• MRI of the hand.
  Indicative when studying soft tissue formations. It is prescribed to study the condition of muscles, ligaments, tendons, blood vessels, and nerves. It is used for tendinitis, arthrosis, arthritis, purulent processes, and carpal tunnel syndrome.
• Electrophysiological techniques.
  They are used for neurological causes of pain in the hand to determine the level of nerve damage, assess nerve conduction, and the condition of muscle tissue.
• Lab tests.
  They are performed to identify signs of inflammation, specific markers, assess the activity of various organs in systemic pathologies, and study the structure of tissue during histological or cytological analysis.

To make an accurate diagnosis, an examination by a specialist is required.

Other causes of pain in the joints of the hands

Pain in the joints of the hands can be localized not only in the area of ​​the hands. The shoulder and elbow joints are no less often affected. Typically, their lesions are caused by injuries to the arms, spine, as well as diseases and age-related changes that lead to thinning of the cartilage tissue in the joints. In each specific case, treatment may be different, depending on the complexity and severity of the disease. Only an experienced osteopathic specialist can diagnose why there is pain in the hand, crunching in the joint and other hand mobility disorders.

Osteopathic treatment of pain in the joints of the hands

Pain in the joints of the hands is not always caused directly by damage to these joints themselves. On the contrary, the root causes of the disease are often quite distant from the hands. That is why treatment can only be effective if it is aimed at eliminating the root causes. This is exactly the approach practiced by osteopaths. At the same time, complex methods are demonstrated to be highly effective for pain in the hands, when manual techniques are combined with moderate physical activity, and at the same time, the patient’s diet is corrected and the original source of the disease is affected.

At the first stage of treatment, pain in the arm joint is always relieved. This makes the patient's body more responsive to osteopathic influences and allows him to completely relax during the session. Since the sessions themselves are carried out with fairly long breaks (1-2 weeks), which are necessary for the body to recover and adapt to the changes made to its functioning by the osteopath, it is recommended to fix the joint in a stationary position for this period. For this, splints, corsets, various support bandages, etc. can be used.

After the pain in the hand joint is eliminated, the osteopath begins to relieve muscle spasms and eliminate blocks that interfere with normal blood circulation in the areas near the joints and throughout the body as a whole. Restoring blood supply to the affected area helps to improve tissue nutrition, as a result of which the pain no longer returns, and the joints themselves begin to gradually recover.

During the recovery stage, proper nutrition is very important, which will allow the body and damaged areas to receive the entire necessary set of microelements, vitamins and nutrients. Thanks to the gradual renewal and restoration of tissue, the joints of the hands acquire lost mobility, not only the pain goes away, but also the sensations of numbness and discomfort.

To maintain the improving condition of the hands, the joint must be gradually loaded to consolidate positive trends and strengthen the muscles of the hand. Physiotherapeutic procedures and physical therapy exercises must be carried out under the strict supervision of a specialist and be standardized. If the pain returns to the joints of the hands, it is necessary to reduce the load.

In parallel with the treatment of the hands, the root causes of the disease are affected - the spine, cervical spine, internal organs. Osteopathic techniques are aimed at improving blood supply and metabolism in the body as a whole, which, of course, has a positive effect on the functioning of all its systems. The advantage of turning to an osteopath in this case is that by treating pain in the hand, he simultaneously gets rid of other deeper disorders that became the root cause of this pain.

Pain in the hand joint is not always a disorder specifically in the wrist area, so traditional treatment using symptomatic methods may not be effective. While an osteopath, who perceives the problem more broadly, can help in just a few sessions.