Cramps in the hands and fingers – causes, how to treat?

Causes of cramps in the hands and fingers

If a person has cramps in his hands and fingers, then it is necessary to look for the cause of such a disorder, because such spasms themselves occur very rarely.

Possible factors that can trigger the development of seizures include:

Long-term work at the computer, prolonged stress on the wrist joint. In this regard, some professions are dangerous. Those at risk include violinists and guitarists, accountants, machinists, tennis players, programmers, etc.
Multiple sclerosis.
Developing osteochondrosis.
Migraine.
Angina pectoris.
Myocardial infarction.
Presence of intervertebral hernia.
Vegetative-vascular dystonia.
Dominant polyneuropathy. First, your legs will begin to cramp, and over time it will move to your fingers. The pathological process involves the facial muscles and respiratory muscles. If this pathology is not treated, the likelihood of death increases.
Diabetes.
Pathologies of the thyroid gland.
Peripheral nerve damage.
Cirrhosis of the liver.
Chronic hepatitis.
Gastritis.
Vitamin B12 deficiency. This is especially true for people who are on a diet.
Tunnel syndrome. Convulsions develop mainly in the evening and at night, when venous outflow worsens and tissues swell.
Deficiency of magnesium, calcium and potassium.
Alcoholism or poisoning from low-quality alcoholic beverages.
Severe prolonged stress.
Hormonal imbalance with metabolic disorders.
Osteochondrosis of the cervical spine.
Distortion of posture.
Progressive osteoporosis, in which bone elements become very fragile, can break and put pressure on nerve endings and choroid plexuses. As a result, your hands and fingers will cramp.
The growth of a tumor in the area of the spinal column or in the chest area will lead to the fact that it will begin to put pressure on the nerve endings and blood vessels. As a result, the patient will experience cramps in the upper extremities, accompanied by painful sensations.
Infectious diseases can provoke seizures in humans. In childhood, muscle spasms can develop against the background of high body temperature. Such contractions are called febrile seizures. In adults, seizures develop during severe infection with dehydration or damage to brain structures.
Cramps in the arms and fingers can be a problem for people who have had a stroke. They develop because certain areas of the brain have been damaged and cannot control limb movements.

As it becomes clear, there are many diseases that can provoke the occurrence of seizures in the upper extremities. However, sometimes they occur in completely healthy people. Moreover, they can be caused by completely harmless circumstances, for example, wearing tight clothes with tight cuffs or sleeves.

Cramps in the hands develop during sudden hypothermia, when the ambient temperature suddenly drops by 10 degrees or more. For example, when diving into cold water in the hot season, or when leaving a warm room into frosty air.

The fingers may become cramped when a person has been working at the computer for a long time without taking breaks. This also includes hours of knitting, embroidery, and playing musical instruments.

Many people indicate that they experience arm cramps after a long workout in the gym.

Coffee lovers and smokers are more likely than other people to suffer from hand cramps.

Pregnant women often complain that their fingers cramp. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that during fetal growth, the mother’s body spends a lot of microelements. The baby needs them to meet his needs. If their deficiency is not replenished, then cramps will become more and more common. The situation is aggravated by hormonal changes in the body.

As it becomes clear, there are many people in the world who suffer from temporary or permanent seizures. Experts say that muscle spasms in the hands and fingers plague every third patient. At the same time, the reasons that cause them cannot always be called harmless.

Provoking factors

Cramps should not be confused with numbness of the limbs. If, from long inactivity, goosebumps run down your arms and you feel a tingling sensation, then there is no big problem. It is enough to simply restore blood flow to get rid of the unpleasant symptom. It's worse when your hands cramp. In this case, the person experiences acute pain that seems excruciating. Fortunately, limb spasms do not last long. After 2-5 minutes, the cramp passes along with the pain syndrome.

The reason for this condition can be hidden diseases and external influences. It is easier to cope with a cramp in the second case. As a rule, such symptoms are temporary and episodic. Muscle spasms caused by diseases require study and prevention.

Symptoms of cramps in the hands and fingers

It is not difficult to identify a cramp on your own. During an attack, the muscles seem to turn to stone, the person feels heaviness and pain in the upper limb.

Sometimes the palm may involuntarily clench into a fist, or, on the contrary, straighten in the opposite direction. Fingers often tremble during a cramp.

The intensity of the pain varies. It can be sharp or tugging. Often a cramp is accompanied by goosebumps and tingling sensations on the skin.

Clonic seizures are characterized by rhythmic jerking.

Prevention

What to do if your hands cramp with enviable regularity? In this case, they devote time to prevention. You can prevent muscle spasms:

alternation of work and rest;
warm and comfortable clothing that does not restrict blood flow;
balanced and varied diet;
exercise and preventative massage.

If you are prone to seizures, avoid taking diuretics. It is recommended to monitor the level of hemoglobin in the blood; to regulate the central nervous system, natural-based sedatives are used, which improve sleep and relax muscles.

When do you need to see a doctor urgently?

If your hands or fingers are cramped, you should seek medical help when this condition does not go away for a long time - 4 hours or more.

You should also urgently visit a specialist if you have ascending cramps that started in the legs and then moved to the arms.

Sometimes a cramp in the left arm can be a sign of a heart attack. In this case, the patient may lose consciousness. The reason lies in heart rhythm disturbances of varying intensity: from ventricular tachycardia to complete AV block. In addition, in a patient during this period, convulsions can be provoked by neurological disorders, but a similar situation is observed during a heart attack not often, in approximately 3-4% of cases. Acute chest pain and a drop in blood pressure come to the fore. If you suspect a heart attack, you should seek emergency medical help.

Transient seizures require consultation with a doctor, but emergency treatment can be delayed.

Therapeutic measures

We have found out the reasons why the arms cramp, now we will find out what to do and how to prevent cramps in the upper extremities. Spasms in themselves do not require specific therapy - the disease that causes numbness in the hands needs to be treated directly. They provide complex therapy for osteochondrosis, diabetes mellitus, migraines, etc.

Let's find out what to do if your hand cramps and severe pain occurs. It is necessary to improve the access of oxygen to tissues, and for this they activate blood circulation. Massage with fingers or needle rollers will bring relief and relieve spasm. A balanced diet, vitamin therapy, and reasonable exercise can prevent relapses. Acupuncture provides good results in the treatment of seizures caused by dysfunction of peripheral nerves. The neurologist will determine the underlying disease based on the symptoms, and select the appropriate treatment. Usually a course of exercise therapy, hardware physiotherapy is prescribed, and loads on the upper limbs are monitored. Passivity, like overworking the hands, negatively affects the condition of muscle fibers.

How to treat cramps in the hands and fingers?

If a person has a seizure, he needs to be given first aid. In this case, it is recommended to massage the hands, as well as the forearm area.

When there are no serious pathologies of the nervous or circulatory system, the following techniques must be used:

You need to clench your fingers into a fist and shake it several times.
You need to unclench your fingers, lift them above your head and move them intensively in the air.

You need to repeat these simple hand manipulations several times until the cramp stops.

You can get rid of frequent attacks of cramps, which are caused by muscle overstrain, if you regularly perform intense flexions and extensions with your little finger. You need to do the exercise at a fast pace, for three minutes.

Hand baths help increase blood flow in the upper extremities. It's good to add a little lavender oil to the water. This procedure will not only calm the nerves, but also relieve tissue from hypoxia. Therefore, it is best to do it before bed.

You need to understand that eliminating a seizure attack is not difficult, it is important to find out the cause of its occurrence. Therefore, if you experience regular spasms, you need to consult a doctor.

Depending on the cause of the seizures, the specialist will select adequate treatment. In 70% of cases, seizures are provoked by a deficiency of microelements and vitamins. Therefore, the patient is selected complexes containing B vitamins, magnesium, potassium, calcium, sodium (Calcium D3, Magnefar, Magne B6, etc.).

When cramps in the hands are accompanied by painful sensations, it is necessary to take antispasmodics, for example, Spazmalgon or Trigan.

For cramps caused by innervation, acupuncture helps well. In 10-15 sessions it is possible to completely solve the problem and get rid of seizures for a long time.

Video: 3 ways to relieve cramps:

Medical reasons

When asked why fingers cramp, doctors give three answers. Either these are pathologies in the functioning of the nervous system, or a violation of metabolic processes, or a decrease in the threshold of muscle excitability. Such changes are especially often observed in mature and elderly people. What is the reason for such phenomena:

fluctuations in the level of calcium, sodium and magnesium - changes in the content of mineral salt ions in the blood are observed not only in old age. This problem is typical for expectant mothers and people taking diuretic drugs for a long time;
diseases of the spinal cord in the thoracic region - provoke pathological activity of motor neurons. As a result, symmetrical or unilateral convulsions occur, arms go numb, goosebumps run from the shoulder to the fingertips;
chronic compression of nerves and blood vessels in the wrist area - because of this, individual fingers go numb, sometimes the hands cramp, symptoms intensify at night;
Peripheral neuropathy - implies a violation of impulse transmission and blockage of peripheral nerves. Cramps are usually symmetrical, but sometimes spasms are observed in one arm.

What else causes cramps in your hands? In rare cases, pathological activity of the cerebral cortex can be a provocateur. This is possible with epilepsy and various types of seizures. With this diagnosis, limb cramps are an additional symptom.