Arthritis is a chronic disease of joints that commonly targets the tissues in joints like the knee, spine, and hip. However, it can also affect the hands other than weight-bearing. Consequently, a person finds it hard to write, hold objects, and do everyday activities like bathing and cleaning.
The doctor can prescribe medicines like corticosteroid injections to lower inflammation and delay joint deterioration if you have been diagnosed with arthritis in your hands. Besides that medication, different remedies like hand exercise, hot and cold therapy, and splinting can also be used to alleviate the symptoms of hand arthritis. If you want to know about these remedies in detail, keep reading!
What Parts Of The Hand Are Mostly Affected By Arthritis?
Hands can be affected by three types of arthritis: psoriatic, rheumatoid, and osteoarthritis. Older people, women, overweight people, and those who have a past hand injury or joint infections are more susceptible to hand arthritis. Anyone suffering from this condition has discomfort at the thumb-wrist joint, hand stiffness, and soreness, making it challenging for them to use keys or unlock a jar. Besides that, the patients can hear clicking or breaking in the joints. Their fingers, hands, and wrists lose shape or have discomfort at night or when sleeping if the arthritis is chronic. While the four parts of the hand that arthritis targets include:
- The base of your thumb
- Your knuckles
- Your fingers' middle joints
- Your finger's upper joint is closest to your nails.
Remedies To Help Arthritis In Hands:
Your doctor can diagnose hand arthritis by looking at your hand and using X-rays. Bone spur development and bone decay of cartilage are seen on X-rays. If rheumatoid arthritis is the cause, a blood test for it and other signs can help identify it. Once you are diagnosed with arthritis, the next step is to start medication to prevent pain. Hand arthritis can be treated with various therapies and remedies. The nature of the disease will determine the best method of treatment. Some of these remedies are:
Hand Exercises:
The hands' supporting muscles and tendons remain flexible with exercise. It might lessen discomfort as well. A physician may suggest physical therapy, where a specialist cooperates with a patient to create an exercise regimen. The exercises listed below might be helpful. To avoid additional pain, you should perform the exercise slowly and carefully:
- Stretch the fingers horizontally on a smooth surface, then pull them back together.
- Form a free fist and open the fingers to completely align them, continuing this numerous times on each hand.
- Move the thumb outward while keeping the hand flat, then drag it back to the palm.
- With the hand free to dangle down, set the wrist on a corner of a table. Keep your fingers calm. Lift your hand until you notice a stretch, then gently drop it.
- Rotate the hand such that the thumb goes up from the same point.
These exercises are best performed with minor movements. Another way to reduce discomfort is to relax the hands from misuse and unpleasant tasks.
Hot And Cold Therapy:
Hot and cold therapy is an inexpensive, simple, and efficient way to treat arthritis-related hand pain. Heat treatment helps grease joints and ease muscles. As an alternative, cold therapy lessens arthritic discomfort, tenderness, and inflammation. Some methods of using heat therapy to treat hand discomfort include:
- Taking a warm bath
- Using heating pads
- Immersing your hands in a warm tub
- Paraffin wax therapy
Cold therapy methods include:
- Utilizing a container of frozen veggies
- Using a portable ice pack that immediately splits and becomes chilly
- Soothing your hands with a chilled bottle of water
- Stuffing a sock with rice and freezing it
Some patients experience the most significant reduction in arthritis pain when using heat and cold therapy. You can try both to determine which one better heals your hand, finger discomfort, and signs. Ice should not be applied for at least ten minutes at once. Do it ten times every day.
Splinting
Arthritis binds the wrist and hands; splints might be helpful when you have pain but still need to use your hands to perform chores. Splinting options include:
- A hand brace that secures the hand and can look like a glove without fingers
- Sleeve braces that suit individual fingers
- Kinesiology tape, which is a kind of bandage that rolls with the fingers
It was discovered that using a splint on the distal interphalangeal (DIP) joint at night was an easy and safe method of reducing pain and enhancing flexibility. The AFT and the ACR advise utilizing orthoses and kinesiology tape to support the joints. Compression gloves, which are usually worn at night, may replace splinting. These flexible, fitting gloves may help reduce hand stiffness and pain while enhancing hand function.
Capsaicin Creams and Medication:
Chilli peppers get their heat from a substance called capsaicin. It reduces sensations of pain when used in lotions and gels. Capsaicin creams lower the systemic adverse effects. External use, however, can occasionally result in severe pain, stinging, and redness. Those who are allergic may get irritation in their eyes, so never touch your eyes after using it. In a trial, it was proved that capsaicin gel considerably reduced pain. For instance, there was a 50% decrease in pain in one study where patients received capsaicin gel for 12 weeks.
To ensure you are not allergic, apply a tiny quantity to one region of your skin before using capsaicin items on your hands. If these remedies are unable to lower your symptoms, you need medications. These include hyaluronic acid therapy, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, painkillers such as acetaminophen or duloxetine, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicines (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen or naproxen sodium, and surgery.
Conclusion:
The hands and wrists may be affected by several types of arthritis. Pain, swelling, and a loss of mobility are symptoms, but they may differ. It is essential to consult a doctor if you experience any symptoms in your wrist, hand, or finger joints that might indicate arthritis. Although there is currently no treatment for arthritis, specific remedies can help control your hand arthritis. These remedies include hand exercises, hot-cold treatment, splinting, and creams and gels. If symptoms are severe, you need medication, or even worse, the best option is surgery.
