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How Physiotherapy Helps Relieve Arthritic Hand Pain Do you struggle with stiff, aching fingers? Has it become harder to pick up shells at the beach or cast a fishing line? Arthritis of the hands is relatively common, but that doesn’t make it any easier to live with. Fortunately, the team at The Physiotherapy Center Ltd. is here to help you find relief! Arthritis is an umbrella term for over 100 conditions, all of which cause inflammation, pain, and restricted joint mobility. The two most common types of arthritis, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, can both affect the hands. While pain is never fun, hand pain can feel particularly debilitating. We use our hands constantly throughout the day. Think about the day- to-day hand-related activities you take for granted: picking up a fork, jotting down a note to yourself, texting a friend. With hand arthritis, these tasks and more start to feel impossible. Fortunately, our clinic offers several solutions to relieve arthritis-related hand pain. We’ll work with you to develop a customized treatment program that alleviates your pain, improves your mobility, and helps you do those small daily tasks throughout the day. OA vs RA: Symptoms and Causes The most common type of arthritis worldwide is osteoarthritis (OA), which occurs when a joint’s cartilage and bone tissue degenerate due to aging, injury, or other factors. While we frequently hear about hip and knee osteoarthritis, hand OA is also common, especially as people get older. Osteoarthritis symptoms typically onset gradually and include the following: • Hand pain that worsens with use. At first, the pain will come and go; eventually, it will become constant and more intense • Stiffness and restricted range of motion that, again, will worsen over time
• Grinding, clicking, or cracking noises in the hand joints • Swelling and tenderness • Weakened grip Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is another prevalent form of arthritis. It’s an autoimmune disorder that causes your body’s immune system to attack your joints and is most likely to affect your hands, wrists, or knees. Symptoms will follow a pattern in which they get worse (flares) or better (remission). Some symptoms are similar to OA: • Pain, usually in more than one joint • Stiffness, tenderness, and swelling, usually in more than one joint • Weakened grip • Symptoms occur on both sides of the body (i.e., both hands) However, RA often has additional symptoms unrelated to your joints, such as the following:
• Fatigue • Fever • Loss of appetite
Sources: https://acrjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/art.41142 https://www.arthritis.org/diseases/more-about/osteoarthritis-of-the-hands https://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/basics/rheumatoid-arthritis.html https://www. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3241372/
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