The human body has more than 300 joints: from the largest - the hips and shoulders, to the smallest - the joints of the fingers and toes. And each of them is important and necessary for health and a satisfying life. Small and unreasonable, at first glance, 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 manifestation of pain in the joints will be an accurate and timely decision. After all, it is osteopathy with its idea of the body as a complex interconnected skeletal system, joints, muscles and internal organs that gives the most logical declaration of joint disease and shows high efficiency in their treatment.
Numbness and pain in the hands. Causes and diseases
Pain in the hands and numbness of the hands are usually caused by dysfunction (deterioration) of the cardiovascular system. Also, the cause may be neuralgic disease of the cervical spine, pinching nerves of the hand. In heart disease, numbness of the left hand is often observed, which begins with a slight decrease in the sensitivity of the little finger and ring finger and gradually spreads along the limbs to the forearms, affecting mainly the inside.
Pain in the joints of both hands, accompanied by numbness of the thumb and forefinger - and sometimes middle - fingers, indicates a violation of the cervical spine, the possibility of a pinched nerve, displacement of the intervertebral disc or the vertebra itself.
Numbness on the fingertips, most likely, indicates a lack of vitamins A and B in the body. These symptoms are most noticeable in late winter and early spring, when body fatigue is possible.
At age 45 and older, numbness, reaching complete inability to move the hands, even after a small load on the joints (sewing, knitting, working with the keyboard) may indicate atherosclerosis of the hand canal, as well as damage to the elbow and shoulder joints.
Many age -related illnesses and previous injuries manifest themselves in the form of pain in the joints of the hands. It can go unhealed at one time of stretching, bruising and cracking of the navicular bone and the moon of the hand left unattended. The consequence of such a default approach threatens partial or complete loss of mobility. Moreover, diagnosing fractures and cracks is relatively easy-both with the use of X-rays and during a visit to an osteopath. The latter can also help with the consequences of such injuries, eliminating the possibility of bone displacement and damage to blood vessels, pinching the nerve endings that cause pain.
Occupational diseases of the joints of the hands
Pain in the joints of the hands can be caused by frequent fatigue, dull performance of physical exercises, adverse external influences on the joints. Most injuries and illnesses resulting from such exposure can be classified as occupational.
Therefore, hand joints often suffer in the following categories:
- People who spend a lot of time on the computer. In the right hand, the right hand is more often affected, in the left hand, the left. Due to the constant presence of hands in the same position - on a computer mouse - swelling of ligaments (tendons) and nearby nerves occurs. Over time, increasing pain in the wrist can cause numbness as well as a complete inability to move the hand. The disease is called - "Tunnel Syndrome";
- Pregnant lady. "Tunnel syndrome" also manifests itself in it, becoming most noticeable after 3-4 months of pregnancy. Usually, pain in the joints of the hands is preceded by swelling, a feature of late pregnancy. They, in combination with weight gain, lead to violations of the carpal nerve. Pain can be expressed in various stages from slight discomfort in the joints to complete numbness of the hands. Usually, after the birth of a child, joint function is restored;
- Pianist, tailor, laundress, washerman. As a result of constant pressure, falling mainly on the tendon muscles responsible for the work of the thumb, pain in the hand is localized in this area. Diagnosis of the disease at an early stage makes it relatively easy to deal with. The main thing is to contact an osteopath before the formation of scar tissue growth begins to change. This is usually preceded by significant pain, inflammation and swelling in the joints;
- Crane operators, carpenters, builders work with jack tools. The so -called Kienböck’s disease (avascular necrosis of the wrist bone) develops as a result of severe injury or common microtrauma to the wrist joint. The disease is caused by a violation of blood circulation in the wrist area, which causes severe pain to develop in the joints of the hands, and then the change and destruction of bone tissue begins. Usually, the joints of the hands that a person works with suffer.
Another cause of pain in the joints of the hands
Pain in the hand joints can be localized not only in the hand area. The shoulder and elbow joints are often affected. Typically, their lesions are caused by injuries to the hands, spine, as well as age -related diseases and changes, which lead to thinning of cartilage tissue in the joints. In each 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 hands, dryness in the joints and other disorders on hand mobility.
Treatment of painful osteopathy 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 other hand, the cause of the disease is often quite out of hand. That is why treatment can only be effective if it aims to eliminate the underlying cause. This is the approach practiced by osteopaths. At the same time, complex methods show high efficiency in cases of pain in the hands, when manual techniques are combined with moderate physical activity, and in parallel, the patient's diet is corrected and the main source of the disease is affected.
In the first stage of treatment, pain in the arm joint is always stopped. This makes the patient’s body more responsive to osteopathic influences and allows him to relax completely during the session. Since the session itself is conducted with a relatively long rest (1-2 weeks) required for the body to recover and adapt to the changes introduced into its function by the osteopath, it is recommended to fix the joint in a fixed position for this period. For this, splints, corsets, various support bandages, etc. can be used.
After the pain in the arm joint has been eliminated, the osteopath begins to relieve muscle spasms and remove blocks that interfere with normal blood circulation in the area near the joint and throughout the body as a whole. Restoration of blood supply in the affected area improves tissue nutrition, as a result of which the pain does not return, and the joint itself begins to recover gradually.
At the recovery stage, proper nutrition is very important, which will allow the body and the damaged area to receive all the necessary set of trace elements, vitamins and nutrients. Thanks to the gradual renewal and restoration of tissues, the joints of the hands acquire lost mobility, not only the pain disappears, but also the sensation of numbness and discomfort.
To maintain an improved hand condition, the joints must be loaded gradually to consolidate the positive tendencies and strengthen the hand muscles. Physiotherapeutic procedures and physiotherapy training should be carried out under the strict supervision of specialists and standardized. If the pain returns to the joints of the hands, it is necessary to reduce the load.
In parallel with the treatment of hands, the causes of the disease are affected - the spine, cervical area, internal organs. Osteopathic techniques aim to increase blood supply and metabolism in the body as a whole, which, of course, has a positive effect on the work of all its systems. The advantage of turning to an osteopath in this case is that while treating pain in the hand, he is at the same time relieving other more profound disorders that have been the cause of this pain.
Pain in the wrist joints is not always a violation in the wrist area, so traditional treatments using symptomatic methods may not work. Even an osteopath, who understands the problem more widely, can help in just a few sessions.