Identify rheumatoid arthritis with one finger and how to treat it

Rheumatoid arthritis is a common chronic systemic autoimmune disease characterized by joint synovitis. The key to treating rheumatoid arthritis is "early". If symptoms can be detected early, the development of rheumatoid arthritis can be effectively controlled through the combination of Chinese and Western medicine. The following are some methods to identify rheumatoid arthritis from the fingers.

Morning stiffness: In the early stages of rheumatoid arthritis, the patient often experiences stiffness in the fingers when getting up in the morning, which gradually eases after movement. As the disease progresses, the morning stiffness becomes more severe and lasts longer, up to more than an hour.

Fear of cold: The patient's fingers are particularly sensitive to cold. When exposed to cold water, they easily turn white, purple, numb, and feel tingling or even painful. This is because the fingertips are prone to spasm when exposed to cold, which is medically known as Raynaud's phenomenon.

Proximal: Rheumatoid arthritis is prone to occur in the proximal (proximal trunk) interphalangeal joints. The metacarpophalangeal joints may be affected, but the distal interphalangeal joints will never be affected. Many non-specialist doctors often misdiagnose hyperplastic arthritis or even Kaschin-Beck disease, which is prone to occur in the distal interphalangeal joints, as rheumatoid arthritis.

Ulnar deviation: The thumb side is the digit side, and the little finger side is the ulnar side. In the early stages of rheumatoid arthritis, fingers can be seen to deviate toward the ulnar side, while in normal people, the fingers tend to deviate slightly toward the digit side, especially the little finger.

Muscular atrophy: Rheumatoid arthritis patients often have symptoms of phalangeal muscle atrophy in the early stages, and the enlarged proximal interphalangeal joints form what are medically called "fusiform" or "bean-shaped" changes.

Pigmentation: Pigmentation is often seen on the back of the interdigital joints of the affected fingers, which is dark brown (black). At the same time, the local skin may be keratinized and thickened.

Symmetry: The prominent feature of rheumatoid arthritis finger joint damage is the symmetry of the two hands. Sometimes only the proximal joint of the middle finger is swollen in the early stage, but it should be symmetrical damage to the left and right middle fingers, and rarely unilateral damage, which is common in traumatic arthritis and tuberculous arthritis.

treatment

1. Drugs

Morning stiffness is caused by the accumulation of "fluid" in the joints, which leads to joint swelling, pain, and difficulty in movement.

Through the action of drugs, the production of fluid in the joints can be reduced, or the absorption of fluid in the joints can be promoted, thereby relieving morning stiffness.

2. Daily life advice

Some changes in lifestyle and living habits can also relieve morning stiffness to a certain extent.

When sleeping, do not compress the joints. You can use pillows or other objects to support the joints.

Make sure the temperature in the room is at least 20 degrees when you sleep. A cold sleeping environment is more likely to induce morning stiffness.

Before getting out of bed, you can do some simple stretching exercises.

After getting out of bed, you can take a hot shower first.

If morning stiffness is very obvious, you can wait until the pain and stiffness are slightly relieved before doing some limb stretching exercises.

Empty your mind and don't let work stress and anxiety affect your sleep. Good sleep will also reduce morning stiffness symptoms.