The human body has more than 300 joints: from the largest - the hip and shoulder, to the smallest - the joints of the fingers and toes. And each of them is important and necessary for health and a fulfilling life. Minor 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 manifestations of pain in the joints will be the right and timely decision. After all, it is osteopathy with its idea of the body as a complex interconnected system of the skeleton, joints, muscles and internal organs that gives the most logical declaration of joint diseases and demonstrates high efficiency in their treatment.
Numbness and pain in the hand. Causes and diseases
Pain in the hand and numbness of the hands are usually caused by dysfunction (impairment) of the cardiovascular system. Also, the causes may be neuralgic diseases of the cervical spine, pinched nerves of the hands. In heart disease, numbness of the left hand is often noted, which begins as a slight decrease in the sensitivity of the little finger and ring finger and gradually spreads along the limb to the forearm, affecting mainly the inner part.
Pain in the joints of both hands, accompanied by numbness of the thumb and index - and sometimes the middle - fingers, indicates violations in the cervical spine, possible pinched nerves, displacement of the intervertebral discs or the vertebrae themselves.
Numbness of the fingertips, most likely, indicates a lack of vitamins A and B in the body. This symptom is most pronounced in late winter and early spring, when the body is as exhausted as possible.
At the age of 45 and older, numbness, reaching the complete inability to move the hand, even after small loads on the joints (sewing, knitting, working with the keyboard) may indicate atherosclerosis of the vessels of the hands, as well as damage to the elbow and shoulder joints.
Many age-related diseases and previous injuries manifest themselves in the form of pain in the joints of the hands. It can be unhealed at one time stretching, bruises and cracks of the navicular and lunate bones of the hand left unattended. The consequences of such an inattentive approach threaten partial or complete loss of mobility. Moreover, diagnosing fractures and cracks is quite simple - both with the use of X-rays and during a visit to an osteopath. The latter is also able to help with the consequences of such injuries, eliminating possible displacement of bones and damage to blood vessels, pinching of nerve endings that cause pain.
Occupational diseases of the joints of the hands
Pain in the joints of the hands can be caused by their regular overexertion, the performance of monotonous physical exercises, adverse external influences on the joints. Most of the injuries and diseases resulting from such exposure can be classified as occupational.
So the joints of the hands often suffer in the following categories:
- People who spend a lot of time at the computer. In right-handers, the right hand is more often affected, in left-handers, the left. Due to the constant presence of the hand in the same position - on a computer mouse - swelling of the ligaments (tendons) and the nearby nerve occurs. Over time, increasing pain in the wrist can lead to numbness and even complete inability to move the hand. The disease was called - "Tunnel Syndrome";
- Pregnant women. "Tunnel syndrome" also manifests itself in them, becoming most pronounced after 3-4 months of pregnancy. Usually, pain in the joints of the hands is preceded by swelling, characteristic of late pregnancy. They, in combination with growing body weight, lead to infringement of the carpal nerve. Pain can be expressed in varying degrees from slight discomfort in the joint to complete numbness of the hands. Usually, after the birth of a child, the functionality of the joints is restored;
- Pianists, tailors, laundresses, cleaners. As a result of constant stress, 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 it. The main thing is to contact an osteopath before the formation of growths of scar tissue begins to change. This is usually preceded by pronounced pain, inflammation and swelling in the joints;
- Crane operators, carpenters, builders working with jack tools. The so-called Kienböck's disease (avascular necrosis of the bones of the wrist) develops as a result of a severe injury or regular microtrauma of the hand joint. The disease is caused by a violation of blood circulation in the area of the wrist, due to which severe pain develops in the joint of the hand, and later changes and destruction of bone tissue begins. Usually, the joints of the hand that is working in a person suffer.
Other causes of pain in the joints of the hands
Pain in the joints of the hands can be localized not only in the area of the hands. Shoulder and elbow joints are equally often affected. Usually, their lesions are caused by injuries of the hands, spine, as well as diseases and age-related changes, leading to thinning of cartilage tissue in the joints. In each case, the 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 hand, a crunch in the joint and other disorders of the mobility of the hands.
Osteopathic treatment of pain 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 contrary, the root causes of the disease are often quite remote from the hands. That is why treatment can only be effective if it is aimed at eliminating the underlying causes. This is the approach practiced by osteopaths. At the same time, complex methods demonstrate high efficiency in case of pain in the hands, when manual techniques are combined with moderate physical activity, and in parallel, the patient's nutrition is corrected and the primary source of the disease is affected.
At 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 completely relax during the session. Since the sessions themselves are carried out with rather long breaks (1-2 weeks) necessary for the body to recover and adapt to the changes introduced into its functioning 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 eliminate blocks that interfere with normal blood circulation in areas near the joints and throughout the body as a whole. The restoration of blood supply in the affected area improves tissue nutrition, as a result of which the pain no longer returns, and the joints themselves begin to gradually recover.
At the recovery stage, proper nutrition is very important, which will allow the body and damaged areas to receive all the necessary set of trace elements, vitamins and nutrients. Thanks to the gradual renewal and restoration of tissue, the joints of the hands acquire lost mobility, not only pain disappears, but also sensations of numbness and discomfort.
To maintain the improving condition of the hands, the joint must be gradually loaded in order to consolidate positive tendencies and strengthen the muscles of the hand. Physiotherapeutic procedures and physiotherapy exercises should be carried out under the strict supervision of a specialist and be standardized. If the pain returns to the joints of the hands, it is necessary to reduce the load.
In parallel with the treatment of the hands, the root causes of the disease are affected - the spine, cervical region, internal organs. Osteopathic techniques are aimed at improving the 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 simultaneously relieves other deeper disorders that have become the root cause of this pain.
Pain in the joint of the hand is not always a violation in the wrist area, so traditional treatment using symptomatic methods may not work. While an osteopath, who perceives the problem more widely, is able to help in just a few sessions.