The human body has more than 300 joints: from the largest - the hip and shoulder, to the smallest - the finger and toe joints. 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 may 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 skeleton, joints, muscles and internal organs that gives the most logical statement of joint diseases and demonstrates great effectiveness in their treatment.
Numbness and pain in the hand. Causes and diseases
Hand pain and numbness in the hands are usually caused by a malfunction (deficiency) in the cardiovascular system. Also, the causes can be neuralgic diseases of the cervical spine, pinched nerves of the hands. In heart disease, numbness in the left hand is often noted, which begins with a slight decrease in sensitivity of the little finger and ring finger and gradually spreads along the limb to the forearm, mainly affecting the internal part.
Pain in the joints of both hands, accompanied by numbness of the thumb and index finger - and sometimes the middle finger - indicates violations of the cervical spine, possible pinched nerves, displacement of the intervertebral discs or vertebrae theythemselves.
Numbness in the fingertips most likely indicates a lack of vitamins A and B. 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 by both stretching, bruising and cracking of the navicular and lunar bones of the hand left unattended. The consequences of such an inattentive approach threaten partial or complete loss of mobility. In addition, the diagnosis of 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 bone displacements 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 their regular overstrain, performing monotonous physical exercises, adverse external influences on the joints. Most injuries and illnesses resulting from such exposure can be classified as occupational.
Thus, the joints of the hands often suffer in the following categories:
- People who spend a lot of time in front of the computer. In right-handed people, the right hand is more often affected, in left-handed people, 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 wrist pain can lead to numbness and even complete inability to move the hand. The disease was called - "Tunnel Syndrome";
- Pregnant women. The "tunnel syndrome" also manifests itself in them, becoming more pronounced after 3-4 months of pregnancy. Usually pain in the joints of the hands is preceded by swelling, which is characteristic of late pregnancy. Associated with an increase in body weight, they lead to damage to the carpal nerve. Pain can be expressed in varying degrees, from mild discomfort in the joint to complete numbness in the hands. Usually, after the birth of a child, the functionality of the joints is restored;
- Pianists, tailors, laundresses, cleaning ladies. Due to constant stress, falling mainly on the tendon muscles responsible for the work of the thumb, the pain in the hand is localized in this area. Diagnosing the disease at an early stage makes it relatively easy to treat. The key is to contact an osteopath before the formation of scar tissue growths begin to change. This is usually preceded by pronounced pain, inflammation and swelling of the joints;
- Crane operators, carpenters, builders working with jack tools. The so-called Kienböck's disease (avascular necrosis of the wrist bones) develops as a result of a severe injury or regular microtrauma to the hand joint. The disease is caused by a violation of blood circulation in the wrist area, due to which severe pain develops in the hand joint, and subsequent changes and destruction of bone tissue begin. Usually the joints of the hand which is the worker of 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. The shoulder and elbow joints are also often affected. Usually their lesions are caused by injuries to the hands, spine, as well as age-related diseases and 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 osteopath can diagnose why there is pain in the hand, creaking in the joint and other disorders of hand mobility.
Osteopathic treatment of joint pain in the hands
Pain in the joints of the hands is not always directly caused by damage to the 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 main source of the disease is affected.
At the first stage of treatment, the pain in the arm joint is always stopped. This makes the patient's body more responsive to osteopathic influences and allows them to fully relax during the session. Since the sessions themselves are carried out with fairly long breaks (1-2 weeks) necessary for the body to recover and adapt to the changes introduced in its functioning by the osteopath, it is recommended to fix the jointin a fixed position during this period. . For this, splints, corsets, various support bandages, etc. can be used.
Once the pain in the arm joint is eliminated, the osteopath begins to relieve muscle spasms and remove blockages that interfere with normal blood flow in areas near the joints and throughout the body as a whole. Restoration of blood supply to the affected area improves tissue nutrition, as a result of which the pain does not return, and the joints themselves begin to gradually recover.
At the stage of recovery, proper nutrition is very important, which will allow the body and damaged areas to receive the entire 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 pain disappears, but also feelings of numbness and discomfort.
To maintain the improvement in the condition of the hands, the joint should be gradually loaded in order to consolidate the 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, the load should be reduced.
Along with the treatment of the hands, the root causes of the disease are affected - the spine, the cervical region, the internal organs. Osteopathic techniques are aimed at improving blood supply and metabolism throughout the body, 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 by treating the pains of the hand, he simultaneously relieves other deeper disorders which have become the cause of these pains.
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 broadly, is able to help in just a few sessions.