The human body has more than 300 joints: from the largest - 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 full life. Small and irrational, 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 joint pain 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 statement of joint diseases and demonstrates high efficiency in their treatment.
Numbness and pain in the hand. Causes and diseases
Hand pain and hand numbness are usually caused by dysfunction (deficiency) of the cardiovascular system. Also, the causes can be neuralgic diseases of the cervical spine, pinched nerves of the hands. In heart diseases, numbness of the left hand is often observed, 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 inner part.
Pain in the joints of both hands, accompanied by numbness of the thumb and index - and sometimes of the middle finger, indicates violations in the cervical spine, possible pinched nerves, displacement of the intervertebral discs or the vertebrae themselves.
Numbness in the fingertips probably indicates a lack of vitamins A and B. This symptom is most pronounced in late winter and early spring, when the body is at its most exhausted.
From the age of 45, numbness, reaching the total inability to move the hand, even after small loads on the joints (sewing, knitting, keyboard work) can indicate atherosclerosis of the vessels of the hands, in addition to damage to the elbow joints. and shoulder.
Many age-related diseases and previous injuries manifest in the form of pain in the joints of the hands. It may not heal at the same time, strain, bruises and cracks of the navicular and lunate bones of the hand left unattended. The consequences of such an inattentive approach threaten the partial or total loss of mobility. Also, 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 hand joints
Pain in the joints of the hands can be caused by regular overexertion, performing monotonous physical exercises, adverse external influences on the joints. Most injuries and illnesses resulting from this 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 righties, the right hand is more affected, in lefties, 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 your hand. The disease was called - "Tunnel Syndrome";
- Pregnant women. "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, characteristic of late pregnancy. They, in combination with an increase in body weight, lead to a violation of the carpal nerve. Pain can be expressed in varying degrees, from mild joint discomfort to complete hand numbness. Usually, after the birth of a child, joint functionality is restored;
- Pianists, tailors, washerwomen, cleaning women. As a result of constant stress, falling mainly on the tendinous muscles responsible for the work of the thumb, pain in the hand is located in this area. Diagnosing the disease at an early stage makes it relatively easy to deal with. The main thing is to get in touch with an osteopath before the formation of scar tissue growths starts to change. This is usually preceded by pronounced pain, inflammation and swelling in the joints;
- Crane operators, carpenters, builders working with jack tools. So-called Kienböck's disease (avascular necrosis of the wrist bones) develops as a result of severe injury or regular microtrauma of the hand joint. The disease is caused by a violation of blood circulation in the wrist area, due to which intense pain develops in the hand joint, and subsequently changes and destruction of bone tissue begin. Usually, the joints of the hand that a person is working on suffer.
Other causes of hand joint pain
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 affected. Generally, their injuries are caused by injuries to the hands, spine, as well as diseases and age-related changes, leading to thinning of the 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 hand pain, a joint crisis, and other hand mobility disorders.
Osteopathic treatment of hand joint pain
Pain in the joints of the hands is not always directly caused by damage to these joints. On the contrary, the causes of the disease are often quite far from the hands. This is why treatment can only be effective if it aims to eliminate the underlying causes. This is the approach practiced by osteopaths. At the same time, complex methods demonstrate high efficiency in case of hand pain, 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.
In the first phase of treatment, the pain in the arm joint is always stopped. This makes the patient's body more responsive to osteopathic influences and allows him to fully relax during the session. Since the sessions themselves are performed with very 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 joint in a fixed position during this period. time course . 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 eliminate blockages that interfere with normal blood circulation in the areas close to the joints and throughout the body. 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.
In the recovery phase, proper nutrition is very important, which will allow the body and the damaged areas to receive the entire necessary set of trace elements, vitamins and nutrients. Thanks to the gradual renewal and restoration of tissue, the joints of the hands lose mobility, not only the pain disappears, but also the sensations of numbness and discomfort.
To maintain the improving condition of the hands, the joint must be gradually loaded to consolidate positive trends and strengthen the hand muscles. Physical therapy procedures and physical therapy exercises must be performed under the strict supervision of a specialist and must 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 causes of the disease are affected - the spine, the cervical region, the internal organs. Osteopathic techniques aim to improve the blood supply and metabolism of the body as a whole, which, of course, has a positive effect on the work of all its systems. The advantage of going to an osteopath in this case is that while treating the pain in the hand, he simultaneously relieves other, deeper disorders that have become the cause of that pain.
Pain in the hand joint is not always a violation in the wrist area, so traditional treatment using symptomatic methods may not work. Whereas an osteopath, who perceives the problem more broadly, is able to help in just a few sessions.