Newby--hand and finger distortion--bad pain

greengrass

:?:
Have had arthritis in hands for several years with some distortion of fingers. No help except mild painkillers. Scared by massive onset of pain, finger twisted and nerve affected. Other fingers also distorted and now not working well. GP has just prescribed diclorfenac. Saw rheumatologist several years ago-- no help. Thought to be osteoarthritis. Have asked for urgent appt but nothing for 6 weeks. Now scared that irreversible damage may be happening now. Any thoughts on this?

valval

hi still in early stages so can not help but sure some one will be in who can help you if not message an help section they very good lots of great advice. sending you a (((hug))) sorry they have let things get this bad for you it so anoying for you good luck

greengrass

valval wrote:

hi still in early stages so can not help but sure some one will be in who can help you if not message an help section they very good lots of great advice. sending you a (((hug))) sorry they have let things get this bad for you it so anoying for you good luck

skezier

Hi Greengrass,

Welcome to the forum from me as well, they are a good lot here.

I wonder reading that if maybe you would be better seeing an ortho rather than a rumo? Your gp needs to send you urgently and I really hope they can get you sorted. Diclo's I have been on for years and they do help keep inflammation down so hopefully your will get some benefits from them soon. Keep in touch and I really hope they will get on and see you. Take care Cris

elnafinn

Hi there

I am sure you are scared by the distortion of your fingers and with no help other than an anti inflammatory. You really do need to know if you have OA or RA. You also require a referral to a hand consultant. I fear it is well overdue for you to do some shouting at your surgery. A consultant will be able to tell you what is happening to your hands and if there is permanent damage. If I were you, I would see another gp if possible. If you can see deterioration in your hands any gp will be able to see it too and if they are a good gp they will refer you immediately.

I hope you get some help very soon, it has obviously been going on long enough already.

Luv
Elna x

woodbon

HI, I've got arther in my hands and yesterday evening they were very painful - I can't take diclofinac, but have tramadol. I also have wrist splints from the Occupational therapist and physio exercises, both of these help sometimes. I have had carpel tunnel release surgery on the left had, which has helped but not with the pain. The physio will try wax baths, which ease the pain and feel nice, but I will wait until I've been to the hand clinic, plastic surgion, who do the nerve release ops like carpel tunnel.

Last night I felt as if my thumb had dislocated, but its always in a funny position, last night it wouldn't go back for a while. :shock:

Have you asked your GP about referral to physio and OT? It may help you, and theirs no harm in trying.

Feel better soon, Love Sue

frogmorton

Hi Greengrass

Scary.....

I have to agree with all the others here. You need to see someone as soon as poss. 6 weeks is not THAT long away, but it is if you are worrying :shock: Can you now ring the consultants sec and let her know that you will take a cancellation? I did this and it worked once.

I reckon referral to hand spec may well be needed and if you see someone they may well be able to get you some splints to help.

good luck

Toni xx

greengrass

Thank you so much Valval, Skezier,Elnafin, Woodbon , Frogmorton and forum readers for your support and advice, it is really appreciated. It is so good to know I’m not alone and others have experience and suggestions which I am acting on. I rang and got on the cancellation list for rheumatologist. I will also ask about hand specialist. I do a lot of fine manual work needing coordination so the loss of function is very scary.

Hope you don’t mind me writing more here…

A previous arthroscopy for wrist arthritis 8 years ago left me with permanent nerve pain in wrist. The further arthritis in hand and fingers sets this nerve pain off. So I’m on gabepentin plus Lidoderm patch at night, etc.

(Just personally, from my experience, if anyone is considering an arthroscopy to look around and ‘ wash out ‘ the wrist joint, it appears there is a chance of setting up chronic neuropathic pain,, like mine, or even complex regional pain syndrome with wrist arthroscopy. If they had listened to me about the nerve pain and medicated immediately with gabepentiin, the pain ‘wind-up’ and resultant chronic pain would have been prevented..)


I‘ve just seen an orthopaedic surgeon for ankle arthritis but he is a foot and ankle not hand and arm. I have to make a decision within 4 weeks whether to go ahead with either ankle fusion or replacement as he says its “knackered”! After the wrist experience I’m wary of the nerve pain risk as he said there is a big nerve going up front of foot and ankle. Hope I haven’t haven’t whinged on too much here but any information welcomed! Thanks, Greengrass

greengrass

Thank you so much Valval, Skezier,Elnafin, Woodbon , Frogmorton and forum readers for your support and advice, it is really appreciated. It is so good to know I’m not alone and others have experience and suggestions which I am acting on. I rang and got on the cancellation list for rheumatologist. I will also ask about hand specialist. I do a lot of fine manual work needing coordination so the loss of function is very scary.

Hope you don’t mind me writing more here…

A previous arthroscopy for wrist arthritis 8 years ago left me with permanent nerve pain in wrist. The further arthritis in hand and fingers sets this nerve pain off. So I’m on gabepentin plus Lidoderm patch at night, etc.

(Just personally, from my experience, if anyone is considering an arthroscopy to look around and ‘ wash out ‘ the wrist joint, it appears there is a chance of setting up chronic neuropathic pain,, like mine, or even complex regional pain syndrome with wrist arthroscopy. If they had listened to me about the nerve pain and medicated immediately with gabepentiin, the pain ‘wind-up’ and resultant chronic pain would have been prevented..)


I‘ve just seen an orthopaedic surgeon for ankle arthritis but he is a foot and ankle not hand and arm. I have to make a decision within 4 weeks whether to go ahead with either ankle fusion or replacement as he says its “knackered”! After the wrist experience I’m wary of the nerve pain risk as he said there is a big nerve going up front of foot and ankle. Hope I haven’t haven’t whinged on too much here but any information welcomed! Thanks, Greengrass

skezier

Hi Grengrass,

Its sounds horrible and thanks for the info about the wrists.

If you post again about the ankle fusion/replacement cus some people here do know about it and you may get some help to make your ind up. I really hope they can get you sorted. Take care Cris

Forgot to say you might find ringing the help line (number at the top of the site) helpful, they are extremely nice and really know their stuff.

dorcas

Hi greengrass. nice to meet another addition to the forum.

I'm so sorry you've been having such pain and worry with your hands. and I hope you get to see the rheummy sooner than the 6 weeks so that you might get answers to your questions. as others said it's hard to understand why you have been left just to cope with this for so long. :?

I have PA and have had a wrist fusion and am now having a total wrist replacement in June. After that I'm having finger joint replacements rather than fusions (which is an option) to 'fix' my distorted fingers.
The reason I'm saying all this is to let you know that the orthos can do some great things for us.....but it is important to get referred to a hand ortho specialist sooner rather than later as it can be too late if the damage has gone too far. So, may be discuss it with the rheummy when you see him? so that surgery can be considered as part of the treatment plan. I really do hope that you will get the help you need and if correction surgery is an option then I for one would say 'go for it'.

I've had arthroscopy of my wrist and knee and arthroscopy + wash out of a septic wrist joint but not had the nerve damage that you had or in fact any other probs after. I can understand your worry about this procedure from your previous experience but really do hope that you can go ahead with the ankle fusion if that is what you need to get relief from arther.

you have lots to think about. :roll: I'm glad you've found the forum as it's the best place for support, advice and understanding of what it is to have arther. As Cris said, phone the helpline..they are great!

Iris x

greengrass

Thank you Dorcas and Iris for your helpful suggestions.
I will try the helpline number.
And will ask the rheumatologist about a hand ortho specialist. I didn’t know about PA, or that you could have finger and wrist replacements. It’s amazing, and encouraging.
But I am still very cautious about thinking this might work for me, because I think I may be prone to nerve pain, and because the2 different orthopaedic consultants I have seen appeared gung ho on doing their chosen operation, but had little knowledge of neuropathic pain. I’m trying to find out more about how the nerve pain can be prevented with ‘pre-emptive analgesia’ at the time of the op. But the ankle ortho didn’t appear to know about this.
I will try posting a new thread about ankle fusion vs replacement in a couple of days when I think of what to say!!!
Thank you website members for the support and welcome which is so encouraging. Greengrass