Flare ups in hands and feet

mickey20

I'm just wondering if this happens to anyone else as my doctors can't seem to tell me what's wrong this happens a few times a week especially the hands where they start tingling and burning end result is he swelling

[Deleted User]

Welcome to Arthritis Care Forums, mickey20, from the moderation team.

I am very sorry to hear you are experiencing frequent flare-ups of your feet and hands and your Drs don’t seem able to explain what is happening.

It might help if you could tell us which type of arthritis you have, (if you have a diagnosis yet), as well as which Drs you have seen; GP, rheumatologist etc. Many of the members on here do have ‘flares’ and will be able to tell you about their own experience. I can guarantee you will get support from them.

As moderators we are here to help with any problems you may have using the message boards so feel free to send us a message if you need to.

I look forward to seeing you posting on the boards.

Best wishes

Ellen

dreamdaisy

Hands and feet are tricky areas because we use them all the time - it can be very difficult to rest them, yes? How are your hands and feet being affected? I have two kinds of arthritis, the auto-immune one affects my fingers and toes whereas the osteo affects my ankles and wrists. I am a good few years in now, and used to it, but if this is relatively new for you it must be very hard to manage. I don't know why your doctors are struggling to explain it but the cause could be so many things which doesn't help.

The only time I had tingling in my hands was when I had carpal tunnel troubles - a double hand op sorted that out, now they just ache and twang. DD

Lindaj53

dreamdaisy wrote:

Hands and feet are tricky areas because we use them all the time - it can be very difficult to rest them, yes? How are your hands and feet being affected? I have two kinds of arthritis, the auto-immune one affects my fingers and toes whereas the osteo affects my ankles and wrists. I am a good few years in now, and used to it, but if this is relatively new for you it must be very hard to manage. I don't know why your doctors are struggling to explain it but the cause could be so many things which doesn't help.

The only time I had tingling in my hands was when I had carpal tunnel troubles - a double hand op sorted that out, now they just ache and twang. DD[img][/img]

Hello just join this forum just been to rheumatologist yesterday as my GP thinks I have Psoriatic arthritis as have lots of joint pain and hands and feet have been swollen and have psoriasis which has flared up after not having it for several years ,but was told that it looks like osteoarthritis from the rheumatologist after looking at some old xrays I thought she would of checked my psoriasis and nails as these seemed to be affected but didn't even look at the or my joints just had to move my arms around is this normal from rheumatologist, have had x ray to hands yesterday and awaiting for ultrasound on hands . Glad of some advice.

dreamdaisy

Hello, I have psoriatic arthritis (PsA) but with relatively little skin trouble: at first my skin was fine even though some of my joints weren't (I began with one affected knee in 1997) but in October 2006 I had a flare of pustular psoriasis on my palms and soles and the medical penny dropped. The meds didn't alter, just my label. I have gone on to develop OA as a result of the joint damage caused by the PsA but it can also go the other way round: start with OA and perhaps develop an auto-immune form later.

Rheumatologists are not experts in skin (that's the role of a dermatologist) and won't deal with OA because that comes under the remit of the GP. Your GP is being thorough in sending you to see a rheumatologist, have you had any blood tests or did she request any blood samples from you? Xrays will show joint damage and inflammation in the joints but the diagnosis of an auto-immune arthritis such as PsA or RA begins with blood tests. DD

stickywicket

Hello Linda and welcome to the forum.

I can understand your anxiety that the rheumatologist doesn't appear to be physically examining your for psoriatic arthritis. We all want to be sure that we have the right diagnosis and, as you do have psoriasis, it would make you a more likely candidate than most for psoriatic arthritis.

However, the tests that the consultant is doing will actually tell more than a physical examination. She seems to have said that your old x-rays showed osteo but she has asked for new ones which will better show the latest state of things. The ultrasound and blood tests also help a great deal.

In the meantime you could check out the information here https://www.arthritiscare.org.uk/do-i-have-arthritis/a-z-of-types and see for yourself which seems more likely but doesn't mean to say it will be what you have :roll: