Thank you

GeoffLeeson

Thanks for letting me join. I am male and a young 73. I was recently diagnosed with arthritis in my left wrist and a couple of fingers on my right hand. Very mild compared to some of the discussions I have been reading but given very little advice by my Doctor on how to cope, what to take etc. I look forward to reading and learning from this excellent community.

Baloo

@GeoffLeeson I suspect everyone will have their favourite piece of advice to assemble for you. Mine would be to understand the system is now fragile so try not to overdo it. The hot spots need a lot of nursing along until you work out the best ways not to aggravate the condition.

Poppyjane

Welcome @GeoffLeeson to the community

We are glad you found us and pleased to see that you have already been looking through the many helpful posts from our members. Great to receive some good advice from @Baloo already.

We have all found that trial and error is the most common way to deal with our conditions. With hand issues many of us use heat and cool pads to relieve the pain , some use wrist and finger supports and if you use a computer a lot an arm and wrist support to cushion them can be really helpful.

Contrary to logic, we are all encouraged to keep our painful joints as flexible and mobile as possible ! Yes doing exercise increases the pain until you realise that it is beneficial because the alternative is that we start to seize up and the pain increases. So I have attached some exercises that you might like to try. Be gentle to start with and build up your routine. The Lets Move videos are really popular, helpful and fun - because you know there are others who are doing them with you and alongside you.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/exercising-with-arthritis/exercises-for-healthy-joints/exercises-for-the-fingers-hands-and-wrists/

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/osteoarthritis-of-the-hand-and-wrist/

So do join us again soon, we look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes

Poppyjane

GeoffLeeson

Thank you both. Appreciated.