Hand trouble in the Carpus/ Pisiform/ Ulnar area anyone?

Mat48
Mat48 Member Posts: 1,075
edited 28. Sep 2013, 00:57 in Living with Arthritis archive
Hi - I wonder if anyone can tell me what it means to have trouble in this part of the hand with both left and right hands? I have had a pain that is right in the corner of each hand for many months now - just the part that sits right above the ulnar joints in the wrist. It hurts always a bit but somedays it really kicks off and makes holding things like brooms and driving quite unpleasant :roll: My hands feel generally tight and achy at present but not at all swollen - but this part is really sore to the touch and as it is at the bass of my palms this is quite difficult to avoid!

Today both hands have felt hot and a bit shiny and swollen right down in the corner of each palm directly bellow my little fingers which is the area of the hand I mean.

I looked it up on hand anatomy so I could pinpoint the bones affected but if anyone else has this it would be useful to know what it could be - does it go with RA or maybe with other types of IA or OA - I seem to have a bit of everything anyway :roll:
If you get lemons, make lemonade

Comments

  • Boomer13
    Boomer13 Member Posts: 1,931
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Mat;

    It's me again. Are you talking about the ulnar styloid area? The bump on the out/topside of the wrist. The pisiform is the carpal bone just above this, I think?

    My arthritis started in my wrists and I developed ganglions on both sides. These were from instability when twisting the wrist. There is a ligament that goes across the carpus from the ulnar styloid. Mine are both unstable and I have inflammatory joint disease all through the carpus, plus carpal tunnel.

    I have to wear wrist supports most of the time and especially at night. They really have helped over time with the pain. It was my wrist problem that disabled me first. They are a bit awkward but they prevent over-bending/flexing and, for me, the contracting of tendons at night. If you use them, it's best to have them fitted to your wrist properly by an OT. I had much better luck with mine when I did this (found out the hard way :( )

    With all the sites of articulation in the carpus, ligament attachments and tendons, there are plenty of joint spaces for RA to work on. Even though I became unable to use one of my hands for 6 mths or so, I still had very little inflammation to look at. Just the ganglions and some mild puffiness.

    I'm resigned to not being able to do much with my hands. I know precisely how much I can do and I'm very careful to pace myself and not overdo to the point of strain. It's the one problem I am well adjusted to dealing with; it's been going on for 8 years in one and 6 in the other.

    I have a prescription gel, 10% diclofenac, that I rub in if I get very desperate with aching, but mostly the wrist supports prevent me from getting to painful. This works very well.

    XXAnna
  • Mat48
    Mat48 Member Posts: 1,075
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Anna.yours sounds much more severe than mine I must say but this does sound like the same thing I think. Its not an area of my hands that gets checked as part of my DAS so I take it this isn't a classic area for RA to pick on. I am an artist and the only traditional aspect of the way I work is that I use my hands and eyes to make. So my hands are pretty important to me. I have splints - several types and also a night resting splint but as I hurt/ache everywhere now,especially at night and especially my feet, I intend to just plough on until something actually looks swollen. But I might contact the physio and ask her for some foot and hand exercises. Don't want steroids until my private blood tests are done in under two weeks! Mat x
    If you get lemons, make lemonade
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,697
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    From what I remember, Mat (and I'm going back a long way) this was a real pain. Yes it was part and parcel of my RA. It stopped once everything fused. I seem to remember you work with your hands a lot. That probably will make it worse if you can't pick and choose when to use them.
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • Mat48
    Mat48 Member Posts: 1,075
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    That's interesting to know thanks SW. My hands and wrists are nothing like how they were when I was first diagnosed with RA nearly two years ago - I literally had to keep dipping them in hot paraffin wax, couldn't hold let alone use a pencil or pen and even putting hands in my pocket was a scary proposition in case they bumped on something.

    But this hand stuff is just very sore on contact sometimes - and mostly more manageable than RA as I've known it. But it just seems a strange location to find RA somehow? But it is the part of the hand which we rest when using laptop - the bony part our wrists/ palms sit on while typing? And it's just above the ulnar joints of the wrist which were so bad previously so it kind of makes sense - heck I don't know if anything makes much sense these days but just thought I'd ask out of interest. Mat x
    If you get lemons, make lemonade
  • Boomer13
    Boomer13 Member Posts: 1,931
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    From what I know about RA, it can cause joint problems anywhere in the body there is synovium, and there's lots in the carpus.

    Mine's is PsA and I have to admit, I'm not sure what the difference in target tissues is except I think PsA causes problems from underneath the synovium. I will have to go re-read now.....

    I expect nothing to be classic or normal in myself.

    Anna