What does Arthritis feel like?

[firebirdgold]

So for those of you with Arthritis, what does it feel like? I chipped the second knuckle on my ring finger 5 years ago, and now that finger hurts and resists bending.

I just woke up one day and it hurt, very odd. oh, and I''m in my 30''s.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

I don''t know about RA, but I have osteoarthritis (wear and tear arthritis) in most of my joints and it is painful. My cervical spine suffers most acutely and I have radiating pain and joint tenderness (to touch). Some limited range of motion and "noisy" movement as well. I find that my saving grace is exercise, which I do 5 days a week for 1-1.5 hrs-: ride bike, resistance, weights, aerobic and stretching (yoga type). BUt there are days that I too must rely on Tylenol and Advil. As for diagnosis a recent spinal MRI confirmed what my doc long suspected.

What does your doctor say?

cheers--Sharon

 

[valeria101]

Date: 4/5/2006 2:27:51 PM
Author:Wren

So for those of you with Arthritis, what does it feel like? I chipped the second knuckle on my ring finger 5 years ago...

Your description rings true. And I do not know if one can be too young to develop posttraumatic arthritis after a broken bone sets wrong.

A cousin has a similar problem (toe, not finger) - she is 35 and years ago let a small injury heel by itself (probably not broken toe bones... something short of that, a chip or twisted ligaments or something painful at any rate). Now she has big trouble walking because the toe hurts touching the ground and has to have some sort of reconstructive surgery.

 

[Lorelei]

I have osteoarthritis in my wrists, fingers, hands and spine ( scoliosis). It could be that the finger joint is arthritic, the pain varies from my joints getting hot and creaky and ache to quite annoying constant pain. I fractured my wrist years ago when I was just in my teens and the range of movement isn't great and it does ache quite a lot. Maybe mention it to your doc next time you see him and a plain pain reliever such as Tylenol might help. My hands are really annoying as I play the piano and have trouble reaching large chords, my fingers are so stiff they won't reach so I have to leave out notes to manage it.

 

[Kaleigh]

I have it in my neck, 3 herniated disks. And in my fingers, not all just some. I take advil. I had neck surgery but have degernerative disk disease. Can't play tennis anymore. The pain I have in my neck is awful. Range of motion is poor. My daughter has JRA, juvenile Rheumatoid arthritis. She is better now that she is older. When she was little she was in severe pain and took Tolectin. I'd get an MRI, and seek out a rheumatologist. It's no fun. I got mine in my 30's too.

 

[strmrdr]

You might have a bone chip floating around in there, if so removing it will help a lot.
see your doc and have him do a ct

Alieve if you can take it is the best OTC pain med for it.
Its what the doctors in prescription strength have been prescribing for years for it.

 

[hoorray]

I have lots of osteoarthriis -- especially in my knees, both of which I have "blown out" skiing, so it is post tramautic. I broke a bone in my toe a while back, and they told me they guaranteed that I would develop arthritis in that toe. (I have, but it is not too bad -- the big toe is only so mobile.)

I agree with Storm -- Aleeve is a great over the counter med. It is specifically anti-inflamatory, which is important for arthritis. Advil, if taken in high doses can be anti-inflamaroty, but they are different drugs. Aleeve works much better for me. It''s the over the counter version of what they prescribed for me after my surgeries. I''d get it checked out and get a real opinion. I recently had a topical anti-inflamatory prescribed for my little finger joint, which I smashed. (Am I sounding like a klutz? I like to think of it as "active"...)

 

[anchor31]

I have inflammatory arthritis in my knees (started at 17!

) and on bad days they get horribly swollen and it hurts to even walk. They get stiff and they "crack" a lot. They''ve been good for a while now, and I can even go up and down the stairs without pain. They are still slightly swollen though, and I can''t bend them to the maximum (and sit on my heels, for example).

 

[firebirdgold]

Well, I went to first care last week and they said it was arthritis. But I have the feeling that was a default assessment. The x-rays looked fine, it''s not tendinitis or a couple other things, and the joints are swollen and stiff with no other cause, therefore it''s Arthritis. I kinda would have preferred a more definitive diagnosis.
The prescribed treatment was to ''buddy'' wrap the finger and take anti-inflammatory otc like advil and aleve. Buddy wrap is where I tape it to my middle finger which forces it to bend and stay mobile. It was effective and I felt better for a while, but when I stop doing it the pain and swelling comes back.
This may be a bit sad, but the thing I worry about the most now is how it will effect my e-ring since it''s my ring finger. I''m assuming there''s not much else I can do to get the swelling to go down? For those of you with arthritis in your fingers, how did it change your ring wearing habits? I''m thinking I''ll need a more delicate ring with a narrower band. Yes, the e-ring is all I think about these days!

Thanks for your help everyone!