The human body has more than 300 joints: from the largest - hips and shoulders - to the smallest - the joints of the fingers and toes. And each of them is important and necessary for health and a full life. At first glance, minor and unreasonable pain in the joints of the legs and arms can indicate serious disorders in the body, problems with blood circulation and metabolism. Therefore, turning to an osteopathic specialist at the first manifestations of joint pain is the right and timely decision. After all, it is osteopathy, with its conception of the body as a complex networked system of skeleton, joints, muscles and internal organs, that most logically declares joint diseases and proves a high level of efficiency in their treatment.
Numbness and pain in the hand. causes and diseases
Hand pain and numbness are usually caused by a dysfunction (impairment) of the cardiovascular system. The causes can also be neuralgic diseases of the cervical spine, pinched nerves of the hands. With heart disease, numbness of the left hand is often noted, which begins with a slight decrease in sensitivity of the little and ring fingers and gradually spreads along the limb to the forearm, affecting mainly the inner part.
Pain in the joints of both hands, accompanied by numbness in the thumb and index, and sometimes the middle finger, indicates injuries to the cervical spine, possible pinched nerves, displacement of the intervertebral discs or the vertebrae themselves.
Numbness of the fingertips most likely indicates a lack of vitamins A and B in the body. This symptom is most pronounced in late winter and early spring, when the body is as exhausted as possible.
From the age of 45, numbness up to the complete inability to move the hand, even after a small load on the joints (sewing, knitting, working with the keyboard), can indicate atherosclerosis of the hand vessels, as well as damage to the elbow and shoulder joints.
Many age-related diseases and previous injuries manifest themselves in the form of pain in the wrists. Unhealed strain, bruises, and tears of the scaphoid and lunate bone of the hand can occur that are left unattended. The consequences of such an inattentive approach threatens a partial or total loss of mobility. In addition, the diagnosis of fractures and cracks is quite simple - both with the help of x-rays and during a visit to an osteopath. The latter can also help with the aftermath of such injuries by eliminating possible displacement of bones, damage to blood vessels and pinching nerve endings that cause pain.
Occupational diseases of the wrists
Pain in the joints of the hands can be caused by regular overstrain, monotonous physical exercises, adverse external influences on the joints. Most injuries and illnesses resulting from such exposure can be classified as occupational.
So, the joints of the hands often suffer in the following categories:
- People who spend a lot of time on the computer. The right hand is more commonly affected in right-handed people and the left hand in left-handed people. The constant presence of the hand in the same position - on a computer mouse - causes swelling of the ligaments (tendons) and nearby nerve. Over time, increasing pain in the wrist can lead to feelings of numbness or even complete inability to move the hand. The disease was called - "Tunnel Syndrome";
- Pregnant woman. The "tunnel syndrome" is also manifested in them, which is most pronounced after 3-4 months of pregnancy. Usually the pain in the joints of the hands is preceded by swelling, which is characteristic of late pregnancy. In combination with increasing body weight, they lead to an injury to the carpal nerve. Pain can manifest itself in varying degrees, from mild discomfort in the joint to complete numbness of the hands. Normally, after the birth of a child, the functionality of the joints is restored;
- Pianists, tailors, laundresses, cleaners. As a result of constant stress, which falls mainly on the tendon muscles responsible for the work of the thumb, pain in the hand is localized in this area. Diagnosing the disease at an early stage makes it relatively easy to deal with. The main thing is to contact an osteopath before the formation of scar tissue growths begins to change. This is usually preceded by pronounced pain, inflammation and swelling in the joints;
- Crane operators, carpenters, construction workers working with jack tools. The so-called Morbus Kienböck (avascular necrosis of the wrist bones) is caused by a severe injury or regular microtrauma of the wrist. The disease is caused by a circulatory disorder in the wrist area, which causes severe pain in the wrist and later changes and destruction of bone tissue. Usually the joints of the hand, which is a person's worker, suffer.
Other causes of pain in the joints of the hands
Pain in the wrists can be localized not only in the hands. Shoulder and elbow joints are equally affected. Their lesions are usually caused by injuries to the hands, spine, disease, and age-related changes that lead to thinning of the cartilage tissue in the joints. In each case, the treatment can be different – depending on the complexity and severity of the disease. Only an experienced osteopathic specialist can diagnose why there is pain in the hand, a crunching in the joint and other hand mobility disorders.
Osteopathic treatment of pain in the joints of the hands
Pain in the joints of the hands is not always directly caused by damage to these joints themselves. On the contrary, the real causes of the disease are often far from the hands. Therefore, treatment can only be effective if it aims to eliminate the underlying causes. This is the approach practiced by osteopaths. At the same time, complex methods show high efficiency with pain in the hands when manual techniques are combined with moderate physical activity, and in parallel correcting the patient's diet and affecting the primary source of the disease.
In the first stage of treatment, the pain in the arm joint is always stopped. This makes the patient's body more receptive to osteopathic influences and allows him to fully relax during the session. Since the sessions themselves are carried out with rather long breaks (1-2 weeks), which are necessary for the body to recover and adapt to the changes introduced by the osteopath in its functioning, it is recommended to keep the joint in a fixed position for this periodto fix position. Splints, corsets, various support bandages, etc. can be used for this.
After the pain in the arm joint is eliminated, the osteopath begins to relieve muscle spasms and remove blockages that impair normal blood circulation in areas near the joints and throughout the body. Restoring blood supply to the affected area improves tissue nutrition, due to which the pain does not return, and the joints themselves gradually recover.
In the recovery period, proper nutrition is very important so that the body and damaged areas receive all the necessary trace elements, vitamins and nutrients. Thanks to the gradual renewal and restoration of tissues, the joints of the hands lose mobility, not only pain goes away, but also numbness and discomfort.
To maintain the improving condition of the hands, it is necessary to gradually load the joint to consolidate positive tendencies and strengthen the hand muscles. Physiotherapeutic procedures and physiotherapeutic exercises should be carried out and standardized under the strict supervision of a specialist. If the pain returns to the joints of the hands, then the load must be reduced.
In parallel with the treatment of the hands, the causes of the disease are affected - the spine, cervical spine, internal organs. Osteopathic techniques are aimed at improving blood circulation and metabolism throughout the body, which, of course, has a positive effect on the work of all its systems. The benefit of going to an osteopath in this case is that while treating pain in the hand, they are simultaneously relieving other deeper disorders that have become the cause of that pain.
Wrist pain is not always a wrist injury, so traditional treatment using symptomatic methods may not work. While an osteopath who sees the problem more broadly can help in a few sessions.