Rheumatoid arthritis can affect any joint in your body. Every bone in your body is lined with soft synovial substance that acts as a cushion between the bones and the joints. Once arthritis develops in your body, it would gradually wear away the cartilages and synovial lining, causing rubbing of bones leading to sharp pain. It would also cause stiffness in the affected joints and it becomes difficult for you to move the joint as before.
Hands are no exception when it comes to arthritis. Hands are largely used by humans for writing, typing and performing various tasks like eating, cooking and playing instruments. When the joints of your hands get affected with arthritis, you may not be able to use your hands as before for lifting any objects or for typing in your laptop. Doing even the simplest task like opening the door, can become very difficult for you. Synovial tissue lining is responsible for coating and lubricating the joints to give flexibility. Once this tissue is destroyed, the joints become rigid and fail to move easily.
Symptoms :
Arthritis can largely affect your finger joints and wrist joints. Some of the major symptoms of arthritis in hands are throbbing pain while using hands, finger pain and stiffness of fingers. The joints of hands and fingers become warm and tender and in severe cases it would cause deformity of fingers. Arthritis in hands can also cause numbness in your hands. For some people it would take several minutes even for making small movement with hands or fingers due to arthritis. In addition, arthritis can cause fever, fatigue and long lasting pain on your hands.
Causes :