Arthritis In Hands

Though it may be unheard to many of you, but arthritis in hands has emerged as a common phenomenon for a lot of people. It has been seen that arthritis in hands has become a common problem and many people are suffering with the same. Since there are many small joints present in the hands and wrists, they often function together to produce motion. Thus more than often, these joints are essential to perform most of our regular activities. These include the tasks like typing, threading a needle or tying a shoelace and various other tasks.

It has been seen that it would be very difficult to perform these daily activities if the hands and the wrists are affected by arthritis. It should be remembered that arthritis can affect various parts of the hand and wrist and mainly targets the joints. There can be various kinds of causes for arthritis of the hand and researches have revealed that one out of every five individuals living in the United States has at least one joint with the signs or symptoms of arthritis.

Also these studies have proven that almost 50 percent of the arthritis sufferers are under age of 50 years. Amongst the multiple causes of impairment and growth of arthritis in the U.S, this problem characteristically occurs either from disease or from trauma. It has been a known fact that the cartilage acts as natural shock absorber. This also renders a smooth gliding layer for the joint. But when the arthritic joints drop off cartilage then the cartilage turns damaged or worn. This layer can also be destroyed because of disease or trauma.

In these cases the joint becomes severely painful and people suffering from these problems often find it very difficult to perform mobile activities. Here the body ties to compensate for the disoriented cartilage and thus produces synovial fluid in the joint lining. This lining strives to behave as a cushion for the joints but it also induces the joints to swell. Hence this activity results in the limitation of motion and the swelling stimulates stretching of the capsule, which is also known as the joint covering.

This joint covering then induces pain in the joints that occurs over a period of time and hence when this arthritis is not cared for, then the bones present in these joint may also lose their usual shape and may result in more pain in the joints and further restriction of motion. This kind of arthritis of the hand can be diagnosed by a by taking X-rays or through hand examination.

It has also been seen that with the help of specialized studies like magnetic resonance imaging or MRI, you can further understand if a person has arthritis or not. A bone scan is also affective here and this would support the physician to diagnose arthritis at earlier stages. However X-rays do not show the early arthritis, but the procedure called arthroscopy is useful here. In this process a physician can view the joint by direct examination and provide you with a remedy or solution to the problem.

• Janny Raines
• 07/03/2009, 12:59 AM
• 0 Comments