Our hands are used for practically everything. Stiff hands can prevent us from performing everyday tasks such as opening a jar, picking up children, cooking, painting, writing, and more. For some people, stiffness can be debilitatingly chronic, while others only experience acute pain. If your hands are stiff, explore these potential causes:
- Arthritis: Many different types of arthritis can affect the hands, including:
- Thumb: also known as basal joint arthritis, this can gradually get worse over time or get sparked by trauma. Pain or stiffness is common at the base of the thumb.
- MCP (Metacarpophalangeal) joint: this type of knuckle arthritis allows fingers to bend, straighten, and move fluidly. Weakness in the hands is a common sign of this arthritis.
- Osteoarthritis: the smooth cartilage in your joints is affected by this type of arthritis, which can also cause stiffness, pain, and swollen fingers.
- Psoriatic: this type of arthritis is sometimes accompanied by psoriasis, a skin condition, and is evident when joints feel stiff. Oftentimes the middle joint of the finger is inflamed and swollen.
- Rheumatoid: affecting the entire body, this type of arthritis is caused by joint inflammation. Typically, the wrist and finger joints are most affected as they are swollen and painful.
- Fractures: otherwise known as a broken hand, this results in stiffness and pain that might remain even during recovery. In some people, the stiffness might never subside.
- Dislocations: similar to a broken bone, this upper extremity dislocation can cause hands to feel stiff both during and after an injury. Moving or exercising the affected joints might be prescribed to alleviate stiffness.
- Sprains: this ligament injury can cause stiffness and prevent you from using your hand to perform daily tasks while in recovery.
- Tendon and muscle injuries: common in an injury or cut on the hand, this sometimes prevents you from moving the affected area at all. Stiffness is common while in recovery.
If you feel stiffness in your hands, ensure you receive a diagnosis as soon as possible. Delayed treatment can sometimes result in permanent stiffness.
Do you need some advice or want a physician opinion on your hand or wrist stiffness? Contact the experts at MI Hand & Wrist today.
Michigan Hand & Wrist was founded in 2001 with the mission to provide the highest-quality care for patients seeking surgical or non-surgical hand or upper extremity relief. Our goal is to exhaust all non-operative measures before discussing or moving on to surgical interventions. We offer on-site physical therapy from therapists committed to improving your quality of life. Our individualized treatments are modern, progressive, and exceptional. Contact us today at www.michiganhandandwrist.com or call 248-596-0412.
Written by the digital marketing staff at Creative Programs & Systems: www.cpsmi.com.