Finger, Hand & Wrist Problems

Most of the time, our physical movements do not cause problems, but it’s not surprising that symptoms can eventually occur from everyday wear and tear or overuse. Everyone has likely had a minor problem with a finger, hand or wrist. These issues can be caused by injuries or the natural process of aging and overuse.

Your fingers, hands or wrists may burn, sting or hurt, or feel tired, sore, stiff, numb, tingly, hot or cold. Maybe you can’t move them as well as usual or they are swollen. Perhaps your hands have turned a different color, like red, pale or blue. A lump or bump may have appeared on your wrist, palm or fingers. Home treatment is often all that is needed to relieve such symptoms.

A number of problems can develop in your finger, hand or wrist over time, such as:

• Carpal tunnel syndrome, which is caused by pressure on a nerve (median nerve) in the wrist. Symptoms include tingling, numbness, weakness or pain of the fingers and hand.
• Tendon pain, a symptom of tendinosis, is a series of very small tears (micro tears) in the tissue in or around the tendon. In addition to pain and tenderness, common symptoms of tendon injury include decreased strength and movement in the affected area.
• De Quervain’s tenosynovitis, which can occur in the hand and wrist when tendons and the tendon covering (sheath) on the thumb side of the wrist swell and become inflamed.
• Repetitive motion syndrome, a term used to describe symptoms such as pain, swelling or tenderness that occur from repeating the same motion.
• Writer’s cramps, which develop with repeated hand or finger motion, such as writing or typing.
• Trigger finger or trigger thumb, which occurs when the flexor tendon and its sheath in a finger or thumb thicken or swell.

Problems that can affect the bone, muscle and joints include:

• Dupuytren’s disease, which is an abnormal thickening of tissue beneath the skin in the palm of the hand or hands and occasionally the soles of the feet. The thickened skin and tendons (palmar fascia) may eventually limit movement or cause the fingers to bend so that they can’t be straightened. 
• Ganglion cysts are small sacs (cysts) filled with clear, jellylike fluid that often appear as bumps on the hands and wrists but can also develop on feet, ankles, knees or shoulders. 

Other medical conditions can cause problems in the finger, hand or wrist, including:

• Tingling or pain in the fingers or hand (especially the left hand), which may be signs of a heart attack.
• Diabetes, which may change how the hands normally feel or sense touch. Decreased feeling in the hands is common because of decreased blood flow to the hands or damage to nerves of the hand.
• Pregnancy, which may cause redness, itching, swelling, numbness or tingling that often goes away after delivery.
• Arthritis (osteoarthritis), the progressive breakdown of the tissue that protects and cushions joints (cartilage), which may cause stiffness and pain with movement.
• Rheumatoid arthritis, which may cause stiffness and pain with movement. Over time, deformity of the fingers may occur. 
• Lupus, a long-lasting autoimmune disease wherein the immune system attacks normal body tissues as though they were foreign substances, which may cause joint pain.
• Gout, an inflammatory joint disease, which may cause acute pain and swelling. It is a form of arthritis that develops when uric acid crystals form in and around the joints, commonly affecting the big toe joint.
• Raynaud’s phenomenon, which is a condition wherein some areas of the body, usually the fingers or toes, have an extreme response to cold temperature or emotional stress. During an attack of Raynaud’s, the blood vessels in the affected areas tighten, severely limiting the flow of blood to the skin, causing numbness, tingling, swelling, pain and pale color.
• Infection, which can cause pain, redness and swelling that occur with red streaking, heat, fever or the drainage of pus. An infection often causes tenderness to the touch or pain with movement at the site of the infection.

Check symptoms to decide if and when to see a doctor.