Hand Arthritis

The Injury

Arthritis can affect the hand in the same way that it can affect the weight bearing joints such as the hip and knee. The type of arthritis may be inflammatory or degenerative. Arthritis is a condition wherebye the cartilage surfaces of the joint becomes damaged and deteriorates over time resulting in the loss of the cushioning material between the bones.

Symptoms

Symptoms associated with this condition are pain in the small joints of the hand or wrist, stiffness and weakness. The most commonly affected joints are the base of the thumb and the distal interphalangeal joints of the fingers. Treatment for this condition if it is mild or moderate typically is activity modifications and oral medications for inflammation. Sometimes temporary bracing is also employed to relieve stress on the joints. If these methods fail a steroid injection can be administered into the joint under fluoroscopic navigation. In many cases this can help alleviate symptoms substantially. If the pain is resistant to nonsurgical treatment and the arthritis is advanced surgical correction is recommended. The Procedure- Surgical treatment of this condition is varied depending on the location of the problem. Joint replacement or interpositional arthroplasty or fusion are typically employed.

The Procedure

This procedure typically requires an overnight hospital stay followed by 8 weeks of physical therapy.