Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Question about finger

Hi,

I have not been on this forum for years, it's nice to see that it is still active and kicking AS as much as ever!

I have a question, one of my fingers suddenly starting hurting really badly and it also is somewhat swollen. The pain is in the knuckle joint but radiates down the arm.

It came on suddenly, got a little better and then came back again, got better and today I woke up and it is extremely painful and I cannot straighten it out, plus it is now quite swollen.

I am guessing it is a new facet of AS that I have not yet encountered - does it sound like it could be? Or is it more likely something unrelated?

Boel

Does it lock when you bend? Does it click? It could be trigger finger? I have alot of trigger fingers but they are fixed via surgery. You would need to either contact your rheumy or ortho surgeon doctor.

Hi Cherkibbs,

It's so painful I cannot really move it. It's in a slightly bent position and I can neither straigten it or bend it further because it is too painful.

Oh it sounds like it alright, I am going thru it right now.

Right now I am trying to keep some of my plants alive and after I water them and turn off the hose I basically have to pry my fingers off the hose.

I would say if you could to go to your rhumy and get a site injection of cortisone.

I hope you feel better soon.

Hugs,

Lisa

2 years ago (before i was DX'd w/AS) the first knuckle of my right index finger started to ache. This continued for about 4 weeks and then it started to swell. It was swollen to twice the normal size for about 3 weeks. It hurt so much just being touched! I went to the Dr and had xrays and they had no idea what was wrong with it. They said I must have hit it on something, i didnt! anyway the swelling finally went down and what was I left with? A knuckle that was twice the size it used to be! Its the only part of my finger that didnt go back to normal. It dosent hurt anymore and when I finally went to a rheumy for other aches she thought my finger was "extraordinary". Great! She did say that is was most likely do to the AS. Hope this helps.

Hi again,

I have looked at some videos of trigger finger now and that is not it. It sounds more like what you describe Sasha.

I am heading out to get some acupuncture, hoping that will provide some relief. As it is now I can't even use my hand.

Boel

memorial day 2007, i woke with an SI that went into bad muscle spasm mode and a right index finger that was very stiff, hard to bend, and painful....funny that they both happened on the same day...coincidence? anyway, i was seeing a hand surgeon at the time for an injured left ulnar wrist and i asked him about the finger. he said i must have torn the ligament on the side of the finger....but of course i hadn't done anything to it that i was aware of.....anyway, over the course of a month it got stiffer, sorer, and next to impossible to bend....it was a litle swollen, couldn't get a ring over it....but not greatly.....anyway, it got worse and worse over that month and then slowly got better on its own.....after about a year, it seemed to be all better.....what caused it? other than a torn ligament dx, from what? no one really knew....the doctor told me not to worry about it because i didn't need it to function "we could cut that finger off and you'd be just fine"....i haven't seen that doctor since.....hope you have a better response than i did....but it did get better....so maybe the doctor was right, though his bedside manner could probably be improved.

sue

Boel, my first response was the same as Sue's--a torn ligament. I say that because I did just that on the ring finger of my right hand a few years ago. It was AS-related, of course, at least in a round-a-bout way: My right wrist has always been actively involved and has fused quite a bit. I didn't notice for years, but as it did fuse, it did so in a rather abnormal position, which caused a very distinct spur to stand up quite sharply at a point located on the top side of my arm (with palms face down, that is), far right edge (as I look at it facing away from me), right along the line where the arm meets the hand, Never gave it a second thought until, while driving home one night, I felt what can only be described as a "twang-y" feeling in that wrist/hand, followed immediately by some pretty sharp pain, especially if I tried to bend or move the ring finger in any way. I was pretty sure at that moment that I had torn a ligament, as that "twang-y" feeling honestly felt like a rubber band snapping inside my wrist (I know, ewww).

I do have to say that the finger never swelled up like your's has, although it definitely did have some swelling that went from the second knuckle on down. Pain stabilized after the first night, although it was always there as a dull roar. Had to wait a couple weeks for the tear to kind of stabilize, then had surgery to repair the tear. The torn ends were too ragged to sew back together, as the spur had acted as a sharp point that slowly sawed through the tendon over time, so they had to attach the torn end coming up from the arm to the tendon of the pinky finger next to it. Now, those two fingers can't really move indpendently, they always move together at least a bit, even if you firmly hold onto one finger and try to move the other on its own.

So, not all of the symptoms match what you have described, but several big ones do, so it might be worth at least asking your doctor if that is what happened. If that is it, it is quite easy to fix. And heck, it's not even that essential that it be fixed, as I contemplated not doing anything to it because it didn't affect my functionality very much. Still, even after the pain and swelling settled down over the two seeks prior to the surgery, the finger did hurt all the time, and for me, that clinched the decision to have it surgically repaired.

Good luck, and here's hoping your doc can figure out what is wrong so you can begin to correct the painful problem.

Brad

thank you all for thoughtful answers

I have now been to the doctor, though my doctor is on vacation and I saw a P.A. instead who had a rather rushed approach. She did have x-rays done (nothing)and lab tests for RA because she was of the opinion that AS would not affect fingers. All tests that are back are negative, not sure what the one remaining one was for.

She prescribed cortisone, which I don't want. I have been getting acupuncture now for the past three days and the results - especially after yesterday's session were amazing. Right now my finger is in splint to prevent me from using it, and I have a hard time with one hand printing, but I'll try to remember to come back with the full story when my hand is back in action again.

AS doesn't affect fingers, eh? OH I could slap that PA! My most recent (idiotic) Rheumy said the same thing . . . and AS doesn't affect WOMEN either . . . idiotic biznitches.
An orthopaedic hand surgeon, after having examined, MRId and been surgically inside my left hand, told me, without a doubt, that AS is the cause of my hand pain and stiffness/fusing. I believe him. (he also doesn't talk to me like I'm a 4-year-old, like that rheumy girl does. She bugs the CRAP out of me).

AS affects hands. Believe me. my hands are my weak point. Your onset sounds a lot like the onsets of most of my affected hand joints, though mine haven't swollen a lot (I've never been a big sweller) I've seen an x-ray online of a fused hand, even.

Don't listen to that idiotic PA. She needs to be put out to pasture. Medical professionals with closed minds do more harm than good.

Can you tell I'm a bit opinionated at the moment? I blame pregnancy. lol

Best of luck . . . oh, try Salonpas patches, they're OTC, come in a little white and blue and green box near the Aspercreme. They're great for hands.