Please excuse yucky close up of toes...

[soootired]

...But I wonder if any one can please help identify this "nodule" (??) On my second toe.

I've had it for years and one rhuemy told me it was due to inflammation. And another said it was some kind of cyst that could be operated on but would probably grow back so not to bother...

It looks like a blister but isn't, it's hard but does however have a sort of liquidy surface. It doesn't hurt but is ugly!

I ask because I feel as though it's part of lupus but the second rhuemy sort of dismissed it.

I'm hoping the photo will attach but please bear with me as I've not done this before...!

Yay it did 😅 it doesn't look as big in the picture, I'd say it's about the size of a 5p but irregular in shape.

Many thanks

Claire xx

[PMRpro]

Could it be a Heberden's node? They are more usually found on the distal joint of fingers - but they can also occur on toes.

[soootired in reply to PMRpro]

Is that anything at all to do with an auto immune illness... Or just a coincidence?

[PMRpro in reply to soootired]

I have them on my right index finger - I have polymyalgia rheumatica which is an autoimmune disorder too and I know a few people with the same.

Usually they say it is due to osteoarthritis - but I have no evidence of that anywhere else and it really is just in this one joint. They describe them as spurs of bone that develop due to injury of the joint - so maybe a joint has been damaged slightly at some point and they form anyway.

Healthline says:

Other risk factors include:

heredity conditions, like malformed joints

diseases that involve abnormal cartilage changes, like rheumatoid arthritis and gout

So - can there be cartilage changes in lupus?

healthline.com/health/osteo...

[soootired in reply to PMRpro]

Hmm thank you I just consulted Dr Google and read that about osteoarthritis and would say that although I do have it in my big toe joints I don't in my other toes particularly that one. Interesting that you have similar.

I've read about rheumatoid nodules and also I'm sure I read somewhere about nodules in lupus too...

The initial tentative diagnosis for me was sero neg ra so I've always wondered if I've got a bit of both?

Anyway, thanks for your response.

C xxxxx

[PMRpro in reply to soootired]

Ahh - that is even MORE interesting! A few years before the more usual PMR symptoms appeared both big toe joints became swollen and painful - I couldn't bear to wear shoes it was so tender. It went on for a few years and, as suddenly as it started, it stopped. Never happened again! How bizarre...

However - I'm sure you'll have seen this?

rheumatoidarthritis.org/ra/...

which describes rheumatoid nodules - and yes, you are right, they can appear in SLE and a couple of other things. But they can also appear very occasionally in healthy people!

uptodate.com/contents/rheum...

[Hidden]

Did you rule out gout Pro? This often affects the big toe joints first. My dad used to get it very badly. Rheumatoid nodules are most often seen in erosive seropositive RA and aren't as hard to the touch as the OA bony shards are. I have these small OA bony shards on all my DIP joints of my fingers (ie the ones closest to nails). They are more permanent than Rheumatoid ones, which can come and go with disease activity I believe. Mine arrived at same time as my RA/primary Sjogrens symptoms started so I'm inclined to think the two definitely came together in my case.

No opinions either way on yours Sootired.

[littleeffie]

I had one almost identical on my toe,next to big toe,for 7 years then it disappeared.I then had one develop on middle finger a few months later which was the same type.Like a hard but squishy lump similar to a ganglion cyst which I get really often on wrists when over lifting without braces, that moved when pushed,the amount of times rheumy registrars have squidged it about grrr ,not painful just well there and probably far more obvious to me than others.That went away after 2 years when my immune suppressants were upped in dose so I presume,never got definitive,that they were immune involvement or along the lines of ganglion cysts although over straining ones toes?

There are so many of us with the little things or symptoms that we never get round to discussing or sorting due to the front of line effects of these illnesses taking up time and energy.Seriously think we should get yearly MOT tests with diagnostics 😆 such a shame our bods won't plug and play into pc and print out a troubleshooting guide.

I do gave RA ,SLE,Sjogrens plus other stuff ,wish I had collected stamps or buttons instead of conditions😕, but can't work out which is caused by what most of the time.

Anyway hope you do find out and please come back and enlighten us .

[soootired in reply to littleeffie]

Thank you for your comment, it does sound similar.

I definitely feel it's linked to something auto immune because I'm sure it gets bigger when I'm feeling rotten.

I totally agree regarding the diagnostics, would make things so much easier!!!

[bluebell99]

Hi I have had something like them on my fingers and always near the joints. My rheumy confirmed they were cysts and formed from leaking synovial fluid.

He "popped" one on my thumb at my last appointment and it went but now has returned. If you do pop it a clear jelly like fluid comes out. My GP called them Myxoid Cysts, a fancy name for the same thing! They can become quite painful and sometimes spontaneously leak which does ease the pressure for a while.

I am not sure if it is autoimmune stuff going on or not.

[soootired in reply to bluebell99]

Thank you for your reply, surely if it contains synovial fluid that would be rheumatoid arthritis-ish?

Anyway, it's interesting how many get similar.

Thanks again

Claire xx

[EOLHPC]

GRREAT discussion! have had these sort of things on the joints of my hands....for what it's worth,my medics have told me they can be characteristic of my version of ehlers danlos hypermobility. These do appear on the feet too....🍀🍀🍀🍀 coco

[soootired]

Thanks for the comments! It really does seem as though these noduley things might be connected to something autoimmunish or at least something inflationish for want of a better word!😉

Claire xxx