I have RA and like most of you have good days/ weeks and bad ones.
Sometimes when my hands are bad I can see and feel the tendons (not even sure if that's what they are callled!) slipping off my knuckles when I make a fist or grip things. Oddly my left hand is affected not my right (I'm right handed) and it is usually my middle finger and my ring finger which are affected.
When the tendons slip it hurts (a different sort of pain to the pain in my joints), my grip is weaker and it makes me feel sort of queasy. I mentioned this at my first appointment with my consultant to the nurse as I was on my way out of the department (When I always remember any relevant information!) and she passed the information on to the consultant and said it doesn't change the diagnosis of RA.
Today even gripping a fork hard enough to have control over it was causing the slip and the pain - uncomfortable enough for me to change to eat only with my right hand.
Does anyone else have this additional problem?
It sounds like you're describing what happens when you get a swan neck deformity. I have this on the ring finger on my right hand and wear an oval 8 ring splint to prevent the joint from over extending. I didn't think it was doing any good at first so stopped wearing it but the finger began to ache more and the dip on the end became more pronounced. I wear it all the time now except when I'm going on a night out...which sadly isn't very often. I think you should ask to see an OT to discuss splinting. You're rheumy nurse can arrange this for you. You're right in that it won't change the diagnosis but it should help you be more comfortable. Good luck
Paula x
Not everyone knows what an OT is!!!
Thankyou for pointing that out AnonYmouse.
Hiya AnonYmouse666. If you check under Pinned Posts (to the right of your screen) you'll see entitled Common abbreviations and acronyms on this community. They should all be there if you should find yourself a little lost being new.