osteoarthritis of PMR?

[Pinkpepper]

i wake every day with pain at back of neck and also have 2 very painful swollen fingers, been on 1/2 a 1mg of pred for over a year, could it be OA?

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Impossible to say without you being examined. It could be how you are sleeping.

Which fingers are affected and is is the entire finger or joints?

[Pinkpepper]

middle and index finger of left hand mainly knuckle joints and also base of right thumb where it joins my wrist

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Pinkpepper]

Could be a carpal tunnel problem - do speak to your GP.

[Pinkpepper in reply to PMRpro]

Thankyou

[Pinkpepper in reply to Pinkpepper]

would that affect finger joints and neck?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Pinkpepper]

arthritis-health.com/blog/y...

Not so much the neck I'd have thought - but you may be lying awkwardly because of the arm discomfort perhaps?

[Pinkpepper in reply to PMRpro]

thankyou so much didn't realise carpal tunnel could affect finger

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Pinkpepper]

It is fingers that the most common symptom - and how you know which nerve is being affected, it or the ulnar nerve.

[piglette]

It does sound like something other than PMR. Have you tried painkillers? If so did they help? If they did it is unlikely it is PMR and could be arthritis or some such. With carpal tunnel you can have numbness and pins and needles in your hand and also your thumb can have difficulty gripping and is painful.

[Pinkpepper in reply to piglette]

Painkillers do help, and I do have trouble gripping things

[piglette in reply to Pinkpepper]

You may have your answer! Talk to your GP and see what they think. From what you have said it does sound like carpal tunnel.

[Pinkpepper in reply to piglette]

thankyou x

[SheffieldJane]

It could well be osteoarthritis. Oddly I have two swollen, painful fingers and pain at the back of my skull and neck. I can trace the fingers back to an old injury and possible undiagnosed fracture. I recently had a couple of sessions with an excellent osteopath that really helped the head and neck by using tiny, barely perceptible manipulations on my neck, clavicle and skull, craniosacral therapy, I believe. He could tell that I had, had years of keyboard work and said that the point at which my spine entered the skull was out of position. He said it used to be referred to as stenographer’s neck. He gave me marvellous relief from the pain and I intend to continue with this form of therapy.

[Pinkpepper in reply to SheffieldJane]

That's amazing I was also a stenographer for all my working life, thanks for your advice

[Wallysma]

one thing that could help t night are braces for your hands. I have terrible carpal in both hands and osteo. The braces help keep your wrists/ hands protected. I actually keep mine on the bed near my pillow so I can tug them on if need be. In the beginning I wore them every night but I think doing that calmned things down. My hands hurt in a similar way to yours. The brace goes from below the wrist to the bottom of the fingers...slide your hand in..there's a built in piece of metal that goes down your palm to below the wrist. I.e. don't get just wrist bands. Good luck with it.

[Pinkpepper in reply to Wallysma]

Thank you so much