Hand Joint Degeneration In The Elderly

Osteoarthritis (THK) of the hand is one of the common joint diseases in the elderly, causing pain, greatly affecting the motor function and daily life of the patient. In Vietnam, hand OA accounts for 14%, ranking the fourth in the common THK positions.
Who often degenerated hand joint?
First, THK often accompanies the elderly. The median age of patients with hand OA is 60-65 years old. However from the age of 55 began to appear the expression of hand THK

. The incidence of the disease gradually increases with age, is higher in the age group of 60 and older and highest in the age group of 70-79 years old.
The higher the age, the less the amount of blood to nourish the joints, the more pronounced the aging of cartilage, making cartilage less resistant to the harmful effects on the joints.
In addition, the elderly still have to work for a living, taking care of household tasks such as washing, carrying grandchildren, and other housework They mainly do manual labor, creating conditions for the disease to develop.




The disease is also common in women, 3 times more than men. This may be due to hormonal changes like estrogen that lead to changes in the articular cartilage.
Obese people are also more likely to suffer from hand OA. Up to 1/3 of patients with OA hand are obese. Hand OA usually appears after a number of hand pathologies such as trauma, broken bones, bone necrosis, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic gout, diabetes ..
How to know
The right hand is more degenerative because most of us are right-handed, using more right hands in life, work and life.




Out of 5 fingers, the thumb, index finger, middle finger (finger I, II, III) are most degraded because these fingers must be most active when holding, holding, carrying, carrying or carrying things. .
And in the joint positions of each finger, the farthest or near joint, the base of the thumb is most likely to have OA, which involves the most use of these joints when handling objects.
In particular, the base of the thumb is shaped like a saddle, which functions to hold and grasp objects of the hand, so it is more vulnerable. Currently, people have demonstrated the strong role of occupational factors in thumb root combination in women.
The patient complains of sore joints in one or both hands, mechanical pain, which is pain during exercise and decreases with rest. Pain increases when wearing clothes, when buttoning a shirt; pain when holding hands, pain when pouring water into a glass and pain when resting.
Pain is usually only mild and moderate.



In the morning, when waking up, patients find the joint stiff, difficult to move, lasting from 15 to 30 minutes. Joint stiffness after rest is also common.
It is a sign of joint leaks. Gradually the hand became more difficult to do the daily activities, making a scratching sound when moving, the hand muscles shrunk.
In the later stages, one third of patients have deformed fingers. This is due to the presence of bone buds, which grow in the distal finger joint (Heberden nut) or the proximal finger joint (Bouchad nut), which affects the aesthetics.
The blood test is usually normal. You can use an extra hand X-ray to diagnose hand OA.



This is a simple, low-cost technique that has been used to assess the vulnerability of THK for many years.
There are 4 basic signs of hand OA, spines, joints, narrow bone, cartilage, bone cavity.
Prevent
Avoid labor, carry heavy loads. Do not use your hands for extended periods of time. Family members and social community should pay attention and share the burden of the elderly.
Increase the use of supportive devices for labor and living where possible. Early detection of OA of the hand is necessary because it will help treat early, minimize the consequences of the disease.
When there are signs such as sore joints, deformed joints or stiffness in the morning, limiting movement of the hands, you should see a specialist in osteoarthritis for timely advice and treatment.



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