What does early arthritis feel like?

[grinningghost]

I think I might be getting it in my fingers. My middle finger (the REALLY useful one in traffic) has been aching for a couple days now. It's not swollen or anything, just very achy.

Could that be the start of arthritis?

 

[kbkids]

OMG!! I came on the board to ask this exact same question!! Mine is my pointer finger though. Heat helps - but I can't bend it all the way - like when I'm trying to make a fist. It's been this way for a few weeks now. And it's really sore in the mornings.

 

[grinningghost]

OMG!! I came on the board to ask this exact same question!! Mine is my pointer finger though. Heat helps - but I can't bend it all the way - like when I'm trying to make a fist. It's been this way for a few weeks now. And it's really sore in the mornings.

It's the RAILROAD!!!!!! They're doing it to us - I just know it!

But seriously, that's so weird. Now we both need answers quick!

 

[kbkids]

It's the RAILROAD!!!!!! They're doing it to us - I just know it!

No, that would be the massive headache I've got!!! DH's boss has been being a total you-know-what lately, and consequently, DH is being a grump! And now, I can't even punch him for it because I can't make a fist!!

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

I think the symptoms you indicate sound similar to mine, and I do have arthritis in my hand. They discovered it 3 years ago ( I was just 29). I get the worst pain in my hand and finger joints, especially when it's damp out. I had an MRI and x-rays done and also the carpal tunnel test (i can't remember the name of it but they basically shock different nerves. Anyway, no carpal tunnel, just arthritis. You could even see it on the x-rays.

 

[kbkids]

Oh yay! Mine first showed up after I sat for hours cutting out box tops for DD's school - last time I volunteer to be box top coordinator. I figured it was just sore from that, but it's never gone away and really is now kinda getting worse. Guess I'll have to make an appt with the doc.

 

[LBAK]

I have rheumatoid arthritis so I may be different then you but in the morning my joints are very stiff and achy. As the day goes on they get easier to use but I always feel some sort of achiness in them. They don't want to bend all the way. Heat helps me a lot and so does anti-inflammatories. Try some Aleve or Motrin.

 

[ILoveMagic]

I have severe rhuematoid arthritis..........I was diagnosed after the birth of my son (I was 26) I now take medicine everyday so i can walk (literally) . There is nothing that can describe the everyday pain of it. i suggest you see your doctor, and let them decide

 

[SuzyQue]

My middle finger (the REALLY useful one in traffic)

~~

 

[MouseDogMom]

Oh yay! Mine first showed up after I sat for hours cutting out box tops for DD's school - last time I volunteer to be box top coordinator. I figured it was just sore from that, but it's never gone away and really is now kinda getting worse. Guess I'll have to make an appt with the doc.

Mine was cutting shingles while roofing houses in Mississippi after Katrina. That volunteer stuff will get you every time!

That was over a year ago, and the swelling never really did go away completely, even after months of anti-inflammatory drugs. The pain did ease, but there are days when it bothers me more than others. I've just accepted that with age come a variety of ailments, and arthritis appears to be one of them!

 

[tiggerlover]

I have been diagnosed with pre-arthritis in my knees. If I spend too much time on my feet I start to get achy and sore. When I walk up the stairs my knees make clicking sounds. It all started when I was pregnant with DS (I was 30) and it has gotten worse the last couple of years.

 

[Feralpeg]

I have some arthritis in my fingers. In fact, the joints of my little fingers have a calcium buildup in the joints. They bother me when the weather changes. I'm afraid this is just another one of those fun things about getting older.

 

[Mrs.Milo]

I have it on my right hand, index finger only, it's a little osteo arthritis, just from age and being used more than other joints.

 

[momsgoofy]

Mine is osteo....in my right shoulder, diagnosed about 4 years ago with an xray. I always carried my purse on that side...still do, but stopped carrying a suitcase and went to one of those armpit purses so it doesn't stress the joint as much. I've noticed my left (dominate) hand has some stiffness...I'm a sign language interpreter so I had a feeling it would happen there someday. I know it's not carpal tunnel because that is in a different spot and I've been tested for it. I try to flex th joints as much as I can to keep them limber, use anti-iflamatory meds OTC stuff and get massages from time to time...they can get the muscles loosened up so that the joints can do what they are suppose to do.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I have osteo-arthritis in my left knee. No cartilege left in that joint. And very little left in the right knee. My knees click when I walk and bend them. I have an appt with a total join orthopod on Friday to talk to him about a knee replacement. The orthopod who did my torn rotator cuff referred me to him.

I finally have zero pain in my right shoulder and it's about the only place where I don't hurt right now.

 

[grinningghost]

Thanks for all the replies. This finger is really aching today, and my ring finger is starting to hurt a bit too. I've been taking Advil and it might be helping a little, but I'm not sure, I can still feel pain.

I guess it's one to bring up at the next doc appointment.

 

[OK!]

I've had arthritis in my shoulders since I was 15 (loose joints combined with swimming thousands of yards per day--I've got no cartilage left in the right one & very little left in the left one) and in my hips and knees since college. I've also got it now in my wrist after falling & breaking it 5 summers ago; the main time they all bother me is obviously after overexertion and also when the weather changes. Specifically, it's when the barometric pressure drops. I didn't know that till my USS coach told me; he was a former Olympic swimmer who also had arthritis in his shoulders and he was in agony every time it got ready to storm.