English
Hand
This location is predominant in women during the menopause. The risk factors are genetic, hormonal and micro-traumatic.
It is necessary to make a distinction between osteoarthritis of the fingers and osteoarthritis of the thumb.
It is necessary to make a distinction between osteoarthritis of the fingers and osteoarthritis of the thumb.
Osteoarthritis of the fingers
It generally affects the last joint in the finger and develops slowly. In general, the symptoms consist in either an unattractive deformation or a painful flare-up. The main sign is the appearance of nodes (swellings) on the joint nearest the fingertip, appearing at first on the index and middle fingers, then moving sideways and extending to the other fingers.
Osteoarthritis of the thumb
The pain settles in the base of the thumb. It is provoked by pinching or tightening motions. It may be limited to a simple pain for firm movements, but can also lead to painful stiffening of the joint. As it evolves, the lesions may end in deformation of the first phalange of the thumb (the trapezo-metacarpal joint shifts, the two bones of the joint are no longer in correct alignment with one another).
