Arthur Itis has come to visit

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-10-2008
Arthur Itis has come to visit
1
Wed, 12-17-2008 - 10:27am

Looks like it will hit my hands first. I've had a swollen tender joint for years - the pinkie that rests on the desk when I use my PC mouse. In the last month, the big joint at the base of each thumb is tender. Especially hard when I play piano. Just wondering what others do for this problem. I've seen those warming gloves with fingers out and wonder if that might help. I took an Aleve earlier and hope it helps some. Maybe it's just the super cold, dry weather. I'd hoped to take up machine quilting in my retirement, but wonder if it's worth buying a machine now.

I have to laugh remembering a conversation with my DM when she was getting ready to retire. She had waited tables all her working years, and loved it. She was 67 and thought it was time to quit. I asked why. She said "I have arthritis in a finger"! I told her if that's the only place she had it, she was lucky indeed after all those hard working years. Unfortunately, within a year, it ruined her toe bones and she had joint replacement. It never quite solved the problem, but at least she could get around. She later developed Scleroderma and those MDs thought a reaction to the silicone joints might have started it.
So - if this is the beginning for me at 68, I'll be greatful.

Jacquie

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-19-2003
Wed, 12-17-2008 - 9:00pm
jacquie,my friend sent me a pair of those gloves and really i dont feel any difference with them.she claims she does. i have arthritis in a couple of my fingers in the rite hand. i blame overwork,lifting heavy pains and such,as the culprit that caused my joints to wear out. i have to make sure that my hand is straight when i go to bed at nite,or i find it locks up and i wake up trying to shake it lose. well my poor sister who is 76 has arthritis,including rheumatoid thruout her body,and i see how she is slowly getting worse,so if it only remains in my couple of fingers,i guess i havent got it so bad either. i had a friend who had scleroderma,it was very sad,her husband even left her and she was left alone to cope with that illness. it was devasting. min