Polly, or Anyone With an Opinion on Arthritis-Like Symptoms

Post by **tex** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 9:12 pm

About five or six years ago, before I started the GF diet, the proximal joint of the little finger on my right hand, was often very sensitive,, (constant moderate to severe pain), swollen, and redish in appearance. Over time, the finger grew crooked, with the distal end veering off in the direction away from the thumb, and downward.

It hasn't bothered me, since the diet kicked in.

Roughly six months ago, (maybe longer), I started noticing that the middle finger on that hand had a numb spot just below the distal joint, on the thumb side, and the joint was a bit sensitive--no chronic pain, though. I ignored it.

Today, I happened to notice that the finger has headed south, (away from the thumb), past the proximal joint, and then headed back north, past the distal joint. Also, there seems to be a significant indentation in the numb spot, and the segment between the proximal and distal joints appears to have a slight clockwise twist, so that the distal joint seems to be slightly rotated CW, relative to the proximal joint, when viewed from the proximal end.

I've included a couple of images to illustrate this, but they don't show the problems very well. The first image doesn't even show the approximately 15 degree angular displacement of my little finger past the proximal joint, but that's because of the camera angle, which is aligned to show the middle finger displacement, not the little finger.

I notice that the distal joint on my index finger is enlarged, but it's not painful, or redish.

Anyway, I've searched the web trying to find information on this, and haven't had any luck. The problem is, the behaviour appears to mimic arthritis, (rheumatoid), but there is no joint pain, no redness, and if there is any swelling, it doesn't appear to be significant.

Is anyone aware of some other condition that can cause this? I don't see how it could be arthritis, without significant pain.

This seems to have happened since I resumed eating corn and dairy products, but that's surely just a concidence.

Love,
Wayne

Polly · Post by **Polly** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 11:23 pm

Wayne,

Could it be osteoarthritis? OA is more likely to affect the middle and distal joints, with RA causing problems with the proximal ("knuckle") joints. You say there is no pain - any tenderness?

Check out this website to see if it is helpful:

www.orthoindy.com/conditions/hand/arthritis.cfm

Love,

Polly

Post by **tex** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 12:21 am

Polly,

Thanks. I read that article earlier today. It's a good site.

You're probably right about it being more likely to be osteo, rather than rheumatoid, since my entire fingers are not angling away from the thumb.

When my little finger was affected, the joint was very red, swollen, and quite painful, with very limited movement. I wonder if a GF diet could be the reason why there's no pain, redness, swelling, or movement limitation, in the current situation.

A possible reason for the problem just occurred to me. I note that I have a target shooting hobby that involves shooting very powerful handguns, (several times more powerful than the 44 magnum, made famous by the "Dirty Harry" movie), and the middle finger is the one that is hammered by the trigger guard each time a round is fired. It usually becomes numb, after the first shot from a really big cartridge, and the palm of the hand will become numb after about a half dozen shots.

Well duh! I reckon that's probably why that finger now has a chronic numb spot. It's numb in the exact spot where the trigger guard hits it. Hmmmmmm. I may have to give up that hobby, or at least start shooting smaller cartridges. LOL.

Thanks for making me think of that. I believe that's the answer.

Love,
Wayne

harvest_table · Post by **harvest_table** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 12:54 am

Wayne,

Ouch! You said this was compounded after you resumed eating corn and dairy products? I've been out of touch for awhile and this surprises me, about you. Maybe you need to get back on track with your diet?

I dunno, perhaps the shooting could be part of it too. Giving up shooting is certainly harder than giving up corn or dairy but how would it affect your little finger like that?

Love,
Joanna

Polly · Post by **Polly** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 7:52 am

Mornin'!

Bingo, Wayne! I think you hit the hail on the head! I was going to ask you about repetitive movements but then I just figured that, since farmers work constantly with their hands, repetitive movements were undoubtedly an issue. I didn't think about LEISURE activities. LOL! I think you have made the diagnosis!

Love,

Polly

Post by **tex** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 9:47 am

Joanna,

After I recovered from my surgery, I discovered that I could eat dairy products, and corn, (my all time favorite snacks--popcorn and tortilla chips). At least, I seemed to be able to eat them without serious problems. After including them in my diet for a while, though, it appears that I do still experience the same old symptoms that I used to have, they're just not nearly as severe.

I guess I'll experiment a bit to see which one is the problem. I hope it 's not both, but that wouldn't surprise me. Oh well, my misguided hiatus was fun while it lasted. LOL.

I've cut both corn and dairy back out of my diet again, and after about five days, I'll test them, one at a time, to see which one, is the culprit, (or if both of them are guilty).

It doesn't seem logical that corn or dairy would contribute to the recent problem with the middle finger--I think that was probably just a coincidence. I do believe the earlier problem with the little finger was definitely linked with gluten intolerance, though. I also had a serious knee problem, and some other arthritic type issues at the same time, including neck problems, and all that cleared up after I adopted the GF diet. Those earlier issues all involved a lot of joint pain and stiffness.

Polly,

Yes there are a lot of repetitive movements involved, especially with jobs like bagging corn. My brother, who works with me on that project, developed carpal tunnel syndrome, early on, but I always felt that I was immune to those problems, since my hands didn't bother me after doing that kind of work all day, the way his did. He couldn't sleep at night, from the constant pain, without wearing wrist splints, and sometimes that wasn't enough.

I suspect the severity of the impact from the recoil, when shooting those heavy-recoiling guns, is the primary problem, since it doesn't seem to take very many repetitions to cause symptoms. Most shooters who experience problems due to hard-recoiling handguns, though, tend to develop wrist problems. My wrists have never bothered me--I guess that's why I overlooked the link with the problem with my finger/s.

Love,
Wayne

Lucy · Post by **Lucy** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 1:18 am

Wayne,

Are you thinking that you might've actually gotten some nerve damage?

I had some surgery on my left hand for a "shreaded" anterior lateral ligament. Even after a few years now, if I keep the thumb and hand hyperextended away from each other, as with holding my thumb under this keyboard while I'm typing just now, it will experience a bit of overuse discomfort, but not the burning type of pain that used to accompany it. This type of burning or inflammatory response went away once I was free of gluten. Same thing goes for anything else that would normally cause discomfort -- I just have the expected, normal pain response.

Too bad about the dairy and corn, Wayne.
Hope you enjoyed it while it lasted, at least!

Yours, Luce

Post by **tex** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 12:39 pm

Hi Luce,

Well, the possibility of nerve damage did cross my mind. After all, my ability to sense hunger pangs has never been restored, even after three and a half years on the diet.

Wayne