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Erosive Osteoarthritis
I have been trying to get answers for many years to find out why my OA in my hands is so painful and debilitating. It doesn't look as bad to the eye as many other people I have met that also have OA but have huge joint nodes but say it's not too painful. I had the traditional basal thumb surgery on left and right hands,left went well 10yrs ago but right which I had one yr later has never been pain free.. About 6 mths ago the pain in the back of my right wrist became so much worse at the same time a large lump appeared.I thought this was probably a Ganglion then a few weeks later a softer round lump appeared on the dip joint on the inside of my right little finger which as made the joint very swollen. Eventually got Xrays of both hands which have now been diagnosed as Erosive Osteoarthritis which I have never heard of. Prognosis doesn't look good with this type of OA. Has anyone else been diagnosed with this and do I ask to be referred to a Rheumatologist ? How do I deal with this ? Is there any meds I can take for pain and to slow down the progression ? Thank you
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I'm so sorry for all you are going through. I'm not familiar with your particular disease, so I have no words of wisdom to tell you. But I will pray for you. I know that never hurts, and often helps.
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3 ReactionsHello. I also have erosive osteoarthritis, diagnosed in 2019. I have been to 3 different Rheumatologists and one occupational therapist, none of which has heard of my particular type and don’t know how to treat it, so it’s treated like rheumatoid arthritis. My pc recommended contacting Mayo Clinic. They do not have a Dr who specializes in it. They do have an inflammatory hand clinic. I will be researching that next. Have you found any answers for treatment?
I too have inflammatory, erosive osteoarthritis that is NOT associated with an autoimmune disease. It started in my thirties, which I was expecting because my mother and her aunt on her father's side also had it. My two middle fingers have the typical gull wing look and most but not all of the joints in my hands have now been affected. It tends to move into a given joint often on the same finger of each hand, but not always, and stay there for several years waxing and waning and eventually deforming the joint to some degree before moving onto another finger. I have had the most success with following an anti-inflammatory diet the includes avoiding dairy products most of the time, eating almost no red meat, and incorporating anti-inflammatory spices and foods into my diet whenever possible. I also have arthritis in other parts of my body, but recently found out that the kind in my hands is its own subset. I also had a lot more pain during peri menopause than I do now in menopause. Currently, it is confined to my left ring finger, which looks like a sausage past where my rings sit. It has been settled in there for a long time now. My understanding is that there is no cure, only management.
The best I can say is that you have to avoid inflammatory foods and experiment with what makes it worse. For example, I am very sensitive to night shade plants like peppers. I cut them out of my diet entirely for a month several years ago and then put some raw ones in my salad one night. By the next day, my fingers were killing me. I have noticed that tomato sauce is also terrible for my condition. So, now I only have these things once in a while, and I can be sure that when I do, I'm going to have more pain the next day. In short, there is no quick fix for this.
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1 ReactionAh yes, the nightshades! I try to avoid anything with them. My ring finger, left hand was one of the last to go. The first joint is pretty much normal size and the 2nd joint makes it impossible to wear my wedding ring. My pinky finger, left hand is the only one left that looks normal size.
Has anyone else been diagnosed with Erosive Osteoarthritis? What is your treatment plan? Any studies?
@mememc52 Hello, You might like to take a look at this ongoing discussion of Erosive Osteoarthritis, and try to connect with some of the posters there.
Sue
Where is the discussion located?
I'm sorry, I forgot to attach the link, brain fog from trying to answer questions and prepare to travel whilst clearing up storm damage!
Here it is:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/erosive-osteoarthritis/
Sue
I went to my orthopedic surgeon when a trigger finger started. He gave a shot in it on the underside due to inflammation and it hasn't triggered since. I had read that they need do be addressed quickly to avoid them getting worse.
Hi @mememc52, welcome. As @sueinmn suggested, I moved your posts to this existing discussion on Erosive Osteoarthiritis so you can more easily connect with other members like @kirstenlheld @eoamanor @ellye @anniebrook @ga29 @lindylous @kgresh11 @kilh and many others.
Mememc52, what is your current treatment plan?
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