shoulder and thumb pain

The problems you are having in your thumbs sound very much like the problem I have in mine. I have osteoarthritis, the "wear and tear" type of arthritis, in many of my joints. Don't let anyone ever minimize the problems that OA can cause. There are actually different subgroups of OA so that explains why some have more problems than others.

My thumbs click and stick. This is called "trigger thumb." If you google it I am sure you will find that your problems closely follow the descriptions of trigger joints. I have had cortisone injections in mine. It worked well in the right thumb but the left is a different story. It only slightly improved so my rheumy did an ultrasound. He discovered that I have a large bone spur growing into the joint. That is why my joiont clicks and often stickes. Sometimes in the morning when I awaken I have to pull my left thimb outwards to get the joint to be able to "unstick." Depending on the cause of the problem and what other therapies have been tried, sometimes the only way to deal with the problem is a minor surgical procedure to release the tendon that causes the triggering. That won't work in my case because it is bone causing the problem.

In all likelihood you have already seen your rheumy. I hope she was able to give you some help with your problems.

I'm not too familiar with RA or any other forms of arthritis but your story sounds similiar to what I've been going thru with my hands. My fingers and thumbs click and lock too. I was diagnosed with trigger finger and de quervain tendinitis in my thumbs. It really is quite painful. I have to wear a thumb brace for my right thumb and avoid constant use of it until it heals and for my trigger finger, my doc will give me cortisone injections. Do you know if you have carpal tunnel?

Kibbles I had trigger fingers on two fingers and the thumb in each hand. My orthopedist has injected them twice with cortisone, and that relieves the pain and locking. The second time was over a year ago, and I'm still doing well.

Regarding the shoulder pain, have you been on Prednisone for prolonged periods? I was on Prednisone and then Entocort for several years. I developed pain in my right shoulder, which gradually increased until it became excrutiating, like acid being poured into my shoulder and coming out through my back. My ortho did an MRI, and discovered I had avascular necrosis of the head of the humerus - the long bone in the top of your arm. This is a condition where the blood flow to the bone is cut off and the bone begins to die. It is a well-known side effect of long-term steroid use.

Long story short, I ended up with surgery to remove the dead bone and place a partial prosthesis to replace it. I'm pain-free now, and my shoulder is functional, although I don't have quite full motion in it. My tennis overhand stroke would be affected. That would be if I could play tennis...

Well I had my appt. with my Rheumy,where she had xrays of my hands and thumbs done ,and put in a request with ins. for Remicade. I got a letter back from her yesterday that said the xrays of my hands looked perfectly normal,other than some thinning in my right wrist. I just don't understand. If they can't see something in an xray, do they believe that there is nothing wrong? Thats how it feels to me. I say they ache, hurt , cramp up,too weak to use, lock and snap, and she says "well I know it's not your RA, but nothing shows up in the xray" They say I have RA, it affects my hands the most, I have extreme shoulder pain, ankles ache, and now my thumbs, bouts of sciatica (sp) but it's not Ra. Can someone please shed some light on this for me? Reminds me of "Dr. it hurts real bad when I move my arm like this" dr says "well then ,don't move your arm like that" Please help.

Hi Ducky, no my hands aren't really bothering me, just my thumbs, both hands. I've had flares so I know what your talking about, but this is weird. The thumbs just ache and I can't realy use them for grasping.Couldn't push in a thumb tack, can't flick the lighter to start the fire. Sometimes they will just kind of lock up in the big joint and cramp up too. I still get weird pains other places too, like very super sharp pains in my ankle. Just sitting there and bam! Pain. Maybe the remicade will fix all of it, but i'd still like to know what it is.

Hi Sherry, thanks very much for the input. I looked up de quervain tendonitis that you mentioned, and the symptoms don't all add up, but some of it. I haven't seen my dr to ask more questions. She saw me,took xrays and sent me the letter. I see her again in 1 month. I agree with the second opinion too. Is it a bad idea to see someone at the same ra clinic group, or should I try to find someone outside of the group? I came to ask the question here at forums so that when i do go in to see her, i will have questions to ask her. I felt that if I go back in blind to what posibilitys there could be, I would just be at a loss. I know it may sound stupid, but I worry that the Dr might think I'm just making it up, beings she can't see anything wrong. I can't see it either, but i sure can feel it! I just plan on going in at my appt. with the ammo needed to make her listen to me, and then set up a second opinion.

Jumping in late here, but my thumb joint sounds very similar to yours.  The pain I get is deep inside the joint and most of the time I cannot use it with confidence.  Picking up a glass or squeezing a shampoo bottle are examples of things that trigger the pain.  My Rheumy told me it WAS RA.  He has put 2 steriod injections in the joint over the last year.  That has helped but it does wear off.