I need help. Hands deformed/damaged in only two months and MDs think I'm nuts.

I am sorry this is happening to you. I too had my hands begin to deform over a very short time due to a bad flare that I was in. To my knowledge splints will not help to keep your joints from deforming. All we can do is to trust our doctors and listen to them and if we are not convinced then find a new physician. The most important thing is to get out of the flare and stop any further damage that can take place as soon as possible.

I was on several Rx and it took over a year for me to finally begin to come out of the flare I was in. Sometimes there just is not a lot that a doctor can do. They have to give the Rx time to work and many times this can take several months for us. I am sure that could your doctor heal you they certainly would. RA is a chronic disease and even with all of the marvelous Rx that have come out over the last 20 years there are times when they can do nothing but be patient and pray that they are able to find the right meds for you to stop your pain.

X-rays really are not going to tell the doctor more than they are already able to see just looking at your hands. Trust me they know you are in a flare and they do want to help you. I wish there were a magic pill but there simply is not. It is a very complex disease.

I wish I had more comforting words for you but sometimes all we can do is trust and hang in there and if not then work to find a physician we are comfortable with and that can help to set our minds at ease. I pray that you have peace in your heart during this time and that you find relief.

When I finally came out of my flare I had made some drastic changes to my diet and saw a great reduction in my inflammation. You might try this avenue as well. Every little bit makes a difference.

Hi look there are good rheumys out there who actually listen to your concerns, mine is very reassuring but I have in hospital come across the ones who think they're "it" and you're a lesser mortal, so hang in there.

Get a second opinion, get some meds to stop the flare.

And in the meantime BIG HUGS for what you're going through.

I'm struggling with an arrogant orthopedic surgeon at the moment for wrist issues. He doesn't listen so I am using my rheumy to communicate my worries...

I don't know why they think we are beneath them we we are the customers or clients who are paying their wages.

Best of luck, golitho

Veeb....
Had a very similar experience. My hands were diagnosed with Duprytrends contracture. Both hands xrayed showing severe arthritis... Recommended surgery to remove the thickened tendons in fingers or the dr said all the fingers will curl as the tendons continue to thicken & pull fingers shut. This surgery was to prevent finger curling.

That was scary enough on top I also have psoriatic arthritis in my hands. And palmoplanter psoriasis on the skin of both palms. I asked about the psoriasis causing flares from the surgery called Keovler Effect. That description is like a dominos effect. He said he was familiar and could not guarantee it would not happen. He has done surgery on hands on many cases like mine never had a flare cause more damage from the additional stress of surgery.

Well wrong... 15 days after surgery hands in splints all the stitches were flared and the psoriasis skin doubled over the stitches. They had removed the skin layers from the palm psoriasis build up. The dr brought in several others proceeded to take phone pics of my hands & emailing, talking among themselves...they had never seen psoriasis on palms before interact with stitches . "OH REALLY "! I came sooo close to throwing a cup of water on all of them and their spendy phones. I have no idea to this day what force kept me from it.just a little respect PLZ!

Any way before surgery on both hands I could LAY them FLAT on the table.. Long story short. Due to Keobler Effect a flare in both hands they are now both curled and one is worse than the other. They will never lay flat on any surface again. And 12 weeks after surgery & PT. Doc said he did all he could do... Well that's nice so I am left with two curled up hands.. He never referred me to anyone else or offered any other help. I went to a rheumy for both hands soon afterwords he said meds could help w the pain but he said he didn't know the surgeon. Well isn't that nice...That was all he said about both hands severely curled. I suppose he could have thougt I exaggerated. But my friend verified the whole mess. I suppose he wrote some srt of code in my med. File for whitnessed verified botched surgery.... Like, "she's deffinately exaggerating" ......scrawled across the symptoms Box.......I guess that dr today have so many patients that we are now just another face. No commitment whatsoever. Like faces on a train passing on the tracks before them. Bing... Bing....bing....

I think I was very calm about the whole thing. Because inside I wanted to smack him for what he had done.Yet I knew that sometimes things happen. No more surgery for me. Just made me think of what UR doc wrote on UR med records, "UR crazy".... I think it's really a code,they have to let other drs know if they read that on UR med record, then they know the dr. screwed up, "she's crazy code means", yep dr Goofed messed up.
I swear they have other codes too like, "this patient does not follow directions"..code for, "I screwed up her medication dose",& so on..LOL

I understand UR frustration it just adds more stress and more pain...
On top of the botched hand surgeries.. My hip joint replacement was recalled shortly after implantation. I should have stopped right there!

It's always something........oooxxxx

Peace, Luv &
Laughter

hello --i am new here. I am 47 years old, and had a really bad mva last year. My fingers on both hands curl up at the first joint, and it's very painful when i wake up each morning. I don't know what's happening to me. I used to sleep with my fists balled up right after my accident. Now it's almost like they just close up right at the first joint of each finger. They are hard to open each morning--it's almost as if i have to pull them open. This is extremely frustrating as my doctors just say i need to try and relax, as i have extremely high anxiety too. I have a wrist cock up splint so my fingers are unable to bend at night, but then my fingers just start to hurt (i'm only wearing it on my right hand, as that's the worst one). I wore it for about 4 hours one night and i had to take it off in the middle of the night. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Pinky..welcome to this forum. There are many helpful kind and knowledgable people here.

Sorry to hear of UR fingers curling. It can be frustrating.
Really need to see a rheumy....finger/hand curling sounds very painful. I hope u have a rheumy. See arthritis symptoms:fingers curling/webmd.com .
Blood tests should give u the answer.

Treating early can prevent permanent damage.

I slept with a splint on my hands after surgery for months. It always helped when wearing the splint. Then once removed like u experience the fingers & hand curl. It could be a arthritic flare. Sometimes Arthritis also effects the flexor muscles and tendons will thicken over time causing fingers to curl.
Good luck..
Keep is posted..