Newly diagnosed. Pain in pinkie fingers. Any suggestions?

I am new to the club, unfortunately.
about 4-5 months ago I started noticing pain and stiffness in my pinkie fingers. I would move my hands and wiggle my fingers to "work it out" and remain flexible. Warmth helped and I definitely felt more comfortable when the temperature was 70-72F.
The pain and stiffness had been getting worse so I finally went to the doctor who diagnosed it as osteoarthritis.
Now I am looking to find any treatments or methods that will help or reverse the process.
Warmth,
Tumeric. - I will season my food with 500 mg 2x per day
wiggling fingers. - I will do that dozens of times per day.

Do you have any other suggestions? .

Thanks in advance
J

Hi Susie, Thanks for getting back to me. I will definitely look at Ben Gay ultra. I'm willing to try anything.
I just ate a piece of buttered toast with 500 mg of turmeric sprinkled on top. I have an accurate lab scale in my kitchen so it is easy to measure the right amount.

You wrote "Staying away from inflammatory foods is a good thing too." That is the first I've heard about inflammatory foods! I'll start googling (duckduckgo iling actually) now.
Is there a list of good and bad foods? I had no idea.
Thanks for your help.
J

Post Edited (Worried Guy) : 10/29/2018 12:04:20 PM (GMT-6)

Worried Guy, you know we live in a society of there is a diet for every ailment under the sun, lol. I am old school, I eat what I consider healthy for me & sensible. Having IBD my diet is restricted to what I can eat that doesn't cause me problems. I was told to stay away from seeds, nuts, anything that can be abrasive to gi system. A lot of foods that I once loved is off the shelf. I live in Texas & we have some of the best TexMex restaurants around. One particular restaurant has the best refried beans ever, the flavor is outstanding, they season the beans with lard!! I can assure you, if the customers had a clue about this, they would stop eating their refried beans. I grew up eating biscuits made with lard, my mother was from the south. I have had one resection surgery & do not want another one. What I would give to be able to take an NSAID for arthritis because they do help me a lot. But, I have been stupid too many times & took Ibuprofen out of desperation & ended up with a bleeding ulcers at my own hand. My drs have finally made me understand it would not be feasible to end up having surgery because of bleeding ulcers.

There is one prescription medication available called Voltaren that is for arthritis. It is available in topical & oral. I can't take the oral but I did use the topical on my knees. My knees have been scopes many times for tears of the meniscus, partial tear of the ACL & clean out some of the arthritis. I have had good results with it. Look it up on Drugs.com.

The best thing to do is try out some of the OTC ointments to rub on your fingers. I am a big fan of Tiger Balm. I have used it for years, along with several other ones. Moist heat is another thing that helps me. I often will nuke a wet hand towel & use it. You have to be careful because they can get too hot. I like this method better over a moist heating pad. You may want to try this & wrap the towel around your hand. I plan to pick up the Ben Gay Ultra today to give it a try. Our temps has dropped a great deal, 80 degrees one day, 42 the next morning. You will find that our bodies are like a barometer with the weather.

I would have to say don't deny yourself of your hot chocolate, lol. My husband makes the best hot chocolate ever. I really watch sugar, but that goes out the window when he makes it. You know not long ago they said taking an aspirin a day does not help prevent heart attacks, my husband still takes his. Give it 10 years they will change their mind. Everything seems to change, lol.

I hope you can find something that helps.