Thumb joint pain and toe joint pain - what's causing it and are they connected?

[MrsGotobed]

Both thumb joints at the base (around the soft fleshy bit) hurt plus one joint around the base of my big toe on the top of my foot hurts.

Sometimes it's worse than others

I've had blood tests and nothing has shown up and Xrays of my hands have shown some wear and tear in a finger joint.

Is this just (yet another) perimenopausal thing?

I don't but I have the same. Also in my shoulder and knees. Sigh.

Am 40 this year and thought all this was a while off. Periods are just starting to change a bit and I only have to look at bread to put 2lb on so am thinking premenopausal symptoms too.

My first thought was gout.

I don't think it's gout (none of the warmth, swelling, redness and doesn't follow the pattern generally)

Frouby my knees too actually. I hadn't lumped it in with the thumb and toe joints though as my knees have always been knackered. I'm 50 but been going downhill gradually since 40 (sorry to be the bearer of bad news)

I have this ... 'wear and tear' according to my GP. I also have severe arthritis in my kneecap although weirdly the rest of the joint is absolutely fine ... 'tis age I'm afraid..,

Keep active and slim and use painkillers when needed - I find voltarol gel more effective than ibuprofen tablets

Arthritis?

Sounds like osteoarthritis, but you should be referred to a consultant to confirm it.
If it is, there is little you can do, except control pain and try to prevent further injury - I wear thumb splints, not elegant, but they really help.

I also think it's age and arthritis/osteoarthritis but wouldn't these have shown up in the blood tests or Xrays?

I have recently tried Ibuprofen gel on my thumb joints but TBH it's so impractical as I always seem to need to wash my hands at some point soon after applying so not sure if it helps.

I do try and keep fit and active (walking, gym etc) and am a size 12 so not carrying lots of excess weight (just that middle-age spread round the middle that won't shift regardless!)

I have osteoarthritis in my big toes. It won't show up on a blood test but you should see something on the x-ray I would think. My toe joints are clearly all mis-shapen on an x-ray.

The Xray I had was of my hands but only showed wear and tear in one joint.

Today the pain seems to be on the top of my foot rather than around the toe but I did go for a long walk yesterday evening which may have aggravated it.

The one joint was a finger joint that doesn't give any pain by the way

I had something similar in my feet and ankles for years - am a runner so assumed it was due to that. I would wake in the morning and hobble to the bathroom - everything felt stiff and sore but would wear off over the course of the day.

What worked for me was cutting wheat out of my diet - was diagnosed with IBS and wheat is one of my triggers. Was wheat free for about a year when I went to stay at a friends and ate wheat as I didn't want to cause a fuss . 2 days later I had all my painful joint symptoms back (hadn't noticed they'd gone away iykwim)

Now I know if I cave in and have bread or anything with wheat in I will be hobbling again within a couple of days.

Just a thought.....

It's funny you should say that who. My knees felt better last week. I had cut bread out to lose a few lbs (cant lose weight when I eat bread). Had toast on Sunday and a sandwich yesterday and my knee really hurts again today.

I have just been googling supplements that might help with joint pain. And remembered that my mam has severe vitamin d deficiency and it makes her joints ache too so might pop to Holland and Barrett to see what they have.

Did you ever find out what it was? My right thumb (I’m left-handed) first started bothering me in my 20s, then in my 30s the left thumb, now in my 40s the left big toe. It feels like it’s all the same joint, at the base where joins the hand/foot. GP says tendinitis and recommends braces - but it never goes away. Just had full auto-immune workup and x-rays and have been told nothing is wrong. 🤷🏻‍♀️

It’s happened to me 6 month , start with left hand thumb then after toe month left foot big toe , after 4 month then right hand thumb ..
Do you have any idea why happened, done xray and blood report says Uric acid in within the limit and normal .
Please suggest me what are you doing to get cure.

It’s happened to me 6 month , start with left hand thumb , after two month left foot big toe , after 4 month right hand thumb ..
Do you have any idea why happened, done xray and blood report says Uric acid in within the limit and normal .
Please suggest me what are you doing to get cure.

Hi. I have the same thing happening. Started in left hand thumb then right hand thumb now left big toe. It feels stiff and less able to move than it once did. And sore at times. Also patches of numbness in back of hands and foot. I went for mri scans blood tests and nerve conduction tests and all came back clear. Not sure what to do or where to go next. Id be interested to hear if anyone else here has made any further progress with this.

Same thing exactly. Left thumb, then right, then left toe. I have to pop them all the time for relief. I had surgery recently and had to take an anti inflammatory in an ivy. Pain was gone within hours, but came back around 10 days later. Also had a reaction to the iodine after surgery and required steroids. Of course it went away for a while, but came back with vengeance. Anti inflammatory foods and medications work best. Something healthier for you like cucumbers and Hydroxychloroquine. Hydration and antibiotics, but we can’t always go for an IV every 2 weeks.
I need some answers. But doctors say it’s more likely RA, since I have Hashimoto’s Thyroid issues as well. It’s just a domino effect. So get your thyroid checked regularly. Mine didn’t fail until I hit 34 yrs old. Then a totally hysterectomy by the time I was 40. Im just glad I making changes, to ensure better health. Don’t forget to live it up my friends.

Just want to add that I have very similar, but mainly both my hands. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night as they would both burn and throb. I couldn’t use a computer anymore which was devastating. The pain came on very suddenly about 4 years ago. I had so many different tests, but nothing was found.

I did my own research and trial and error, and it’s gluten. Apparently it doesn’t need to cause digestive issues for the protein to cause problems in your body. It’s called gluten neuropathy, and affects mainly hand joints and feet. I also get really bad brain fog.

I follow gluten free now and the difference is amazing. But I’m only human and I give in sometimes, or just eat it to so as not to cause a fuss, and I immediately get the symptoms back. First is extreme tiredness a few hours after consumption. Hands burn in the night. And then I get brain fog for the next few days until I get it out of my system again.

My hands will never be 100 percent again as I imagine there is a bit of nerve damage from the gluten proteins. But when I completely avoid gluten for weeks on end I genuinely forget I even have this problem.

I hope others find this helps too!

Single joint paint that moves around can be a symptom of chronic Lyme disease according to my integrative doc. I was diagnosed with Lyme. Treated with doxycycline and I feel much better. She has helped me much more than traditional docs which told me my labs are normal and I just need to get more sleep. Integrative or functional docs do more in depth blood tests and try to find the cause of symptoms and not just treat the symptoms with medicines.