About 4 weeks ago top joint of index finger went very red and hot, still is and painful. Middle finger next to it already a bit mis-shapen. Am assuming this is early onset of osteo arthritis as my Mum is riddled with it; but I was only 50 this year and must admit prospect of painful distorted fingers has made me feel a bit glum this week. Don't want to bother GP as fairly trivial, but wondered if any of you my age and already affected. Those two fingers are stiff and click. If it was rheumatoid I guess symptoms would be different. Is there ANYTHING you can do to slow down the arthritis process?