Do you any of you find your thumbs "catching" and making a popping sound as a symptom of RA? Both my thumbs do this is on occasion and am wondering if it has anything to do with RA. Thanks in advance for any insight!
That was one of my first symptoms. RA showed up in my thumb, it got twice as thick as the one on the other hand, and popped when I bent it. The good news is that after many months on MTX and relafen (nsaid), it's stopped. It's not any less swollen but it doesn't click any more.BlueHour...did it pop every time you bent it? Mine won't do it every time...just after some inactivity. I've been having it for a couple of months now but am not having any swelling or redness. Did your swelling start immediatley or did it take some time swell?In the beginning, my right middle finger did that. They called it a "trigger finger" and said it was common in any type of arthritis. That finger doesn't do it any more, but it now has what I assume is calcification in the joints and and doesn't bend well at all. Now, my right little finger and the one next to it do it; the little finger is crooked and often gets "stuck", and it takes a few seconds to get it back into some semblance of a finger, lol. Tech, it did it a lot but then it would sort of "work out," and stop for a while. I think it was the inactivity with me too. The swelling came first, slowly till I noticed hey, why the heck is my right thumb twice the size of the left one? Hey, it's hot too! Then it started popping, and the next time I saw my regular doc I said, I think we should do a test for RA. My reumy eventually told me that if it got "stuck" bent to take my other hand and gently straighten it out.Thank Blue, my presentation right now is that it only catches...it does not hurt, no swelling, redness, or warmth. Still trying to confirm a diagnosis...only have mild RF factor and rest of bloodwork is normal. It is little things like this that I'm trying to use to determine if this is really RA or not! So frustrating! Yes, I know, tough when you are unsure about the diagnosis. Plus the fact that early treatment is important, so one hates to delay. But you want to be sure before starting meds. Nothing about this diesase is cut and dried! Good luck, Techzit.Good luck with the diagnosis. Always good to have.I dont know if this is as bad as yours or the same thing, but my first finger, feels similar to that. I showed my RA dr. he put his fingers on the top and bottom of my knuckle and told me to bend it slowly, it seemed to catch when he did it as i bent it back up. (yuck, grossed me out...) he said its trigger finger. Not sure if its related to RA, but do have swelling in that knuckle a lot from RA, just about daily.
The thumb on my right had is awful! I have had 'trigger finger' too! Fortunately, that went away on its own. The damage to my thumb is permanent. Just about every day. So once in a while it will feel like it is broken when I am flaring. All the rest of the time it catches and snap, crackle, pops.ttt