Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Hands and feet??

I was wondering if anyone else experiences spasams in the thumb joint with constant pain and also at the instep? It seems like I do not need to do much with my hands and suddenly I' m faced with the pain an inability to hold things. I still can not beleive I have AS and am just trying to understand which way i'm headed here. I've had painful feet now for at least 5 years with heel spurs in the past and again. But the most incredible thing is first getting up from bed or a chair or driving a short distance, and being unable to straighten up nor put weight on my feet without hobbling to my destination. I've tried the foot flexing to no avail. Is this something others experience too. Just dx in 2/09. Have a long list of Rx that did not work until a new rheumy ordered the SI MRI and am inth 7th week of embrel.

Just realized this weekend how much I can no longer do like I used to. Seems so sudden to me that all this can occur. Like now, my hands are killing me but I'm only using one finger to type.

Is this what it's like? I don't know how to deal with what might be commng down the road let alone what's going on now.

Thank you for all the posts, I'm here every night trying to read and learn.

Hello, and welcome. I am one of the few that has symptoms primarily in hands and feet. When I was in my first real flare a few years ago, I was pretty much helpless for about 2 months. Since that time I have been close to fully functional....some abilities have never returned, like doing a push up...it hurts my wrist too much. I usually golf, but lately have been having too much pain in my ribs.

Anyway, just wanted to let you know that the outcomes vary, and we can assume nothing....that is to say, do not assume that staying this way and getting worse are the only posabilities. I hope your enbrel works well

good luck, Brian

I have problems with my hands, i have started using a heat wheat on top of my hand whilst using my mouse. My fingers become immobile otherwise...

Hi Brian thank you, what did you do about your hands.. Or did it resolve on it's own. I'm also having numbness in 3 fingers both hands but it seems that if I adjust my neck some how the numbness goes away. It's not been fun waking and having to strech before sitting up only to hobble.

Typing is so much harder - things we take for granted!!

Thanks Elizabeth I willgive that a try. I also find my self rubbing the wrist joint to feel better perhaps the friction heat helps.
Lucy

My problems started in my hands. I have noticeable deformity in my fingers as well as a particularly difficult-to-treat case of nail psoriasis - all 10 fingernails.

I also have nail psoriasis on 3 toenails. I have been plagued with "sausage toes" in the past and have a fair amount of pain in both my toes & feet, with the toes affected with the psoriasis being the most problematic. I have a heel spur in my left foot now as well, making walking a challenge at times.

Now my hands have once again become a very big issue, and many everyday tasks are becoming increasingly quite difficult. I work on a computer all day which doesn't help either.

I feel like I am coming "full circle" with this disease - the very issues that started it all are the worst issues I seem to be having again.

yes to hands and feet.
they've both been really bad at times.

when i first started out with symptoms 10 years ago, i truly believed that the tendonitis in both dq tendons were going to handicap me and make me disabled from my job which requires a fair bit of typing, writing, page turning, paper shuffling, all stuff so hard to do when hands are bad. but several months of good hand therapy and a cortisone shot and then a few more years of being really careful with my hands, and contrast baths of hot and cold water (which i learned in PT), and stretches (which i learned from PT which are similar to those done by people with carpal tunnel (i don't have that though). then a few years later, i started taking a muscle relaxant mostly for my neck and back and everything got a bit better, including the hands, not so much numbness after that in the wrists, fingers, thumbs. its a constant "dance" of being careful, doing things that help and avoiding things that hurt.

and i hurt my wrist about 3 years ago so badly, i honestly never thought i'd have use of that hand again. i was typing one handed, hubby had to do all the peeling and chopping in the kitchen, and i could put absolutely no weight on it, which made getting out of the bathtub a real challenge and quite entertaining at the same time. but a cortisone shot, PT, and time, and its mostly ok now. i'm still careful, still afraid to put much weight on it, but i can function again after about 2 years of it being fairly useless.

thank goodness God gave us two hands. i guess he knew how important they were

and the feet: PT, contrast baths, wearing specific shoes and voiding others, not wearing orthodics or heel cushions that make things worse for me, avoiding standing and if i have to stand (like at the sink), then standing on one of those kneeling cushions. avoiding walking on hard concrete floors. and the calf stretches and foot strengthening exercises that i learned in PT help as well.

like with the hands, a little of this and a little of that all adds up to help.
it's a bit annoying to have to be ever so mindful of my body, but slowly over time, adding one habit here and one habit there and it all becomes second nature. though, there are times when i get tired of it all and stop being a good patient, but i usually pay for that.

right now my feet and hands are both not too bad, so long as i'm mindful not to abuse them terribly.

good luck, hopefully you will find some ways to make yours hurt less.

sue

sue22,
I've been struggling with the feet for years. When we lived in France, the rheumy there injected the heel. It miraculously worked. Small needle from the sides and a combo of cort & novacaine(ithink) my memory has been hit hard. About 4/5 years ago the heel came back... I found some releif with generic orthodics but Im curious how to get shoes that work. I do not have a podiatrist. The last phyisotherpist "didn't see anything inthe xrays". The current rheumy cansee the instep grossly enlarged. I need good shoes and am getting by with sneakers. What did you do for shoes?

Lucy

my "shoe solution" is not what you would expect.
right from the beginning, i noticed that my feet were better barefoot than in a lot of shoes (which flies in the face of logic from everything anyone will tell you). and when i'd try to add in any kind of orthodic, that forced the foot to pronate even more, then my feet would really flare. i even had $300 custom orthodics fitted and made thinking "i'm just not wearing the right orthodics" bu they were the worst. i even tried breaking them in slowly.

at first the podiatrist told me i was pronating in too much and the orthodics would help that. but after a few times of seeing me over the months, she too saw that what i needed were perfectly flat shoes. and she told me a few things i need to go track down.

but so far, what i've found to work the best:

barefoot on a kneeling pad if i have to stand to do dishes or food prep in the kitchen.

my flat keds for exercise: biking, serious walks.

my flat Huaraches (mexican sandals) for most of my walking needs in the summer. i even walked 10 miles on concrete sidewalks in boston one day and at the end of the day my feet were normal tired sore but not inflamed at all. i was a bit shocked myself.

at first the crocs were terrible, pronating my feet the way the orthodics did, but i've broken them in and now they are pretty flat and pretty comfortable.

my shoe boots and snow boots also seem to work well.

wish i could find a flat sneaker that had cushioned support but didn't have an arch that forced (pronated) my foot in a position it didn't want to be in. the podiatrist told me there was a model of asics that might work.

she also told me that clarks makes a flat shoe, need to track those down as well.

we have a shoe store with serious shoes that i need to visit. been saying that for months.

but what works for me seems extremely atypical.

i'd say try things out, see what works and doesn't work and see if you can see any trends, that's what i had to do.

since i don't have well cushioned flat shoes, i have to avoid hard surfaces as much as possible, especially standing on them. thus i don't go shopping much anymore. this pleases my husband greatly it is a unique way to save money. there are even times i can't go to the grocery store, though the crocs have a little more cushioning and i've found i can do the grocery store again with these. thank goodness.

good luck,

sue

Sue,

I know about trial and error. I can only feel comfortable in a pair of slides that are foot shaped that I purchased at Walmart about 5 years ago for beach going - turns out these are the olny thing that do not hurt but are so beat up they can not leave the house! I've tried to find them in years past but they must not be made anymore. They must have cost less than a couple of dollars. Oh. Well. Thank you for the info. More importantly though, I don't feel so isolated with these problems knowing now I'm not alone. This is a great resource and sounding board for me. Thank you again.

Lucy