Definition
Pain in the ring finger can indicate numerous harmless or serious problems. The fingers are stressed during all the smaller movements in everyday life. If a finger hurts, every movement suddenly becomes torture. The pain can appear dull and throbbing or be sharp and shooting with every movement. Extremely strong pain or latent pain for weeks should be urgently clarified by a doctor, because in rare cases an unpleasant chronic suffering can develop.
Causes
Pain in the ring finger is mostly caused by damage to the bones, muscles, tendons, joints and cartilage of the finger. In the vast majority of cases, harmless bruises or strains of the muscles and tendons are present, which occur in every human being in the course of life. More serious damage can also be caused by injuries in everyday life or sports.
For example, fragile finger bones can break, extensor or flexor tendons can tear or joint cartilage can be damaged. Many of the complaints in the finger originate from the finger joints. In the course of time, the joints can wear out, resulting in the development of arthrosis.
This leads to wear and tear of the cartilage and, after some time, to rubbing of the joint-forming bones against each other. Older people are particularly affected by this. Other causes of joint pain can be inflammation caused by pathogens, rheumatic inflammation or an attack of gout.
The Heberden Arthrosis is a typical clinical picture of older people on the fingers. Without a recognizable cause, it occurs in the finger end joints, near the fingertip, a progressive wear and tear of cartilage and arthrosis. Typically, painful inflammation occurs in several fingers and the formation of so-called “lifting knots” on the extensor sides of the finger joints.
The disease can be slowed down in early stages with anti-inflammatory drugs and physiotherapeutic measures. However, in order to maintain pain-free mobility in the finger in the long term, it is often necessary to stiffen the affected finger joint. Bouchard arthrosis, on the other hand, is an arthrosis of the middle finger joints.
Like the Leberden arthrosis, it appears to occur without cause, but a hereditary predisposition is likely. Due to the progressive wear and tear of the cartilage, the bones of the joint rub painfully against each other after a while. As a result, bony attachments can form on the joint.
In addition, the joint becomes unstable, movements are restricted and the position of the fingers can deviate, resulting in crooked fingers. Treatment is often not necessary because the pain subsides of its own accord. In addition, the finger can be taped or splinted to counteract malpositions.
Gout is a metabolic disorder that can lead to considerable pain in the ring finger. During the disease, the uric acid levels in the blood are significantly increased. This can be due to a reduced uric acid excretion via the kidneys or to an extremely increased intake through the consumption of alcohol, meat, legumes and numerous other foods.
The increased uric acid in the blood can form uric acid crystals after a while, which can form early in toe and finger joints and cause seizure-like pain. This results in a very painful inflammation of the affected joint. In the long term, the uric acid levels can be controlled by a change in diet or by taking a drug to break down the uric acid.
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