Definition – What is siphoning arthrosis?
The Heberden arthrosis, named after the London physician William Heberden, is an arthrosis that affects the finger end joints of the hands. The development of the arthrosis is idiopathic and is influenced by genetic and hormonal factors. Women are affected about ten times as often as men. The clinical signs of osteoarthritis of the siphons are cartilaginous-bony knots at the end of the fingers, pain and restricted mobility in the end joints of the fingers. There are both conservative and surgical treatment options, which can be used depending on the symptoms and stage of the disease.
Causes
Osteoarthritis of the siphon is a degenerative, non-inflammatory disease of the cartilage of the finger end joints. It is said to be idiopathic because it develops on its own without a clearly identifiable cause. Nevertheless, there are some important risk factors that are associated with the development of Heberden’s arthritis.
In most cases, arthrosis occurs as a physiological symptom of old age. Heavy strain on the fingers can increase the risk. In particular, activities involving a lot of computer work and manual work where the fingers are bent and stretched a lot are associated with an increased risk of developing lifter arthritis.
Further risk factors are old age and family disposition. Rheumatoid arthritis is another risk factor for the development of arthrosis. It seems that the development of osteoarthritis of the lifted joint is hormonally influenced. It occurs significantly more often in women than in men and is conspicuously frequent during the menopause in women. This topic might also be of interest to you: rheumatoid arthritis
These are the symptoms of Heberden arthrosis
Due to the characteristic lifted nodules and the symptoms, lifted arthrosis is a so-called gaze diagnosis. In order to reliably detect Heberden’s arthrosis, X-ray images of both hands are taken in two planes. The osteoarthritis is very well detectable in the x-rays, so that a medical history, a physical examination and the x-rays are sufficient to make a diagnosis of Heberden’s arthritis.
