What Causes Stiff Hands And Joint Pains?

Posted on Wed, 28 May 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 28 May 2014 Answered on

Sat, 14 Jun 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : My hands are stiff. I feel like they want to close. It generally starts about two hours after I am awake and persist until I go to bed. I am not sure f this is connected, but I have pain on my rib cage just under my shoulder blades. Also, I have a long history with tendonitis. Wrists, elbows, shoulders, hip, and ankles are regularly affected. Calcified tendonitis has caused both rotator cuffs to delaminate and tenosynovitis caused me to have a sagital band repair on my middle finger. It will rarely clear up on its on and usually requires steroid injection and/or joint immobilization. I take naproxin daily. I am neither extremely active or sedentary.

I doctor has done the following test: esr, uric acid, RF, and Ana. All came back in normal range.

Any suggestions of possible diagnosis?

Answered by Dr. Saurabh Gupta (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Tendinitis, arthritis or fibromyalgia.

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for your query.

Possible cause of your stiff hand and other joint pain could be tendinitis, arthritis or fibromyalgia. You may need a combination of stretching exercises, pain killers , Yoga, Meditation, relaxation exercises etc. Certain anti depressive medications also helps. It is important to rule out other conditions like Vitamin D deficiency. It may be a good idea to get your Vitamin D checked.

I do hope that you have found something helpful and I will be glad to answer any further query.

Take care

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar