What Causes Severe Pain In The Hands?

My hands, both, wake me up hurting so badly I end up taking hydrocodone. It is prescribed for my back, but I take it just to be able to sleep. It feels as if someone has pulled both hands until they ache (HURT), sometimes from the elbow down, but mostly just my hands. Another thought I had was it hurt as if my hands had been wrapped in tape as tightly as possible and I had struggled to get them out. Years ago I was put in those cast that start at the elbow. It was a completely different feeling. My elbow is involved sometimes - it is rare though. I can t sleep or if I fall asleep, it wakes me up, several times a night now. It was doing it every now and then - now it s every night.