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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Does Rheumatoid Arthritis Cause Discoloration In Fingers And Hands On Movement?

Hi! I was recently diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. I have been experiencing some prblems with pain and swelling in my hands and arms/shoulders. Today when I was out grocery shopping I noticed that everytime I bent my elbow and brought my arms up, my fingers and hands would turn purplish black, but when I returned them to my sides the capillary refill was better and my hand color returned to normal. I am also experiencing a lot of cramping in upper and lower arms. Is this part of the rheumatoid arthritis? It does freak me out a bit.
Thu, 14 Jan 2016
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General & Family Physician 's  Response
welcome to hcm,
i really appreciate your concern,
yes RA can cause discoloration in fingers and hand movements.
The symptoms that you have are likely to be due to rheumatoid arthritis.
Other causes can be gout, inflammatory diseases like SLE, bursitis, fibromyalgia, etc. For proper diagnosis, some of the blood tests are advisable like-
1. Serum calcium levels.
2. Serum Uric acid levels.
3. Serum Creatinine. The rheumatologist will do the needed investigations for proper diagnosis.
Arthritis requires expert care with various disease modifying drugs (Imunomodulators). You can start these drugs after discussing with your doctor.

I would like to give some diet tips which might be helpful to get rid of these pain. Often the elimination of certain foods such as the following will help greatly:

Dairy products, with the exception of plain yogurt with active culture
Citrus, with the exception of lemon and grapefruit
Alcohol
Meat including beef, pork, and lamb (other sources of protein such as chicken, fish and beans are less likely to promote inflammation)
Vegetable oils (continue using olive oil and the essential fatty acids flax seed, sesame, pumpkin, sunflower oils)

I would also like to give some advice to make the life better and to fight with these pains-

Do regular physiotherapy of joints.
Hot fomentation to decrease the joint stiffness
Hot bath of Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate)-Magnesium has both anti-inflammatory and anti- arthritic properties and it can be absorbed through the skin.
please let me know if you have any further queries.
thanks. regards
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Does Rheumatoid Arthritis Cause Discoloration In Fingers And Hands On Movement?

welcome to hcm, i really appreciate your concern, yes RA can cause discoloration in fingers and hand movements. The symptoms that you have are likely to be due to rheumatoid arthritis. Other causes can be gout, inflammatory diseases like SLE, bursitis, fibromyalgia, etc. For proper diagnosis, some of the blood tests are advisable like- 1. Serum calcium levels. 2. Serum Uric acid levels. 3. Serum Creatinine. The rheumatologist will do the needed investigations for proper diagnosis. Arthritis requires expert care with various disease modifying drugs (Imunomodulators). You can start these drugs after discussing with your doctor. I would like to give some diet tips which might be helpful to get rid of these pain. Often the elimination of certain foods such as the following will help greatly: Dairy products, with the exception of plain yogurt with active culture Citrus, with the exception of lemon and grapefruit Alcohol Meat including beef, pork, and lamb (other sources of protein such as chicken, fish and beans are less likely to promote inflammation) Vegetable oils (continue using olive oil and the essential fatty acids flax seed, sesame, pumpkin, sunflower oils) I would also like to give some advice to make the life better and to fight with these pains- Do regular physiotherapy of joints. Hot fomentation to decrease the joint stiffness Hot bath of Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate)-Magnesium has both anti-inflammatory and anti- arthritic properties and it can be absorbed through the skin. please let me know if you have any further queries. thanks. regards