hands and feet pain

[bren1973]

About 3 weeks ago I woke up and noticed my feet were really sore and stiff and within the last week I have noticed my hands are tingeling and sore around my wrist area what could this be.

[Neuro Forum]

Thanks for using the forum. I am happy to address your questions, and my answer will be based on the information you provided here. Please make sure you recognize that this forum is for educational purposes only, and it does not substitute for a formal office visit with your doctor.

It sounds like you are having hand and feet discomfort. There are many, many possible causes to your  symptoms and without the ability to obtain a history and examine you I can not provide you with a diagnosis. however, I will briefly go over the possible causes.

There can be neurologic and non-neurologic causes of hand and foot pain. Some causes of pain in the hands and feet are not neurologic. For example, arthritis often acts up with excessive activity and cause become transiently more painful than usual. Certain viral infections can cause pain in several joints at once; this is usually transient and resolves once the viral illness resolves. Vascular insufficiency, meaning when the blood does not reach the extremities well due to build up of plaque in the arteries, can also cause painful extremities. In addition, autoimmune conditions can cause pain in the joints of the hands and feet. In general, the type of pain seen with these conditions is usually dull and aching and worsens with movement of the joint.

Neurologic causes of combined hand and foot pain may include neuropathy, a problem with the nerves. The symptoms are usually tingling, burning, or sharp shooting pains. There are several causes of neuropathy, including diabetes, autoimmune problems, some types of plasma cell problems, and many others.

Pain in the wrists and hands at night sometimes is caused from poor positioning of the hands and repetitive daytime movements (such as in those who type a lot), leading to compression of the nerve that runs through the wrist (the median nerve) leading to a condition called carpal tunnel. Pain predominantly in the sole of the foot, particularly in the morning, might occur in a condition called plantar fascitis, in which there is a sort of inflammation of the soft tissue in the sole of the foot. Symptoms are usually worst on awakening and improve with walking.

It would be best for you to be evaluated by a general practioner (a family doctor, an internist). He/she can determine the nature of your problem (neurologic vs. non-neurologic) based on your history and physical examination, and he/she will be able to refer you to the appropriate specialist.

Thank you for this opportunity to answer your questions, I hope you find the information I have provided useful, good luck.

[doglady2007_pugs]

would not even attempt to give you an answer, but  you should be very aware of all these symtoms and if they worsen, or even if they don't, you should see your doctor. It may be nothing or it could be the start of a medical problem that needs to be taken care of by a doctor, not just some people on this forum Regards......

[Serafina111]

Look up RSD...Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy   ( or CPRS)It may not be the kind of pain that you get with RSD, but my pain started with foot pain, overnight..but woke to pain so severe I had to crawl to bathroom,rather than put weight on my feet..felt like broken glass..lots of swelling, especially on bottoms of feet. Subsequent x-rays negative for major injury...only showed edema/fluid in feet. Gradually faded over two weeks.Later had unrelated surgery for 'trigger thumb', right hand. Months later I had a routine blood draw,followed immediately by pressure and pain from hand to shoulder( worse from hand to wrist, and gradually, over seven days, pain localized to right hand and wrist...thought i might have broken my wrist somehow, but x-rays at urgent care were negative) ..but the   following night and early morning I experienced the worst pain I'd ever felt (about a 13 on a scale of 1 to 10), even though I was already on fairly high dose of pain meds for chronic pain in my back, hip and knees...i went in to ER, x-rays showed a gap in bones of the wrist, later found to be a scapholunate ligament tear...(no known mechanism of injury,,although it is possible that it was related to the earlier repair of right trigger thumb, as Dr. reported it was very difficult to fix due to how tight the ligament(?) or tendon(?) was at the time)..My Sed rate was 100 at ER, and the only thing that gave me any relief was a high dose of Prednisone. Due to amount of pain, the wrist was splinted and wrapped for comfort, and put in sling. Over the next two weeks, wrist and hand swelled up like a football. Bone Scan done thirty days later showed decreased blood flow to right hand in comparison to my left hand,although swelling had significantly decreased. Doctors suggested it might be RSD.  The original right hand pain happened in August of '07. In Oct. of '07 I awoke to  pain in my left hand and wrist, with swelling, although not as severe as what I'd had in right hand. Since that time, I've experienced purple/bluish color change in both hands in cold weather...most noticeable over knuckles, which turn blue. Hands turn color even in slightly cooler weather, like 60 degrees. Originally I could not close the right hand, or hold a pen, but that has improved quite a bit. It has not quite been a year, and since original pain last Aug., I have only been able to be off of Prednisone for two weeks,due to pain and swelling in hands and sometimes feet... until recently, when I tapered off the Prednisone entirely, concerned about the side-effects long term. When I take Prednisone(even just 15 mg a day) , it takes the swelling down immediately, and makes the pain bearable. (I also have had enormous amount of swelling in my left lower leg with a "rubber-band" mark at the ankle, where I have as much as a 2" deep 'ledge' of edema above my foot. The foot is also swollen as if I have a bad sprain, and there are a lot of broken blood vessels in leg and foot. It looks like Lymphadema, with possible Cellulitis in lower leg, as I have had a red 'boot mark' that comes and goes for at least three years, but the swelling seems to come on out of nowhere, encompassing the entire leg from foot to hip.The left leg is at least twice as big as the right leg. I often have heat in lower leg,strangely worse when I'm laying flat...and recently I developed deep fissures in each heel, which were T-shaped, and very deep, even though I do not have dry skin. After showering two days ago, the left leg swelled much higher up in the leg...below the knee about 6", with very tight, painful skin and redness. I believe I have a circulation disorder of some kind. (Note- After surgery for trigger thumb,in  Dec.'06, I went on Seattle Sutton's Healthy Eating Program and lost 180 lbs, to date, with no surgery involved) I still have about 50lbs to lose. I have been  unable to bear weight on my feet some days, despite being on carefully monitored dose of OxyContin and Dilaudid...and this has gotten MUCH worse since I stopped taking the Prednisone. I have puffy,swollen hands and feet,which turn bluish/purple when the temperature drops to as little as 60 or 65 degrees.It appears that I have some muscle wasting in my forearms and backs of hands. I also have had sudden drops in blood pressure and subsequent dizziness (80-60 over 40), pain in sternum and bony changes on sternum where ribs connect, and recently a Dr. noticed that my rib cage does not expand when I inhale, prompting him to give me a possible diagnosis of Ankylosing Spondylitis(sp?), or Spondylosis, with Enthesopathy. A Rheumatologist does not agree, but has no other suggestions. Two other Doctors believe I have RSD. I am 49, female,never been married with no children.