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Feb 6, 2024 · The collateral ligaments on each side of the finger joint are made of tough, highly organized collagen fibers. This structure gives them strength and flexibility to handle the various activities of the fingers.
- Overview
- What are the symptoms?
- What causes ulnar deviation?
- How is ulnar deviation diagnosed?
- Treatment options for ulnar deviation
- Can you prevent disease progression?
- Outlook
Ulnar deviation, or ulnar drift, occurs when inflammation in your hand, wrist, or fingers leads to your fingers bending toward your pinky. It can stem from conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
What is ulnar deviation?
Ulnar deviation is also known as ulnar drift. This hand condition occurs when your knuckle bones, or metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joints, become swollen and cause your fingers to bend abnormally toward your little finger. It’s a result of inflammation weakening the surrounding tendon structures.
It’s called ulnar deviation because your fingers bend toward the ulna bone in your forearm. Looking down at your hands with palms down, this bone is located along the outer edge of your forearms.
This condition won’t necessarily keep you from using your hands for daily tasks, such as gripping objects or tying your shoes. Over time, though, you may find some activities harder to do. You may also not like the way your hands look as they bend and distort.
Keep reading to learn more about the symptoms, how it’s diagnosed, and more.
Swelling in your knuckles is one of the most noticeable symptoms of ulnar deviation. You may also find that your fingers, mainly your middle and index fingers, bend toward your pinky finger.
As the condition progresses, you may experience:
•excessive heat around your wrist, hand, and finger joints
•pain or tenderness around your wrist, hand, and finger joints, especially when you move or flex your fingers
•inability to fully flex your fingers or make a fist
•tightness of your hand muscles
Rheumatoid arthritis
One of the most common causes of ulnar deviation is RA. RA is an autoimmune disorder that causes your immune system to target your joint tissue. With RA, inflammation can cause damage to both the MCP joint and the areas surrounding the joint. Over time, this can cause your joints to wear away and your bones to erode. In RA, ulnar deviation can also occur in your wrist. The outer tendon structures are stronger than the inner ones, so the fingers are usually pulled toward your pinky finger. This may eventually make your hands look distorted. RA doesn’t have a specific known cause, but it’s known to be an autoimmune disease. It’s thought that your genes can trigger the condition when exposed to certain environmental factors, such as infection. This causes your immune system to attack healthy parts of your body.
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis (OA) can potentially cause ulnar deviation, but it’s less likely given that OA isn’t as inflammatory in nature as RA. Unlike RA, OA isn’t caused by your immune system. It’s caused by your joint cartilage gradually wearing away due to overuse or age. When the cartilage has worn away significantly, your bones start to rub together in the joint. This damages your joints and can cause them to become distorted and bend.
Other causes
Other causes and risk factors of ulnar deviation include: •psoriatic arthritis, a type of chronic arthritis also caused by your immune system attacking your joints •lupus, another autoimmune condition that can cause joint damage associated with arthritis and other symptoms such as fevers and fatigue •smoking can put a person at risk
After reviewing your medical history, a doctor will perform a physical exam and assess your symptoms.
They may ask you to move, extend, or flex your hand and fingers to observe your range of motion. If your fingers move atypically in the ulnar direction or make a “clunking” noise when you move them, it may indicate ulnar deviation.
Your doctor may also want to take X-rays of your hands to look more closely at the swelling and deviation in your fingers. Your doctor can also examine your ligaments and other tissue surrounding the joints.
An X-ray can also help your doctor diagnose any underlying cause of ulnar deviation, such as OA or RA. Your doctor may also order blood tests for underlying conditions such as lupus.
Medication
A doctor may recommend taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to help manage pain or swelling. These include ibuprofen (Advil) and naproxen (Aleve). They may also send you to a specialist called a rheumatologist. Your rheumatologist may prescribe disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), which can halt ulnar deviation progression.
Exercise
Exercise treatment can also help you manage your symptoms. Depending on the severity of your ulnar deviation, treatment may range from simple wrist, hand, and finger exercises you can do at home to wearing a splint to keep your fingers in place. Talk with a doctor about the best exercise options for you. They may refer you to a physical therapist or a hand occupational therapist to help teach you the correct way to do these exercises.
Other treatments
Your doctor may also recommend home treatments, such as hot or cold therapy, to help relieve some of your symptoms. For example, applying heat to your fingers while extending them can help increase your range of movement. Applying ice to the joints can help lower pain and swelling. In rare cases, a doctor may recommend surgical procedures. Transcutaneous nerve stimulation, which uses electricity to treat pain, may also help lower the pain associated with ulnar deviation.
If a doctor diagnoses you with ulnar deviation early enough, they may recommend that you wear splints to keep your fingers from bending any farther than they already have.
Splints that can help slow disease progression include:
•hand-resting splints, which you usually wear at night on your wrist and fingers to relax your MCP joint and reduce
•hand-resting splints, which you usually wear at night on your wrist and fingers to relax your MCP joint and lower inflammation and pain
•MCP joint splints, which you can wear during the day to support your fingers and help your grip objects with less pain
•exercise splints, which support your MCP joint when you extend or flex your fingers to help lower joint tightness or inflammation
Your outlook depends on how severe your ulnar deviation is or how far it’s progressed. You may be able to relieve your symptoms without any impact on your daily life. In some cases, with enough physical therapy and treatment, your symptoms may not be noticeable at all.
If an underlying condition, such as RA or lupus, is causing your ulnar deviation, a doctor may recommend a long-term treatment plan to manage your symptoms and improve your overall health. If left untreated, this underlying condition may cause additional complications.
Ring splints most commonly fall into two categories: swan-neck splints, which are used to prevent hyperextension of joints beyond the neutral position; and boutonniere splints, which help straighten a joint that a person cannot actively extend. Others are also available for fingers as well as thumbs.
May 20, 2021 · The freely movable part of our hand is made up of five digits (four fingers and one thumb). Each finger has three individual bones, and the thumb only has two. The fingers have three joints each, which can only be bent and stretched in one direction.
- 2021/05/20
6 days ago · Anatomy. The hand contains 14 phalanges —the bones that make up the fingers. The term phalanx is singular, referring to one finger bone. Each finger contains three and the thumb has two phalanges.
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Feb 1, 2024 · The most common surgery that's done for treatment of finger arthritis is a finger joint fusion. This procedure is done to hold the knuckle in a fixed position to prevent movement of the joint. The joint becomes stiff forever, which limits your range of motion, and the pain is usually alleviated.
