31 M, No Other Health Issues I Have Been Having

Question: 31 M, no other health issues

I have been having issues with my left hand as well as my left foot, particularly with the fingers and toes. These issues do not occur on my right hand or right foot. My right hand is my dominant hand. There is almost no pain with the issues I am having. It is mostly just discomfort.

With my left hand, I have trouble bending my pinky finger and my index finger (slightly). My pinky will bend at the knuckle but not so much at the other joints on its own. It is very difficult to make a fist, and when I try, it takes a lot of effort. My finger tips end up toughing my palm, and do not tuck under the fingers like a normal fist. I am not able to clench my fingers either. When I place my hand flat on a table, my pinky sticks 45 degrees to the left of the ring finger and 45 degrees above the table. All other fingers remain flat and together. It is next to impossible to lower the pinky on its own. I can use my right hand to straighten the fingers and when I let go they will stay in position, however the hand will feel very tense for a minute or two. There is no pain moving the fingers with my right hand. I also feel that my wrist and arm may be affected as well. My left wrist does not rotate as freely as my right wrist. My left hand is also much weaker than my right hand. It is hard to lift and hold objects, especially with my fingers. I cannot use my left hand for typing – except for one finger at a time. In addition, it is extremely difficult to put a glove on my left hand – mostly due to the pinky not able to bend on its own. It is hard to tell, but there may be slight issues with my index finger as well. It feels stiff to bend sometimes. One thing that is interesting, is when I wake up in the morning, I can bend my left fingers on their own no problem for just a couple seconds. After bending my fingers into a fist once or twice, that is it for the day.

When I walk, I feel like my left leg has a slight limp and it also feels that I am sometimes dragging my left foot. I walk much slower than I used to. I find that the toes on my left foot feel tense and tend to curl downwards and clench. There is no pain, but it is very uncomfortable, especially when wearing shoes. This happens with or without shoes. My toes do not remain clenched all the time, but it is getting worse.