What Causes Pain In The Hands When Diagnosed With Arthritis?

Posted on Thu, 16 Nov 2017

Question: My Arthritis is giving me a lot of trouble. I've had prescription drugs for it in the past, but had to discontinue them because they caused bleeding in my stomach. Right now, I am using Aleve and a salve that calms it down a little. It's mainly in my wrists and hands and is very painful. I cannot apply any pressure to that area. Is there anything else I can try ? I even have a therephy tub, but it only helped for the time I was in there.

Answered by Dr. Lekshmi Rita Venugopal (3 hours later)

Brief Answer:
You can use COX 2 inhibitor along with opioid pain medication,

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thank you for trusting HCM for your health concern

Since you had previous episode of bleeding in stomach, I recommend that you discontinue aleve as it can worsen gastritis and gastric ulcers.
You can use a COX 2 inhibitor (Celecoxib 100 mg twice daily). Celecoxib has lesser gastric side effects in comparison to Aleve. Celecoxib reduces pain and inflammation in the joints.
If Celecoxib alone is not effective, you can add an opioid pain medication like Oxycodone to help with pain.
Also, take Omeprazole 20 mg in the morning before food to avoid stomach upset.
Apply, ice on the area of pain. Using crepe bandage on the affected joint will help reduce the swelling and pain.
Please be advised to follow up with your primary physician as the celecoxib and oxycodone requires a prescription.

Hope this answers your question
Please let me know if you need further clarifications
Regards
Dr.Lekshmi

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T