Hello,
I'm an 18 year old male. I used to crack the joints in my fingers all the time. I'm trying to stop, but it's hard. Now the ends of my fingers (near the nails) crack without me forcing them. It's scary. I've noticed recently that one or two of my joints (at the end of say, my right index finger) would hurt a lot. I didn't hit it against anything or anything like that. It must be because of the cracking. I hate the pain. The same thing happened to my right big toe. I used to crack it all the time, now it hurts sometimes when i bend it. Is this arthritis? if so, what kind?
If this was to be arthritis it could be any of the following or possibly something else:
osteoarthritis
Raynaud's phenomenon
rheumatoid arthritis
juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA)
reduced circulation to the finger(s)
You should see someone who specializes in arthritis so that they can go over your symptoms. I could be wrong but I am pretty sure osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis in the hand. You should do a search of your symptoms online to see if you find a particular problems that matches your symptoms. You will want to get it checked out soon because if you are getting arthritis then you will want to do everything you can to slow the progression before it gets to bad. Good luck
but this pain is very very very intermittent. I only get it like once every 4 months. seriously. and it's not always in the same joints. and it's only happened a few times EVER. so what do you guys think? should i describe the pain? it's not exactly INSIDE the joint (of course i don't know what INSIE the joint feels like cuz i have no experience...) it feels like it's on the tendon just near the joint, and it hurts when i bend it. So what do you guys think it is?
I was once told by a physician that when you crack or pop your joints it is not the bones cracking, it is air between the joints and that it does not lead to arthritis. He said that was an old wives tale.
Even if the problem is intermittent it could still be arthritis. The good part is that you are not constantly in pain. Does anything seem to cause the pain to get worse? Weather, activity or foods? Does the area swell and feel warm or does it just hurt? At this point there is probably not much that could be done even if you have arthritis but it would be good to mention this to your doctor. Especially if this becomes worse over time because then your doctor will have more of a history of the problem. If it is arthritis I would say it is most likely Osteoarthritis because it is also affecting your big toe. You might want to see if there are any kind of hand and toe exercises that might be helpful with this. Good luck
****, i took a motrin today, and it felt better all day, until now. it hurts not as much as it did a few days ago, but still hurts. holy **** i'm scared. I don't want this forever.
the pain in my finger went away. It's gone. period. the pain in the toe exists, but goes away when I take the motrin. It hurts on the bottom interior part like just below the joint.
I was chopping wood w/ some friends, and I dropped a log right on the joint, do you think that is what is causing it? it happened about a month ago. But I THINK this pain has been there before, but I'm not too sure...
I have never had this checked out but I was walking on the shore of the lake near our house several years ago and twisted my ankle so bad by getting my foot caught in a tree root that it caused a slight fracture. Since then I have had pain intermittend in my ankle. So the wood probably did cause the problem, especially if you never had any problems before this. You probably have a mild case of Osteoarthritis in the toe. The good part is that the arthritis can't spread so even if it becomes severe it won't start to affect other areas. The bad part is that if you injure any other areas you might develop arthritis in that area. Your genes determine problems you will get at some point such as arthritis or cancer and environmental factors such as the log hitting your toe can cause the problems to start bothering you. As far as relief from the pain, you may want to try heating the area to see if this helps. I only say this because if it works it would be better than taking pain killers because you are less likely to create a tolerance. Save the pain killers for when everything else stops working. Good luck.
cracking fingers, toes and arthritis 
