Picture does not sound rheumatologic to me. In addition to the negative labs and imaging, most patients have relief with steroids on initial diagnosis of a rheumatologic condition. This tells me what is going on is unlikely autoimmune or inflammatory.Some ideas and thoughts on things that can cause pain/tingling/weakness in the arms and hands that I do have are have you ever had any neck trauma or whiplash? Has your B12 and thyroid been checked? Do you have any history of migraines?
Should I see a Rheumatologist?Hi I am 26F, 150lbs, currently only taking hormonal birth control (sprintec). I have been dealing with recurring hand and arm pain for the past four months or so. I'd estimate since the end of January 2023. It started as a sort of tingly feeling in my fingers with some pain around the proximal interphalangeal joint in all 10 of them. I wouldn't describe the tingling as numbness exactly, as it's not the pins and needles that others use to describe it, but it is constant. The pain is in both hands, but my right hand is worse as that is my dominant hand. As there is no specific moment I can remember when this started, I thought this might have been carpal tunnel or some other overuse injury from spending time knitting & crocheting as well as being on the computer 8-10 hours a day for my job/fun. I stopped knitting as much and when it didn't get better around a month in I stopped knitting completely. The pain does get worse when I use the computer and my phone so I am trying to limit the use of both and I have already switched to using a vertical mouse which didn't seem to make a difference. Specifically when I click the mouse with my right pointer finger I feel a pinch between my ring and pinky fingersI went to an orthopedic hand surgeon who said that he didn't think it was carpal tunnel as those are unusual symptoms for it and even more unusual to be experiencing the pain in both hands. He took X-rays that he said looked normal, and he ordered a bunch of blood tests for me including one for Rheumatoid factor. He also prescribed me physical therapy after I complained about still being in pain. The physical therapist did a bunch of intake tests that showed my grip strength and other strengths were on the low end, but normal and he seemed stumped on how to help me. After 3 sessions of in office physical therapy I did not seem to get better and if anything it's worse. As I now feel regular pain up my arms around my forearm and triceps (feels kind of like a tight stretching) in addition to the pain I described earlier. Also in the last couple of weeks I've experienced actual numbness in both of my pinkys, on seperate occasions. For the record I wasn't as diligent with the PT as I could have been, ie sometimes I would do exercises only once or twice a day instead of the recommended 2-3 times. I was diligent about the heat he recommended though.My blood tests came back all negative so the doctor said that he's at a loss, suggested I maybe make an appointment with a rheumatologist and prescribed me a 4mg medrol dose pack as a last ditch effort. During and after the prednisone I didn't really notice a change in pain levels. That coupled with the negative Rheumatoid Factor suggests to me that maybe there is no inflammation causing this? But I know that seronegative rheumatoid factor exists, hence why I'm now asking on reddit. Does it seem like this could be RA? Would it be worth it to go to the Rheumatologist for this? Was my doctor just wrong and it is some kind of overuse injury and I should just try a new orthopedic doctor? Maybe someone less specialized in the hands because the physical therapist suggested it might be a spinal issue since the pain is traveling up my arms. Should I just give up on doctors and try to be more diligent about the physical therapy on my own?For the record here are all the blood tests I got:CBC W/PLAT AUTOMATED DIFF - Only showed I have a slightly low red blood cell countANA PANELSEDIMENTATION RATEC-REACTIVE PROTEINRHEUMATOID FACTORURIC ACIDHLA-B27 ANTIGENCYCLIC CITRUL PEPTIDE ABSANACHOICE(R) SPECIFIC ANTIBODIES W/RFLX TO DSDNA