What is hand arthritis?

Osteoarthritis is a condition in which the cartilage that protects and cushions the joints breaks down over time. Eventually, the bones-formerly separated by the cartilage-rub against each other. This results in damage to the tissue and bone and causes painful joint symptoms.

Osteoarthritis is common in the finger and thumb joints, especially at the joints near the tips of the fingers and at the joint that joins the thumb to the hand, near the wrist.

Bony bumps on the finger joint closest to the fingernail are called Heberden's nodes. Bony bumps on the middle joint of the finger are known as Bouchard's nodes.

Bony bumps are also common at the base of the thumb. These bumps do not have a nickname, but the joint is called the CMC or carpometacarpal joint. The name comes from the bone of the wrist (carpal) and the bone of the thumb (metacarpal).