A person’s hands can reveal a lot about their health.
The way they look and feel can point to many hidden problems, from liver disease to poor circulation.
It’s incredible to think about it, but doctors don’t have to be palm readers to make sensible predictions about your health.
Your hands almost have a voice of their own – particularly when something isn’t working the way it should.
“You can learn a lot by looking at the hands,” says rheumatologist Dr Kelly Weselman, communications chair for the American College of Rheumatology.
Of course, if you have worries or are experiencing ongoing symptoms you should contact your GP.
Health.com asked Dr Weselman and other medical specialists, including a cardiologist, neurologist and dermatologist, to share common and quirky things they look for when examining the hands and what these signs and symptoms could mean.
You may be quite shocked to learn what your hands are capable of revealing …
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Symptom: Weak hand grip
Nobody likes a weak handshake, but sometimes it can be a sign of worsening health.
It can be associated with frailty, says Dr Anne Albers, a cardiologist with Health Heart & Vascular Physicians in Ohio.
“During the physical exam for patients, we definitely pay attention to someone’s hand grip”, she says.
Dwindling grip strength coupled with a slow gait may be a sign of a higher risk of death from heart disease in the elderly, according to a 2016 review in the International Journal of Cardiology.
More recently, a PLOS One study of adults aged from 40 to 69 discovered a firmer hand grip could signify a heart working well.
Following on from these findings, researchers think hand grip certainly has the potential to identify people at high risk of developing heart disease.
The NHS says a weak grip could also be a symptom of carpal tunnel syndrome.
Symptom: Small red bumps or blisters
Ever wondered what that mysterious red rash on your hand or wrist is?
It could well be a nickel allergy, particularly if the bumps turn into oozing blisters.
This sensitivity to nickel is actually one of the most common causes of allergic contact dermatitis, says the American Academy of Dermatology.
Our hands come into contact with plenty of objects containing nickel, such as bracelets, rings, watches, even mobile phones.
But you can also develop a hand rash from ingesting foods containing it.
“Nickel is especially high in beans, chocolate, peanuts, soy, oatmeal, and granola,” says Dr Salma Faghri de la Feld, assistant professor in the department of dermatology at Emory University in Atlanta.
“You can determine if this applies to you by doing a trial of avoiding foods with nickel,” she says.
Symptom: Tingly or numb hands
We all get pins and needles in our hands from time to time, and if you’re young and reasonably healthy, it’s likely carpal tunnel syndrome.
A lot of us experience tingling or numbness at night because we sleep with our wrists bent.
This then compresses the median nerve leading from the wrist to the hand, explains the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.
If your doctor suspects you have carpal tunnel, they could ask for an EMG (electromyogram) which could reveal nerve or muscle damage.
Dr Matthew Barrett, assistant professor of neurology at the University of Virginia Health System, says Carpal tunnel treatments range from splints to surgery.
It is important to understand there are a myriad of reasons for hand numbness and tingling, with psychological issues such as anxiety often leading to tingling in your fingers, particularly if hyperventilating.
“Any sudden onset of numbness or weakness (of the arms or hands) should always make someone worried about potential stroke,” Dr Barrett adds.
The NHS says you’re more at risk for Carpel Tunnel Syndrome if you:
- are overweight
- are pregnant
- do work or hobbies that mean you repeatedly bend your wrist or grip hard, such as using vibrating tools
- have another illness, such as arthritis or diabetes
- have a parent, brother or sister with CTS
- have previously injured your wrist
Treatments include wearing a splint, cutting down on things that may be causing it, painkillers and hand exercises.
Symptom: Red scales or pus-filled bumps
Psoriasis is an incredibly common chronic autoimmune condition causes scaling on the surface of the skin and can show up on the hands or nails.
“Psoriasis on the hands can look like red, scaly, raised plaques and can sometimes include pustules—white pus bumps—on the palms,” says Dr de la Feld.
Nail changes, like pitting, yellowish staining under the nail, or separation of the nail from the nail bed, also can occur, she adds.
If you think you have psoriasis, it’s important to get diagnosed. As Dr. de la Feld points out, “Psoriasis may be associated with things such as arthritis and cardiovascular disease.”
Symptom: Trigger finger
You may be familiar with this phrase, but what does it actually mean?
‘Trigger finger’ – also called stenosing tenosynovitis – means you have a finger that pops, catches, or gets stuck when you try to bend and straighten it.
This minor affliction is more more common in women than men, and usually affects the ring finger or thumb.
So how does it happen?
The tendon – a rope-like structure connecting bone to muscle – or the tunnel it runs through gets inflamed, thus making it harder for the tendon to move properly.
Trigger finger can happen to anyone, but it is more prevalent in people with inflammatory forms of arthritis, diabetes and thyroid disease, as well as people who use their hands a lot, says Dr Weselman.
The NHS says that for some people, trigger finger may get better without treatment.
However, if it is not treated, there’s a chance the affected finger or thumb could become permanently bent, which will make performing everyday tasks difficult.
If treatment is necessary, several options are available, including:
- rest – avoiding certain activities
- medication – taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may help relieve pain
- splinting – where the affected finger is strapped to a plastic splint to reduce movement
- steroid injection – steroids are medicines that can reduce swelling
- surgery on the affected hand – surgery can allow the affected tendon to move freely again
Symptom: Hand tremor
Hand shakiness can be nothing to worry about, but it can also signal neurologic disease.
It’s important to recognise that everyone has a touch of the shakes in their hands, particularly when doing a precision task such as glueing something very small. This is what’s known as a ‘physiologic tremor’.
Dr Barrett says this can become more noticeable when you’re over-caffeinated, sleep deprived, taking certain medicines, or experiencing alcohol withdrawal.
But there is another type of tremor that often runs in families, called ‘essential tremor’. This causes hand and arm shakiness on both sides of the body and is noticeable when performing an action, such as eating.
Disease-related tremors
Parkinsonian tremor usually involves just one hand and occurs when the hand is at rest.
“If combined with slowness of movement and stiffness in the limb affected by the tremor, it could be consistent with Parkinson’s disease,” says Dr Barrett.
The NHS says you should you should visit your GP if you have a tremor or shaking hands and:
- it’s getting worse over time
- it’s affecting your daily activities
Symptom: White, blue, or red fingers
If your fingers lose their colour and then turn blue (or purple or black) when it’s cold or you’re stressed, it’s likely you have Raynaud’s.
This condition can be triggered by a dramatic shift in temperature or emotional state, and results in a short-lived loss of blood flow to the fingers or toes.
The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute says Raynaud’s can make your fingers feel numb, cold, or painful.
And as the blood flow resumes, your digits may pulsate, tingle and turn red.
“We see a lot of Raynaud’s,” especially in young women, Dr. Weselman says. “It can be something that stands alone … and is not dangerous. It’s just irritating,” she explains.
“Or, it could be something that’s related to an underlying autoimmune disease, most often lupus or scleroderma.”
Symptom: Purple finger nodules
A patient with painful, red or purple bumps on their fingertips (called Osler nodes) usually only means one thing.
“It’s very specific to endocarditis. A bacterial infection of the heart valves”, says Dr Albers.
Endocarditis can also cause bleeding under the skin of the palms, leaving brown or purple spots, as well as bleeding under the nail or in the skin close to the nail.
As for skin symptoms, these can come and go but Dr Albers says ‘usually someone has signs of infection, like a fever and sweats. So it’s part of a whole picture that can suggest endocarditis.”
Symptom: Hand pain, stiffness, and swelling
Possible culprits of inflamed painful hands in women include psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, vasculitis (inflammation of the blood vessels), scleroderma (a connective tissue disease), and dermatomyositis (a skin and muscle disease).
Dr Weselman says swollen hands could even suggest inflammatory bowel disease.
“It’s more commonly going to affect the knees and the ankles,” she says. “But it’s not out of the question that it could affect the hands.”
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