If you or someone you know has ongoing pain in the hands, you understand how hard it can make everyday tasks.
Even simple things like buttoning clothes or opening jars can feel painful and frustrating.
This type of pain might be caused by a condition called hand osteoarthritis, or hand OA. It’s a common joint problem, especially as people get older. In fact, by age 85, about half of all women and a quarter of all men will have hand OA.
Hand OA affects the small joints in the hands. It causes stiffness, pain, and difficulty doing daily activities. Sadly, there haven’t been many good treatments to help with the pain—until now.
Researchers from Monash University and Alfred Health have tested a well-known drug called methotrexate and found that it may help ease hand OA pain.
Methotrexate is not a new medicine. Doctors have used it since the 1980s to treat rheumatoid arthritis, another joint disease that involves inflammation. But researchers wondered if it might also help people with hand OA.
In the study, a group of people with hand OA took 20 mg of methotrexate once a week for six months. Another group took a placebo, which looks like the drug but has no active ingredient.
The results were very encouraging. People who took methotrexate reported much less pain and stiffness than those who took the placebo. Their pain levels improved twice as much as those in the placebo group, and their pain kept getting better over time.
This gives hope that methotrexate could be used to treat hand OA, especially in women who often get the condition around the time of menopause.
The lead researcher, Professor Flavia Cicuttini, and her team are planning more studies. They want to learn how long the drug’s effects last, how to use it most effectively, and whether it can protect the joints from further damage.
Although more research is needed, this is a promising step. A drug that has already been used safely for many years might now bring relief to people with painful hands.
For anyone living with hand OA, this research could mean real hope. It’s not just about data—it’s about helping people live with less pain and more ease in daily life.
The study was published in The Lancet.
If you care about pain, please read studies about Chronic morphine use for cancer pain may increase bone loss and findings of Scientists find a new hope for chronic pain.
For more about pain, please read studies about What you need to know about diabetes and joint pain and findings of Understanding the connection between liver disease and joint pain.
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