Joe A Shaw PA-C - 12/25/2012

Question
Hi Sir, I am a 19 Yr old male with continuous joint pains in knees and shoulders. I cannot rotate my shoulder ball joint a full 360 degrees without feeling some sort of pain, resistance or cracking. It also gets sprained very easily (eg. If I sleep on a shoulder during the night,it will be sprained the whole of next day).
For my knees, crossing of legs or any bending of the leg beyond the 90 degree angle while sitting puts a lot of strain on it.


In addition to my knees and shoulders, my fingers, elbows and wrist hurt occasionally and all sprain very easily (Eg. Holding on to a pole in the train for quite a while sprains my wrist and shoulder, sometimes fingers if I grip too hard.  
Even simple folding of arms can sprain my wrists.

I also suspect I might be having or at least early symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. Whenever I do a squeezing action on something (eg. stress ball or stapler), my grip will be weak as compared to what I remember I am capable of previously. Whenever I squeeze like when stapling paper, my fingers (especially the middle 3), wrist, and in particular my nerves beneath my wrist hurts very bad.

And none of these joints have any redness or inflammation or swelling. As far as I and the general doctors in the clinic tell me.

Am I suffering from arthritis or carpal tunnel syndrome or both? Are easy sprains a sign of joint problems?

Your answer will help greatly. Thank you

Answer
Shaun,
You need blood work to rule out rheum. arthritis or other uncommon things in someone your age. There are things like Lupus,Multiple sclerosis etc..that arent likely but may need to be ruled out eventually. As far as CTS it doesnt sound like that. It usually has numbness and tingling in first 2-3 fingers,usually at night or morning symptoms. There is usually history of repetitive use.Other risk factors can be diabetes,smoking,obesity.