Hey everyone, my child is five years old and every time I go to the doctors with her, they check her fingers for clubbing. Does anyone have clubbed fingers, and if so, what is the meaning behind the clubbing relating to CF??? I know it is when the nail is deep in the finger and the skin is raised just not sure if it is from retaining water or what? thanks a bunch for listening.
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clubbed fingers?
- Thread starter anonymous
- Start date
spicyone18
New member
I think the clubbed fingers have to do somthing with oxygen getting to your fingers. I myself have been told I have never had a problem with my fingers;, so I could be wrong.
I have clubbed fingers too. I know that theres different grades/degrees as well. Im not sure if theres a connection but I once knew a girl who had REALLY clubbed fingers and her cf was quite bad. I know that its to do with having lung disease but not sure exactly what. IM going to my doc on wed so I can ask then.
I have clubbed fingers it's hard to picture it unless you see someone withthem or a icture of them but I'll do the best I can to explain. Where your nail meets the finger becomes flatter also where the part of your finger where the first joint meets is thicker than where the joint itself. So the pad of the fingers are rounded, puffy, just thicker than the rest of the finger. Because it is rare for other people to have clubbed fingers that is why they always llook for that symptom in people with lung disease. Hope this helps. Becky
Hey guys thanks for the response, Becky, do you fingers hurt at all?? When did you start having clubbed fingers and are your toes affected as well???Do they feel different at all?? Do you think they are that noticesable? Just wonderingmy daughter is five and so far we don't see a change. thanks again
No they don't hurt or not sensitive in any way. noone notices them. I've never had anyone saying about them except docs and nurses. I barely notice them they're not extreme or anything just slightly bigger than the rest of the width of the finger. So I don't believe she'll have a problem with people noticing. I've never thought about my toes but I think there quite normal. HeeHee. Becky 35 wCF
Some people have clubbed fingers that are really noticable....and it is true SOME people with a more advance stage of CF have bigger clubbed nails...although some with a mild form have bigger clubs...it gets confusing. It is a coralation between oxygen to the fingers...and they can become worse...like mine i have recently noticed my fingers have become more rounded, i have always had clubbed nails, but they seem to get more so rounded and my health has declined some but not alot. Clubbed nails, the not bad ones, look like you have good fake nails on -real round and pretty, some are so round looks like actual clubs on the end of the finger...its one of those things that isnt a definate thing..like if you have severe cf some dont have badly clubbed nails, and those with mild might have the more clubbed, vis versa....so no one can pin point really what causes it, they just know part of the reason is lack of O2 to the fingers and toes...its even been said the severity of the clubbing might be related to lack of O2 in the womb....anyway like i said they just know it has something to do with O2...its not anything life threatening (clubbed nails that is) so its nothing to worry about...they dont hurt, sometimes the nails are thicker so that may save a person hurt fingers...
The majority of the time in CF clubbing is due to malabsorption, we just don't get the nutrients we need. Certainly hypoxia causes it, but.. almost all of us have clubbed fingers and it is always before we need O2. Mine are slightly rounded and my SAT's are always 97%
Luke 29/cf
Luke 29/cf
What do you mean when you say almost all of us have clubbed fingers and it is always before we need O2. Because that wouldn't make sence to me. If we have clubbed fingers because of low O2 in our blood, yes I can understand, but because physicians look for this as it is a symptom from when were small, then it wouldn't make sence to say it's just before we need O2. Maybe I'm reading what your saying wrong. I know as our lungs deteriorate the clubbing worsens. Thanks.
L
luke
Guest
there are 2 main causes of clubbing:
1. Hypoxia
2. Malabsorption
We all eventually have to deal with hypoxia in the later stages of Cystic Fibrosis. Almost from the begining we have to deal with malasorption issues. Here is your example, How many of us have clubbed fingers? Almost all....How many of us take enzymes? Almost all...How many of us need supplemental oxygen? Almost none.
Sure clubbing worsens as our disease progresses, but now we are debating what came first the chicken or the egg.
What I am saying, you can have clubbing without a respiratory condition at all(celiac's disease for example), you can just have problems getting nutrients out of food.
Luke Bailey, MBA RRT 29/cf
1. Hypoxia
2. Malabsorption
We all eventually have to deal with hypoxia in the later stages of Cystic Fibrosis. Almost from the begining we have to deal with malasorption issues. Here is your example, How many of us have clubbed fingers? Almost all....How many of us take enzymes? Almost all...How many of us need supplemental oxygen? Almost none.
Sure clubbing worsens as our disease progresses, but now we are debating what came first the chicken or the egg.
What I am saying, you can have clubbing without a respiratory condition at all(celiac's disease for example), you can just have problems getting nutrients out of food.
Luke Bailey, MBA RRT 29/cf
L
luke
Guest
sure I did, malabsorption causes the clubbing in us before the hypoxia does, I can't think of a simpler way to put it.
Since I stated "always" maybe that was the wrong verbage, how about almost always? Does that make it better?
luke
Since I stated "always" maybe that was the wrong verbage, how about almost always? Does that make it better?
luke
How about this.....keep in mind the picture can be decieving, some dont look like that, but the explaination is good.
Clubbed fingers is a symptom of disease, often of the heart or lungs which cause chronically low blood levels of oxygen. Diseases which cause malabsorption, such as cystic fibrosis or celiac disease can also cause clubbing.
<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/imagepages/18127.htm
">http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/imagepages/18127.htm
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<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.drkoop.com/ency/article/003282.htm
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Amanda
Clubbed fingers is a symptom of disease, often of the heart or lungs which cause chronically low blood levels of oxygen. Diseases which cause malabsorption, such as cystic fibrosis or celiac disease can also cause clubbing.
<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/imagepages/18127.htm
">http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/imagepages/18127.htm
</a>
<a target=new class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.drkoop.com/ency/article/003282.htm
">http://www.drkoop.com/ency/article/003282.htm
</a>
Amanda
Hello, just thought i'd share my own "clubbing" experiances
i was diagnosed as a teenager but my family always noticed how my fingers were different, they sorta swell just below the nail. numerous doctors did too, but never mentioned what it was. my grandmother insisted i just had to use more hand lotion!
I just started college and the only person who noticed any difference is an OT major and has her head in anatomy books all day anyway (she thinks my rounded toes are very cute)
they don't hurt at all, though I experiance a lot of peeling around the base of the nail which can be painful, especially when they become very dry.
Also I was recently told that I have poor circulation, possibly Raynauld's syndrome, I was wondering if anyone else had this and if it possibly could contribute to the clubbing?
jamie 18 w/cf
i was diagnosed as a teenager but my family always noticed how my fingers were different, they sorta swell just below the nail. numerous doctors did too, but never mentioned what it was. my grandmother insisted i just had to use more hand lotion!
I just started college and the only person who noticed any difference is an OT major and has her head in anatomy books all day anyway (she thinks my rounded toes are very cute)
they don't hurt at all, though I experiance a lot of peeling around the base of the nail which can be painful, especially when they become very dry.
Also I was recently told that I have poor circulation, possibly Raynauld's syndrome, I was wondering if anyone else had this and if it possibly could contribute to the clubbing?
jamie 18 w/cf