I hope he is using a proper working gloves that support both his wrist as well as minimize the upper hand strains.
While agreeing with AndrewRynneMD, I would suggest him to Get this Calcium and vitamin D levels checked. He may need a supplementation for the same.
hi, possible reasons why your husband is having what you call an excruciating pain is that he may be overusing those joints in particular, which is quite understandable. Overusing any joint has the same effect that you can imagine, like muscle strain, wear and tear of the cartilage around the knuckle joints (its the same tissue that makes a popping sound when you press knuckle joints..). Its difficult to pin point the exact cause of the pain with the information you have provided, but my advise is that you must see at least a physiotherapist and later an orthopedic specialist to diagnose the reason for this pain. Do not just take pain relief drugs by yourself as long usage of such drugs can cause other side effects.
Perhaps your husband needs an x-ray of his hand and maybe a blood test as well. This needs a proper diagnosis.
I would have him see a chiropractor, he/she will be able to adjust that arm and in many cases, the pain can be relieved. Sometimes, the only area that needs to be adjust is the wrist itself.
Overworking certain parts of the body has the same effects as overtraining, where lack of adequate recovery time will cause tissue (soft and hard) damage in the long run.
MSM powder is known to shorten recovery time as it supplies organic sulfur
which in turn helps transport additional oxygen to the cells.
He can try also Taurine in the evening which supports glucose tolerance,
and recovery. 1000mg in the evening.
For the pain DMSO (dimethylsulfoxide) a cousin of MSM will produce faster relief, however, it has to be a 30% solution with distilled or filtered water over very clean areas. Multiple fine applications work better.
Available at farm supply and vet. supply shops. Not FDA approved for humans, but I have been using this for years! No problems.
Neck line and above it must be only 10% DMSO and 90% water,
because of the lipids in the neck and head.
I hope this helps,
Niko