Thumb arthritis is a thumb pain caused by the ‘wear and tear’ of joints. Just like any type of arthritis, thumb arthritis results in the bone grinding each other because the cartilage has wear off. And you would feel this (pain) doing your daily activities that uses the thumb vigorously.
How to tell if you have thumb arthritis?
You feel pain at the base of your thumb (near the joints). This pain comes back often and is usually increasing in intensity. In advanced stage of thumb arthritis, swelling may develop in the joints and your thumb may get misaligned or ‘crooked’.
What can I do to ease the pain?
There are many methods that can help to relieve the pain and pressure from the thumb joints :
- Light exercises that involve smooth and natural movement of the joints. Avoid high impact exercises and those that involve heavy lifting.
- Taking supplements such as chondroitin and glocosamine.
- Wear a thumb brace often to prevent overuse of the thumb and to rest the thumb.
Unfortunately, you can’t really reverse the damage to the joints that caused thumb arthritis in the first place. Consult a rheumatologist (a specialist in arthritis) for advanced treatments and the possibility of having a joint replacement surgery aka. arthroplasty.
