Osteoarthritis of the Thumb (Thumb Arthritis) | Cause, symptoms, prevention and treatment

Osteoarthritis of the thumb means joint wear in the thumb and base joint. Osteoarthritis of the thumb can cause pain, pain and reduced mobility - which, among other things, can make it difficult to open a jam lid or grip things. The diagnosis can, in many cases, be kept in check by physical treatment, strength training and stretching of local muscles and tendons. We remind you that you can watch videos of exercise programs tailored to you with hand and thumb osteoarthritis further down in the article.

Thumb osteoarthritis involves the breakdown of cartilage and bone tissue in the outer joint of the thumb and the base joint of the thumb (also known as carpometacarpal osteoarthritis).

TIP: Many people with osteoarthritis and arthritis like to use specially adapted compression gloves (link opens in new window) for improved function in hands and fingers. These are especially common among rheumatologists and those who suffer from chronic carpal tunnel syndrome. Possibly there is also toe pullers og specially adapted compression socks if you are bothered by stiff and sore toes - possibly hallux valgus (inverted big toe).

Also read: The 5 Stages of Kneartrose

Osteoarthritis is divided into five stages. Read more about it in the article above.

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In the article, we will review:

• Symptoms of osteoarthritis of the thumb
• The cause of osteoarthritis of the thumb
• Self-measures against thumb osteoarthritis
• Prevention of osteoarthritis of the thumbs
• Treatment of osteoarthritis of the thumbs
• Diagnosis of thumb osteoarthritis

In this article you will learn more about osteoarthritis and the causes, symptoms, prevention, self-measures and treatment of this clinical condition.

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Symptoms of Osteoarthritis of the Thumb

How people experience pain and dysfunction is very variable - and this means that it can be difficult to estimate the degree of osteoarthritis based only on symptoms. In some, even severe osteoarthritis can only cause minimal pain and symptoms, in contrast to someone who has obvious pain even in mild osteoarthritis. Although there are wide variations, there is generally a direct correlation between the stage of osteoarthritis and how much pain one has.

Joint wear is categorized into five different stages. Namely, you divide osteoarthritis from stage 0 (no osteoarthritis or joint wear) to stage 4 (advanced, significant osteoarthritis and wear). The various stages give an indication of how much cartilage is broken down in the joints and how large the joint wear is. You can read more about the different stages of osteoarthritis here .

Characteristic symptoms and clinical signs on osteoarthritis can include:

• Highness can occur in the affected thumb joints.
• Buttons, crunching and cracking of the thumb as you move it.
• Local pressure comfort over the base of the thumb or outer thumb joint.
• Redness over the affected joint.
• Wear of a more severe degree can cause pain during use.
• Increase in the occurrence of compensatory pain in the wrists, forearms and shoulders.

Thumbs affected by osteoarthritis can also cause an increased incidence of forearm pain, shoulder pain, neck problems and tendonitis in the elbow (tennis elbow). This is because we use our thumbs for the most part when we use our arms - and that if you have pain due to osteoarthritis in the thumbs, this quickly leads to an increased incidence of neck pain (among other things. stress neck) and shoulder pain due to incorrect movement patterns and misuse.

Why is your thumb extra stiff and sore on the mornings?

When you sleep, you have less circulation of blood circulation and synovial fluid than when you are moving - that is why you are stiffer at the beginning of the morning and after you have been at rest for a long time. But, as you know, you did not have this before - so it is also an indication that your thumbs are not in top shape in terms of mobility and general health. It is therefore relatively common to be stiff in the morning, but may indicate that you have certain problems with muscles, tendons and joints that should be examined and treated.

Read more: - What You Should Know About Stress Neck and Tight Neck Muscles

This link opens in a new window.

Osteoarthritis can lead to calcifications in the thumb joint and the outer joint

Osteoarthritis thus causes the cartilage of the thumb joints to be broken down. This aging process can be accelerated if a joint has reduced movement and blood circulation - which can cause the cartilage to break down faster. The body will, in response, try to form bone tissue in the area to repair the damage. Which can lead to calcifications and bone spurs.

Calcifications in the tendons and in the thumbs are visible on X-ray examinations and provide a basis for saying how extensive your osteoarthritis is. When there are visible, larger bone balls in the thumb joint, this is a clear indication that there is relatively advanced osteoarthritis of a later stage. But it can also be only in the tendon itself - the latter is called the trigger thumb.

Why does it fuck my thumb when I move it?

Imagine that calcifications are formed and extra bone tissue is inserted into the joint and the tendons that belong to the thumb joint. These calcifications lead to less elasticity in the tendon tissue and that the movement in the thumb joint thus meets increased resistance during movement - which can be experienced as snapping and crunching in the thumb when you move on it.

Read more: - This You Should Know About Osteoarthritis of the Neck

Are you wondering if you may be suffering from osteoarthritis of the neck?

Cause: Why do you get osteoarthritis in your thumb?

The joints are complex structures consisting of stabilizing tendons, cartilage, joint fluid and a joint. But the reason why you get osteoarthritis in your thumb doesn't have to be that complex. Namely, wear of the joints occurs if the loads exceed the body's own ability to relieve and repair the joint.

Also remember that blood circulation plays a key role in such repair. It is the bloodstream that brings nutrients and repair agents to the joints. Therefore, it is very important that you do hand exercises, exercise your shoulders and stretch your hands daily to help increase circulation into your hands.

As we get older, normal wear and tear and osteoarthritis will occur due to everyday wear and tear loads over time. Higher age also results in a weaker ability to repair cartilage and joints. The most common causes of faster occurrence of hand arthritis are repetitive strain and lack of stability muscle in the arms, as well as your shoulders.

It has been seen that these risk factors in particular give a higher chance of osteoarthritis:

• That you are a woman
• A job that involves a lot of repetitive strain
• Family history of osteoarthritis
• Higher age
• Trauma or rupture

Thus, some of the most common risk factors for developing osteoarthritis of the thumb involve overload without adequate recovery, family history of joint problems and previous injuries to the thumb. It has also been thoroughly documented that fractures and injuries to the joints lead to earlier osteoarthritis and a faster aging process.

Self-measures and Prevention of Osteoarthritis in the Tomlene

It is possible to actively prevent and reduce the aging process in the thumb joints. This can be done by actively strengthening the muscles in the shoulders, arms and hands, as well as stretching regularly to maintain movement and elasticity in the tendons belonging to the hands and thumbs - which results in improved blood circulation and thus also repair processes.

VIDEO: 7 Exercises against Hand and Thumb Arthritis

Here you can see the video of the seven exercises that we go through in this article (read: 7 Exercises Against Hand Osteoarthritis). You can read detailed descriptions of how to do the exercises in steps 1 to 7 below.

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Just think about when you lift something with your hands - the majority of the strength comes from the shoulders and upper back. Therefore, good strength in the shoulders is essential to keep the hands healthy and in good shape. By exercising both strength in nearby muscles, as well as performing regular exercise exercises, you can maintain good blood circulation and muscular elasticity. We recommend that you try doing these, or similar, exercises several times a week.

VIDEO: Strength Exercises for the Shoulders with Elastic

Recommended Self-Help for Rheumatic and Chronic Pain

• Compression Noise (such as compression socks that contribute to increased blood circulation to sore muscles or specially adapted compression gloves against rheumatic symptoms in the hands)

Click on the image to read more about compression gloves.

• Mini tapes (many with rheumatic and chronic pain feel that it is easier to train with custom elastics)
• Trigger point Balls (self-help to work the muscles on a daily basis)
• Arnica cream or heat conditioner (many people report some pain relief if they use, for example, arnica cream or heat conditioner)

- Many people use arnica cream for pain due to stiff joints and sore muscles. Click on the image above to read more about how arnica cream can help relieve some of your pain situation.

Read more: - 7 Exercises for Hand Osteoarthritis

Treatment of Osteoarthritis of the Thumb

A variety of treatment methods and measures can help provide you with symptom relief and functional improvement. Something you should start with today is daily strength and stretching exercises to maintain functionality and strengthen blood circulation. You can see more examples of good exercises for your hands through our YouTube channel (the link opens in a new window).

Here is an example of exercises that are recommended if you have tight conditions in your wrists - a condition better known as carpal tunnel syndrome or nerve pinching syndrome in the wrist.

VIDEO: Exercises against Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (Nerve Clamping in the Wrist)

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Physical Treatment

Manual treatment, including joint mobilization and muscular work, has a well-documented effect on osteoarthritis and its symptoms. Physical treatment should be performed by a public health professional. In Norway, this means physiotherapist, modern chiropractor or manual therapist.

Many people are surprised that research shows that such treatment of muscles and joints is actually more effective than exercise (1) when it comes to reducing pain and providing improved function in osteoarthritis. Then think about how effective such treatment in combination with home exercises can be? Modern chiropractors treat both muscles and joints, as well as instructing in home exercises to give you long-lasting recovery. If you have extensive osteoarthritis and are struggling with traditional exercise, we also highly recommend training in hot water pool.

Physical therapy may also consist of anti-inflammatory laser therapy, Shockwave Therapy and needle treatment.

Diet with high antioxidant content

It has been seen that a diet that has a high content of anti-inflammatory (anti-inflammatory) nutritional values ​​can help reduce inflammation of the joints and prevent unnecessary joint destruction. «Fibromyalgia diet»Is an excellent starting point for you who want to learn more about this.

Also read: - Everything You Need to Know About the Fibromyalgia Diet

More blood circulation to the affected areas

We need to re-emphasize the importance of daily stretching for those affected by osteoarthritis of the hands and thumbs. Get it into your daily routine in the same way as brushing your teeth - you get far with 5-10 minutes of stretching every single day. If you are wondering what kind of exercises you should do, look at the exercise programs we linked to earlier in the article in video format.

Shockwave Therapy

Pressure wave therapy involves a pressure wave machine with its associated probe which, hence the name, sends thousands of targeted pressure pulses into the injured area. These pressure waves break down damage tissue and limescale and trigger thousands of controlled small injuries in the treated region. The treatment has a well-documented effect on lime shoulder, heel spurs and tennis elbow. Read more about the treatment here .

Also read: - 6 Early Signs of Osteoarthritis

Diagnosis of Osteoarthritis of the Tomlene

An osteoarthritis diagnosis is often made by the clinician going through a clinical examination, history and any imaging diagnostic examination (x-ray is the gold standard for evaluating joints). If you are going to assess how much osteoarthritis there is in a joint, you take an X-ray - as this visualizes tremors in the best possible way. Such an imaging study will be able to show calcifications and cartilage damage.

A modern chiropractor or your doctor may refer you to an X-ray examination. Such a public referral means that you only pay a minimal deductible. Such imaging tests should be performed by radiographers and radiologists - and not by the person you have consulted for help. If you have seen a clinician who has his own X-ray machine in the back room, it is best to go somewhere else.

If you are bothered with symptoms that may be reminiscent of osteoarthritis then we suggest that you bring it up with your GP for a review. Finding out the extent of osteoarthritis itself can also give a clear indication of what you should do about self-measures and prevention, as well as treatment at a publicly licensed clinic. We remind you that physical therapy in combination with exercise has a very good effect in relieving symptoms and providing you with functional improvement.

Read more: - 7 Ways to Reduce Inflammation by Osteoarthritis

Also read: - 7 Symptoms of Fibromyalgia in Women

Summarizeringing

Take good care of your hands and thumbs. Do what you can to keep them healthy and functional - otherwise you will be able to regret it bitterly later in life. As mentioned earlier in the article, one can slow down the development of joint wear with correct measures, training, compression clothing and manual treatment.

Daily stretching of your hands and forearms, as well as customized strength training for your shoulders and arms, may be the best investment you can make to help improve joint joint health in your hands and thumbs. Such daily exercises contribute to improved blood circulation and to maintaining movement of the muscles and joints.

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NEXT PAGE: - The 5 Stages of Kneartrose (How Aggravated Osteoarthritis worsens)

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