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Thumbs Up for physical therapy! PREMIUM CONTENT

The human thumb contains three joints. When pain hits, its target is often the carpo-metacarpal (CMC) joint at the base of the thumb where it meets the wrist. The saddle-shaped joint allows the thumb to rotate in three dimensions. When the ligaments connecting the thumb to the wrist stretch out, the joint starts slipping, wearing away its smooth cartilage lining the surface, culminating in pain and inflammation.

Base-of-thumb osteoarthritis affects up to half of women over the age of 50, usually attributed to lifelong thumb overuse activities such as meal prep and needle crafts (knitting, embroidery). But new research identified a major change in the use of the thumb due to our increasing use of new technologies, and trailing along with it, the dreaded metacarpal-trapezoid joint pain.