Do you have pain where your thumb meets your hand?
Lots of folks have pain at the base of their thumb. If you ask your doctor about it, he or she will probably diagnosis it as “arthritis.”
If any of us have an x-ray, it would most likely show arthritis which indicates changes in the bones, usually from muscles pulling on them. But, we don’t all have pain!
“Arthritis” is a diagnosis
doctors often use when they don’t know why else you might have pain.
But, muscles and trigger points will cause pain in the base of your thumb. There are muscles between your thumb and first finger and sometimes they work hard! That can make them tight so that they pull on the joint.
Because of the deep type of therapeutic work I’ve done over the years as a neuromuscular massage professional, I have had pain in the base of my thumb many times. And, I’ve worked it out many times, too.
I got rid of it. You can, too.
The culprit muscles are in the web of your thumb and on the thumb-side of your lower arm.
You can use heat, ice or massage on your lower arm, if it’s tender.
For your thumb pain, pinch your web with your finger and thumb from your opposite hand. (So you are pinching the web from both sides.)
You will find tender areas. Hold those areas for 12 seconds. Take a break any time your treating fingers get tired. You don’t have to do this all at once.
Work all around the base of your thumb and around to your index finger. Do the center of the web, too. Do this as often as you can.
Also, take care not to tilt your hand toward your baby finger. That strains the muscles on the thumb-side of your lower arm.
If you can’t avoid that tilting motion at work, a wrist brace can help you remember not to tilt and get into a new habit of not tilting. But don’t wear it too tightly. Your muscles still need to be able to move.
So now you have treatments for the pain at the base of your thumb and you may understand the cause of that thumb pain, too.