Pain In Your Thumb – Is It Arthritis or Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

Do you have pain in the base of your thumb?  Because of the type of work I did for so many years, I was very familiar with pain at the base of the thumb–it was mine.

I used my thumbs to apply pressure to muscles that needed release (even though there are special little thumb-saver tools for that.)  And, so my thumbs took a beating of sorts.  And every now and then, they would complain.

So, I’ve had lots of “first hand” experience with pain at the base of the thumb.  But, you know what?  That’s okay.  That’s one of the things that helped me become knowledgeable about self-help for that particular pain.

Even if arthritis (changes in your bones) showed up on an x-ray of your thumb, there’s still a really good chance that your pain comes from your muscles.

And, if you take the pressure off the joint from tight muscles, that will lessen your pain.

“Regular” arthritis is caused by muscles pulling on bones.  Your bones build a little extra bony pad where tight muscles pull on them.  The bones are trying to take pressure off themselves.

We would all show arthritis somewhere on an x-ray, but we don’t all have pain.

“Arthritis” is sometimes the diagnosis doctors tell us when they don’t know why we hurt.  Most doctors don’t know much about the root cause of most physical pain–muscles.  That’s not taught much in most medical schools.

In the web of your thumb, there are muscles.  Press the  fingers from your opposite hand into those muscles in a pinching grip.  (So you are pinching the web from both sides.)

You’re going to find tender places.

Hold them for 12 seconds.  Take a break if your treating fingers get tired; you don’t have to do it all at once.  But, do it as frequently as you can.  Work in the middle of the web.  Work you way all around the base of your thumb and up your index finger.

You may also find that the thumb-side of your lower arm, near your wrist, is tight and tender.  This is another area to treat.

You can “wring” it, massage it, heat it, ice it–press into that tissue, too, or get someone else to do it.

Pain in your thumb can also be referred by trigger points including muscles in your lower arm, behind your collar bone, and in your neck.

Massaging and holding (for a count of 12) tight areas in the web of your thumb and massaging and loosening the muscles in your lower arm are good places to start to release the pain in the base of your thumb.

It took a while for your muscles to get a little too tight, and it will take quite a bit of thoughtful treatment for your muscles to settle down again.

But, you can do it!  You have smart muscles.  They just need a little help from you.

If you’d like to know how to find a massage therapist who can really help, click <– there.  Massage therapy can be an awesome treatment for carpal tunnel pain relief IF the practitioner is well-trained and skilled.