Classification of pain according to its location on the thumb
Roughly speaking, the thumb consists of the movable end links and the ball of the thumb. Depending on which part is overloaded or injured, the complaints occur in different places. The thumb contains a total of three joints, which can cause pain if the joint structures are diseased or injured.
The most common cause of pain triggered by one of the thumb joints is arthrosis in the thumb saddle joint. This is a degenerative disease of the joint that connects the thumb bone of the metacarpus with the polygon bone of the carpus. The reason for the pain is that the bones rub directly against each other due to the destruction of the cartilage of the affected joint.
The thumb saddle joint can also cause pain if the capsule of the joint is damaged. This can happen as part of arthrosis or due to an injury and can also cause massive pain. The metacarpophalangeal joint, which connects the thumb bone of the metacarpus with the bone of the thumb (proximal phalanx), can also cause pain.
This can also be an arthrosis of the joint. Typical for an injury of the metacarpo-phalangeal joint of the thumb is an injury during skiing. If the thumb gets caught in the ski pole loop, the joint capsule of the metacarpophalangeal joint of the thumb and the adjacent tendons are often injured.
The metacarpo-phalangeal joint of the thumb and the surrounding tendons can also be injured by cuts and other sports injuries. Finally, there is the thumb end joint, which can also cause pain when injured or ill. A frequent injury of the thumb end joint is the cutting of the tendons of the thumb. So a severing of the thumb extensor tendon can cause severe pain.
The mobility of the thumb is also severely restricted in such an injury. In summary, all joints of the thumb can be responsible for the pain. The treating physician can best determine the individual cause and joint affected.
Through a detailed anamnesis, physical examination and the use of imaging methods, the cause can usually be found and a suitable therapy can be started. The metacarpo-phalangeal joint is the joint between the first metacarpal bone and the phalanx of the thumb close to the body. The hinge joint is stressed during grasping and rotating movements and can cause pain for various reasons.
Possible causes of pain in the metacarpal joint of the thumb are arthrotic changes, an acute attack of gout, rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis. Carpal tunnel syndrome can also cause pain that radiates into the thumb. Furthermore, acute inflammation, sports injuries and accidents, a cell phone thumb and changes like a ganglion are possible causes.
The ball of the thumb is a muscle tumor on the inside of the hand, which is formed by a number of muscles and is essential for holding and grasping objects. A total of four different muscles are involved in the formation of the ball of the thumb. Different diseases can cause pain, which occurs at the ball of the thumb and can be extremely unpleasant.In addition to pain caused by overloading the muscles in this area, thumb saddle joint arthrosis is the most common cause of pain occurring at the ball of the thumb.
In most cases, arthrosis of the thumb saddle joint is even conspicuous by the pain at the ball of the thumb. Increasing pain when grasping the thumb can therefore be an indication of arthrosis of the thumb saddle joint. Your own behavior and habits can also lead to severe pain at the ball of the thumb.
Frequent text messages or an incorrect position of the ball of the thumb on a PC mouse can cause pain, which can be very unpleasant and is often felt in the ball of the thumb. A change in the position of the hand and reduced strain on the ball of the thumb can usually help in these cases. Inflammation of the tendons or tendon sheaths, for example in the context of rheumatoid arthritis, can also cause pain in the ball of the thumb.
Illnesses such as rheumatism can also be responsible for pain in the ball of the thumb. Due to the regression of the musculature of the ball of the thumb within the scope of the illness, pain in this area can quickly develop. Furthermore, an inflammation of the joints near the ball of the thumb can trigger a sensitivity to pressure, which occurs at the ball of the thumb.
If the muscles that form the ball of the thumb are damaged, for example in the context of a sports injury, and a rupture of the muscle fibers may have occurred, this can also be responsible for the pain in the ball of the thumb. Finally, certain activities such as using a screwdriver can also irritate the ball of the thumb locally to such an extent that movements and pressure on the ball of the thumb are painful. The thumb end joint is the joint that connects the two bones of the thumb (proximal phalanx with distal phalanx).
In addition to arthrosis, which can occur in all joints, and thus also in the thumb end joint, injuries are the main cause of pain originating from the thumb end joint. Especially cuts and crush injuries are frequent causes for pain in this area. In addition to the thumb joint, which can be damaged, its capsule or nearby ligaments and tendons can also be affected by an injury and cause pain.
Frequently there is also an injury of the thumb extensor tendon, which runs along the top of the thumb. An injury to the structures of the end phalanx of the thumb usually causes very severe pain, since the area is very well supplied with nerve endings. Pain at the tip of the thumb is defined as painful sensations in the area above the thumb end joint.
Pain at the tip of the thumb can also occur in the nail area. Depending on the cause of the pain, the quality of the pain can vary, occasionally a tingling, knocking and numbness at the tip of the thumb occurs. Possible causes are an injury in the course of an accident, overstraining, an inflammation of the joint that radiates or an inflammation of the tendon sheath in the thumb.
The thumbnail can also be responsible for pain in the thumb. Frequently, an injury to the thumbnail is due to a cut or crush injury. Crush injuries (example: hammer on thumbnail) usually cause additional bruising under the nail, which can be very painful due to the pressure generated.
These should therefore be relieved by the treating physician with the help of one or two holes in the nail. Also in the case of cuts, the nail can be affected and cause pain. The nail itself is not supplied with nerves and therefore does not hurt in case of an injury.
However, if the nail bed is injured, as is often the case with cuts, the nail itself is not supplied with nerves and therefore does not hurt when injured. A frequent cause of a painful thumbnail is a so-called nail bed inflammation. This painful reaction of the body is caused by bacteria that multiply under the nail and thus cause an inflammation.
Tumors on the nail can also cause severe pain in the region. An indication can be, for example, a change in the shape and growth of the nail. Also an incorrect cutting of the thumbnail can cause pain.
So the place of the thumb, which lies against the nail if it was not cut carefully, can easily become inflamed and sharp points remain, which irritate the surrounding skin and lead to pain.Pain in the area of the wrist and thumb (especially the thumb saddle joint) can have various causes. On the one hand, there is the possibility of traumatic injuries of the muscle-ligament apparatus or the bony structures. Especially bruises are often found here.
Likewise, signs of overstrain in the saddle joint of the thumb during manual work are not uncommon. However, the pain is rather acute and therefore short-lived. However, if the pain persists over a longer period of time, i.e. months or years, the symptoms may be arthrosis of the saddle joint of the thumb.
This condition, also known as rhizarthrosis of the thumb, is characterized by pain that occurs at the transition between the carpus and the first metacarpophalangeal bone. Thus, the pain can typically be provoked by rotational movements, such as those that occur when opening a bottle. After heavy exertion, activation of the rhizarthrosis can also occur, which is noticeable by an increase in pain, as well as swelling and reddening of the joint.
Since the affected persons try to protect the joint, the thumb musculature atrophies after a longer period of time, resulting in a weakness of grip. Almost all patients affected by rhizarthroses of the thumb are female. About 80% of all women over the age of 40 are affected by the disease in various forms.
This has a congenital growth disorder of the joint as a background, which results in an inclined position of the saddle. This is related to the fact that the saddle joint, which makes our hand what it is today, was only formed about eight million years ago and is therefore, evolutionarily speaking, quite young. Put simply, it simply did not have time to develop sufficiently.
