As your cartilage wears away, you lose the cushion for your bones. This can cause a lot of pain and damage to your thumb joint. You may stop using your thumb the same way you used to without ...

Usually, the first sign of arthritis in the thumb is pain, tenderness, and stiffness. You’re most likely to feel it at the base of your thumb as you try to grip, pinch, or clasp something ...

Unlike your fingers, which have three bones (phalanges), your thumb ... the knuckle and extends to the base of your thumb. There is only one joint in your thumb. Some people with hitchhiker ...

The thumb is one of five digits on each hand, but it has a different shape and function from the other digits. However, most medical guides refer to the thumb as a finger. Also known as the pollex ...

Cartilage acts as a cushion to reduce the friction between the bones in the joint. Aging and the ongoing use of the thumb and its linked joint may cause the natural wear of the cartilage and the ...

A thumb sprain happens when you injure the tissues in your thumb that connect the bones in a joint. These tissues, known as ligaments, keep your bones in place when the joint moves. In your thumb ...

Ligaments attach bones to other bones. In this case, the UCL stabilizes a joint called the metacarpophalangeal. When the UCL tears off the thumb, gripping and pinching are compromised. Sometimes ...

When you give a thumbs-up and notice your digit bends backward at an unusually dramatic angle, you’re witnessing what medical professionals call “distal hyperextensibility” — though most ...

When the distal joint hyperextends, it enables the thumb to bend backward ... an abundant protein found in the skin, muscle, and bones. When collagen becomes weak, it will lead to loose and ...