Can an Injury to Your Thumb Lead to Arthritis Later?

If you have experienced a thumb injury and now feel pain or stiffness at the base of your thumb, you may be wondering if the two are connected. This article explains what medical research tells us about thumb injuries and how they can sometimes lead to arthritis in the thumb joint.

You are not alone in this. Many people who hurt their thumb years ago now face trouble with gripping, pinching, or simply turning a key.

Here are three important things this research shows:

• Thumb injuries can sometimes cause arthritis, but it is less common than other causes.
• Getting the right treatment early can lower your chances of future problems.
• Even when arthritis develops, many treatments can help you feel better.

What Is Thumb Arthritis and Why Does It Matter?

Your thumb is special. It can move in ways your other fingers cannot. This movement is called opposition. Opposition means your thumb can touch the tips of your other fingers. This allows you to grip things, hold a pen, or button your shirt.

This special movement happens because of a joint at the base of your thumb. This joint is called the first carpometacarpal joint, or CMC joint for short. The CMC joint connects your thumb bone to a small wrist bone shaped like a trapezoid, called the trapezium.

Because this joint does so much work every day, it can wear out over time. When the joint wears out, the smooth surface inside becomes rough and painful. This wearing out is called osteoarthritis, or sometimes rhizarthrosis when it affects the thumb.

Here is where it gets interesting. According to this study, the CMC joint of the thumb has the highest rate of osteoarthritis of all hand joints. That means it wears out more often than any other joint in your hand.

Can Injuries to the Thumb Really Cause Arthritis?

You may be wondering if an old injury is the reason for your thumb pain now. Research shows that carpometacarpal osteoarthritis of the thumb is rarely caused by past injuries. Most cases happen because of age and wear over time.

But injuries can lead to arthritis in some situations. Let us look closer at which injuries might cause problems later.

Which Injuries Can Lead to Thumb Arthritis?

According to this study, two main types of injuries can cause arthritis in the thumb:

• Fractures that involve the joint surfaces: A fracture is a break in the bone. If the break goes through the smooth surface inside the joint, it can damage that surface. This can happen to either the trapezium bone or the first metacarpal bone, which is the long bone in your thumb.
• Dislocations of the CMC joint: A dislocation happens when the bones in a joint move out of their normal position. Dislocations at the base of the thumb only occasionally lead to arthritis later.

So if you broke or dislocated your thumb in the past, and the injury affected the joint surface, you might have a higher chance of developing arthritis there. But even then, many people do not develop arthritis.

Why Does Early Treatment of Injuries Help?

According to this study, adequate treatment of the injury will minimize the risk for future problems. That means getting the right care when you first hurt your thumb can help protect you from arthritis later.

What does adequate treatment mean? It means seeing a doctor who can check if bones are broken or out of place. It might mean wearing a cast or splint. Sometimes it means surgery to put bones back in the right position.

When injuries are treated properly right away, the joint surfaces can heal in the correct position. This gives you the best chance of keeping your thumb working well for years to come.

What Treatment Options Are Available?

If you already have thumb arthritis, whether from an old injury or other causes, there are many ways to help. The treatment depends on how advanced your arthritis is.

What Happens in the Early Stages?

Research shows that in early stages, arthroscopy is a valuable method for diagnosis and treatment of posttraumatic rhizarthrosis. Arthroscopy is a procedure where a doctor uses a tiny camera to look inside your joint. The camera goes through a very small cut in your skin.

This procedure helps doctors see exactly what is happening inside your thumb joint. They can also clean up damaged tissue or smooth rough spots. Because the cuts are so small, recovery is often faster than with larger surgeries.

What About Advanced Arthritis?

When arthritis in the thumb joint becomes more advanced, different treatments are needed. According to this study, advanced osteoarthritis of the first CMC joint is widely treated by trapeziectomy, which is suitable for most patients and considered as gold standard.

A gold standard treatment means it is the treatment most doctors agree works best. Trapeziectomy has been used for many years and helps most people feel much better.

Do Extra Procedures Help?

Some surgeons add extra steps to trapeziectomy. These might include suspension, which means using tissue to hold your thumb in place. Or interposition, which means placing material between the bones. Sometimes doctors use a k wire, which is a thin metal rod, to hold bones still while they heal.

Here is what the research found. Studies indicate that additional procedures like suspension, interposition, or k wire transfixation do not provide any significant advantage and lead to comparable results. This means adding these extra steps does not make outcomes better. The results are about the same.

This information can help you and your doctor talk about the simplest effective treatment for you.

What About the Knuckle Joint?

Some people with thumb arthritis also have a problem with the knuckle joint of the thumb bending too far backward. This is called hyperextension. According to this study, it is advisable to treat hyperextension of the metacarpophalangeal joint of the thumb at any stage of CMC osteoarthritis.

The metacarpophalangeal joint is the big knuckle at the base of your thumb. If this joint bends backward too much, it can cause pain and weakness even after your CMC arthritis is treated. Fixing both problems gives you the best results.

Frequently Asked Questions

About This Site

This website exists to help people like you understand the science behind thumb pain and rhizarthrosis. We take published scientific articles from medical journals and translate them into language anyone can understand. We never invent facts or add information that is not in the original research.

Every article on this site is based on real studies done by doctors and researchers. We believe you deserve to understand what science says about your condition. Feel free to explore more articles on our site to learn about different aspects of thumb arthritis, treatment options, and recovery.

Conclusion

Thumb injuries can sometimes lead to arthritis, but this is not common. Most thumb arthritis happens from normal wear over many years. If you did injure your thumb in the past, getting proper treatment right away gives you the best chance of avoiding problems later.

If you already have thumb arthritis, whether from an injury or other causes, know that many treatments can help. Early arthritis may respond to arthroscopy. Advanced arthritis often improves with removal of the trapezium bone. This surgery is considered the gold standard and helps most people.

Talk with your doctor about your specific situation. Together you can make a plan that fits your needs and helps you use your hands comfortably again. You deserve to have less pain and more function in your daily life.

Disclaimer

This article is for informational purposes only. It is not medical advice. The information here comes from a published scientific study, but every person is different. Always talk with your own doctor or healthcare provider about your symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment options. Only a qualified healthcare professional who examines you can give you personal medical advice.

Article Citation

This article is based on research by Klenner, A. F., Towfigh, A. H., and Klenner, K., published in 2014 in the journal Unfallchirurg.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00113-013-2508-9