Can Low Dose Radiation Therapy Really Help Your Thumb Arthritis Pain?

If your thumb hurts at the base where it meets your hand, you might have something called rhizarthrosis. That is a big word for arthritis in your thumb joint. Many people wonder if there is a gentle treatment that can help without surgery. This article looks at a study about a special kind of treatment using very low doses of radiation.

Doctors in Germany tested this treatment on 25 people with painful thumb arthritis. They wanted to see if the treatment worked and how well it worked. They also wanted to figure out how many people they would need to study in a bigger experiment later.

Here are three important things the study found:

• Most people felt less pain after the treatment
• People could use their hands better in everyday life
• The treatment used very tiny amounts of radiation given over several visits

What Is This Treatment?

The treatment is called low dose external beam radiotherapy. That is a very long name. Let us break it down into simple parts.

You might be wondering why doctors would use radiation for pain. Here is where it gets interesting. Very small amounts of radiation can help reduce swelling and pain in joints. The amount is so tiny that it is considered safe.

The people in this study got six treatments. Each treatment gave them 0.5 Gy of radiation. Gy stands for Gray, which is just a way to measure radiation. Think of it like measuring sugar in teaspoons. These were very small teaspoons of radiation.

How Did the Study Work?

The doctors in Germany invited 25 people to join the study. All of these people had pain in the thumb joint at the base of their thumb. This joint is called the trapeziometacarpal joint, or TMC joint for short.

Before the treatment started, the doctors measured many things. They asked people how much pain they had. They tested how well people could move their thumbs. They measured how strong their grip was.

Then the patients got the radiation treatments. After the treatments were done, the doctors checked everything again. They checked at three months and again at twelve months. This way they could see if the treatment helped and if the help lasted.

What Happened to the Patients?

Let us look closer at what the doctors found. They used something called the von Pannewitz score. This is a way doctors ask patients how they feel. It is like a report card for pain.

According to this study, at three months after treatment, 80% of people said their pain was partially better. That means 8 out of every 10 people felt some relief. Even better, 4% said their pain was completely gone.

At twelve months, the numbers changed a little. Research shows that 57% still had partial relief. That is a bit less than at three months, but still more than half. And 18% said their pain was completely gone. That is more people with no pain at all than at three months.

Did Pain Get Better?

The doctors also used something called a visual analogue scale, or VAS for short. This is a simple tool. Imagine a line from zero to ten. Zero means no pain at all. Ten means the worst pain you can imagine. People point to where their pain is on that line.

Medical evidence from this study suggests that overall pain dropped from seven before treatment to three at three months. At twelve months, it was down to two. That is a big drop. People felt much less pain.

The same thing happened with pain during exercise and pain during the day. Both of these got better too.

Could People Do Daily Tasks More Easily?

Pain is one thing. But what really matters is if you can do the things you need to do every day. Can you open a jar? Can you button your shirt? Can you write or use your phone?

The doctors used a test called the patient rated wrist evaluation, or PRWE. This test asks people how hard it is to do everyday tasks. The score goes from zero to one. One means very hard. Zero means easy.

Studies indicate that before treatment, the average score was 0.5. That means tasks were pretty hard. At three months, the score dropped to 0.36. At twelve months, it dropped even more to 0.27. This means people found it much easier to do daily activities.

This is really good news. It means the treatment helped people live their lives more easily.

Did Physical Strength Change?

You may be wondering if people got stronger or could move their thumbs better. The doctors measured this too. They tested how far people could move their thumbs. They measured grip strength and pinch grip.

Here is something interesting. Most of these measurements did not change much. Grip strength stayed about the same. The Kapandji index, which measures thumb movement, did not improve.

But there was one thing that did get better. Flexion improved. Flexion means bending your fingers or thumb toward your palm. Before treatment, people could bend to 64 degrees on average. At twelve months, they could bend to 73 degrees. That is a nice improvement.

So while strength did not change, pain got better and people could do more. This tells us something important. The treatment helps with pain and function, but it does not make muscles stronger.

About This Site

This website is here to help you understand medical research about thumb pain and rhizarthrosis. We read scientific articles published by doctors and researchers. Then we explain what they say in simple words that anyone can understand. We never make things up. We only share what the science says. Feel free to explore more articles on this site to learn about other treatments, tests, and ways to manage thumb arthritis.

Common Questions

What Does This Mean for You?

This study gives us helpful information. It shows that low dose radiation therapy might help reduce pain from thumb arthritis. It also might make daily tasks easier. Most people in the study felt better, and the relief lasted for at least a year.

But remember, this was a small study with only 25 people. The researchers say they need a much bigger study with 750 people to be sure the treatment really works better than a fake treatment. That bigger study has not happened yet.

If you have thumb pain, this treatment might be something to ask your doctor about. Your doctor can help you understand if it is right for you. There are many treatments for thumb arthritis, and this is just one option.

The most important thing is that you do not have to just live with the pain. There are options, and research like this helps doctors find better ways to help you feel better.

Important Information

This article explains a medical research study. It is meant to help you learn and understand. It is not medical advice. It does not replace talking to your doctor. Every person is different. What works for one person might not work for another. Always talk to your healthcare provider before starting any new treatment. They know your health history and can give you advice that is right for you.

Study Source

This article is based on research by Hermann, Robert Michael; Trillmann, Annika; Becker, Jan-Niklas; Kaltenborn, Alexander; Nitsche, Mirko; Ruettermann, Mike, published in 2021.

https://doi.org/10.3390/medsci9040066