| |
|
INJURY TITLE
| Skiers Thumb |
INJURY OVERVIEW
| An injury to the ligament on the inside of your thumb joint. Known as skiers thumb, it’s is a very common injury in racket sports and obviously skiing too. |
INJURY IN-DEPTH INFORMATION
| It usually happens because of a force taking the thumb away from the fingers and backwards at the same time and at speed. Like all ligament injuries, it will be categorised depending upon how much of the ligament is damaged. If the injury is violent enough, a fracture may occur because the ligament may come away from the bone (taking some of the bone with it). This would not affect the structural integrity of your thumb bones, but would be painful and swollen. |
COMMON SIGNS & SYMPTOMS
| It is common to have pain and weakness in the type of hand grip you may use to hold a pen and would use to turn a key. |
HOW IS IT ASSESSED
| Clinical testing to evaluate the amount of swelling and loss of function of the hand. Stability testing of the joint will help to reveal the amount of ligament damage. However, this should be preceded by an X-Ray to rule out the presence of a fracture. |
GENERAL TREATMENT
| Will involve splinting of the thumb to prevent any unwanted movement whilst the ligament is healing. A typical period of splinting is for approximately 6 weeks, and unto 12 months when returning to sport/activity to prevent re-injury. The time lines here would of course depend upon the extent of the injury and the activity you are returning to.
If there is a complete tear of the ligament, or a severe enough fracture, surgical intervention is often required with immobilisation afterwards. A period of rehabilitation will be needed after this to prevent joint stiffness and build the strength of the surrounding structures. |
| Exercise Videos: i.e.
Rotator cuff strengthening Pec stretch etc |
WHICH HEALTH PROFESSIONAL TO CONSULT
| PHYSIO X | MEDIC X | PODIATRY |