HealthInfo Waitaha Canterbury
Self-care for thumb arthritis
Tāu ake whakaora i te pona kakā kōnui
How you manage day-to-day activities can make a big difference to the impact thumb arthritis has on your lifestyle. There are several self-care measures that may be helpful.
- Use your thumb in a position where the joint surfaces are in most contact. For example, your thumb and index finger should make a circle when holding objects, not collapse towards each other.
- Take frequent breaks when doing activities that involve your thumb.
- Use bigger joints such as your shoulder or elbow to carry out daily activities.
- Use 2 hands instead of 1.
- Use special equipment to ease activities such as opening jars.
- Modify equipment that is skinny or difficult to hold by making it fatter, and easier to grip.
- Wear a splint to support your thumb.
- Apply cold packs or gentle heat to reduce swelling and relieve pain. A good pair of warm gloves will help in winter.
- Wear arthritis gloves to help keep your hand and thumb warm and give light compression. This may help with swelling and pain.
Hand exercises
Suitable hand exercises can make a difference. See exercises you can do for left thumb base osteoarthritis and right thumb base osteoarthritis.
A physiotherapist or hand therapist can provide information about hand exercises.
Content shared between HealthInfo Canterbury, KidsHealth and Health Navigator NZ as part of a National Health Content Hub collaborative. Last reviewed July 2024.
SourcesReview key: HIOST-35589
