Flexor pollicis brevis

Looks like

A short muscle in the thumb ball, from the wrist bones and flexor retinaculum to the base of the thumb.

What it does

Bends the thumb at its knuckle.

Keeping it well

Powered by median and ulnar nerves; thumb ball wasting needs assessment.

Related conditions

• Botulism
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• De Quervain's tenosynovitis
• Dupuytren's contracture & trigger finger
• Fibromyalgia
• Frailty & falls in older age
• Ganglion cyst
• Heat exhaustion & heatstroke
• Juvenile idiopathic arthritis
• Malnutrition & refeeding syndrome
• Muscular dystrophy
• Polymyalgia rheumatica
• Pseudogout (calcium pyrophosphate disease)
• Raynaud's phenomenon
• Repetitive strain & overuse injury
• Rhabdomyolysis
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Sarcoma
• Sarcopenia
• Tetanus