Anatom3DLeft thumb
Pollex sinister · Levý palec ruky
Skeleton
Looks like
The first digit: two phalanges on a highly mobile metacarpal that sits at an angle to the palm.
What it does
Opposes the fingers for pinch and grip, providing around 40% of hand function.
Keeping it well
Skier's thumb (torn ligament at the base) weakens pinch and may need surgery; arthritis at the base is very common.
Its parts
Related conditions
- Acromegaly
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- De Quervain's tenosynovitis
- Dupuytren's contracture & trigger finger
- Fractures
- Fragility fracture
- Frailty & falls in older age
- Ganglion cyst
- Hyperparathyroidism
- Juvenile idiopathic arthritis
- Osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease)
- Osteomalacia & rickets
- Osteomyelitis (bone infection)
- Osteoporosis
- Paget's disease of bone
- Pseudogout (calcium pyrophosphate disease)
- Psoriatic arthritis
- Raynaud's phenomenon
- Repetitive strain & overuse injury
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Sarcoma
- Vitamin B1, C and other deficiencies
- Vitamin D deficiency