Opponens pollicis

Looks like

A deep muscle in the thumb ball, from the wrist to the side of the thumb's hand bone.

What it does

Swings the thumb across to touch the other fingertips.

Keeping it well

Loss of this movement makes gripping hard; a sign of median nerve damage.

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