How CMC Arthroplasty Eases Arthritis Pain and Stiffness in Your Thumb

When arthritis affects your thumb joint, you deal with many frustrations and limitations. Arthritis often affects the small joints in your hands, including the carpometacarpal (CMC) joint at the base of your thumb.

If you’re dealing with pain, stiffness, and other arthritis symptoms in your thumb, you may be able to benefit from carpometacarpal joint arthroplasty. Fellowship-trained hand orthopedic surgeon Dr. Nirav Gupta offers this and other hand surgery procedures from his practice with Twin Palm Orthopedics in Ocala, Florida.

Here’s what you need to know about this type of hand surgery.

Pain and stiffness in your thumb

All types of arthritis cause pain, swelling, and joint dysfunction. Arthritis can be difficult to manage and can’t be cured.

It’s common for arthritis to negatively affect thumb joints. We use our thumbs for almost everything, putting the joint at risk for repetitive stress and degenerative damage. 

If arthritis pain and stiffness in your thumb become advanced, surgical joint replacement might be your best strategy for reclaiming your hand functionality and freedom from pain.

Understanding CMC joint arthroplasty 

CMC joint arthroplasty targets the trapezium — an essential part of your thumb joint.

During surgery, Dr. Gupta creates an incision at the top of the metacarpal bone of your thumb. Then, he removes the damaged or dysfunctional parts of your CMC joint.

Dr. Gupta replaces these parts of the joint with tendon grafts or implant components made of materials, like metal or silicone, before closing the incision and starting you on the path to post-surgical recovery.

After recovering from the procedure, your restored joint should function with significantly less pain. Gripping, grabbing, pinching, and other complex hand movements will no longer pose a problem.

Are you a candidate for CMC arthroplasty?

At Twin Palm Orthopedics, we utilize conservative treatment plans when possible to address your needs. If arthritis in your thumb has become advanced and conservative treatment and management strategies haven’t done enough to help, it may be time to consider joint replacement surgery.

Like any surgery, CMC arthroplasty comes with some risks of infection and other complications. However, people typically recover well from this treatment. The surgery is most often performed on an outpatient basis, and full recovery takes between 6-8 weeks.

Casts and splints help your thumb joint heal. You may also need physical therapy as part of your recovery.

To find out more about how CMC arthroplasty can help with arthritis pain in your hands and thumb joints, contact Dr. Gupta at Twin Palm Orthopedics today. Schedule your initial consultation appointment online, or call now to book.