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Good morning guys, Tony Maritato here. So one of the most common hand or wrist complaints that I
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hear from pickleball players, and I experience this too, is pain right at the base of the thumb
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So this joint right in here, the base of the thumb, it becomes tender, it becomes inflamed
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Even for me right now, just kind of touching and squeezing that gently, I'll feel some discomfort
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in there. Obviously what happens is when we're holding the paddle, depending on the direction
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we're going to get a lot of either traction or compression through that joint
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But the main thing that happens is when we get twist or torque
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that's usually where we get the most pain. So a couple strategies that you can use trying to relieve some of those symptoms
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What I like to do is if it's my painful thumb, I like to take my other side thumb
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I put it right in there at the base and I just create a little bit of pressure
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I could try some ulnar radial deviation in another video. I'll put the link up here
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I explain what ulnar radial deviation is, but I like to apply pressure. It's uncomfortable
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but not painful. And what I'm doing is I'm kind of separating the joint surface. So whether it's
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osteoarthritis inside at the base of the thumb, or it's a chemical issue, an inflammation issue
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that you're dealing with, we want to just gently kind of oscillate and create space in there
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Another way to do that is simply to grab the thumb and again, very gently, I'm probably not even giving
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it two pounds of pressure very gently create some distraction with a little bit of oscillation So I moving up and down while I distracting The whole idea here is we want to facilitate some separation We want to increase the fluid exchange to try and bring the waste
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products out, bring the nutrients in. My final one, I'm going to give you guys three. My final
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one is to grab right around the wrist. So I'm below the radius and the ulna. I'm above the
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base of the thumb. And I'm just creating a little bit of squeeze, a little compression. Now
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we have rows of carpal bones. These are the little kind of oddly shaped bones inside the wrist
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When I grab a round like this and I give it a little bit of squeeze, what happens is those bones
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will separate will create some space and then i can move into flexion extension ulnar radial
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deviation i can do a little distraction so i'm pulling just gently all of this is simply intended
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to improve circulation loosen up the connective tissue get the joint ready for motion and then we
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go out and play certainly you can use heat you can use ice you can use other passive modalities
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to try and manage the acute symptoms but what i find is that if i start playing if i start swinging
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the paddle and doing some things the pain should resolve if i'm on the court and the pain doesn't
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get better within a couple minutes i want to stop that that is my body's signaling to me
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to say hey we're not ready for this either you need to warm up a little bit better or we need
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to take today off or work on other techniques maybe i'm going to work on footwork today and
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leave my hand and wrist alone. But we have to listen to our bodies. Guys, if you have more
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questions about injury prevention, about pickleball, about anything that a physical therapist can help
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you with, just let me know. I'll catch you on the next video
