BBC Morning Live doctor urges people to do 'pinch' test for 'debilitating' condition

An orthopaedic surgeon has said that arthritis can be "very debilitating", and it may show up in places you don’t expect. He said that while “everyone thinks about hips and knees as being mostly affected, people don’t think about your hands“. Talking about the pain which is often overlooked, Dr Tom Naylor said that "when you’ve got arthritis pain in the thumb right there (picture below) it affects so much of what you do on a daily basis. And it really is debilitating for people who have this”.

Speaking on BBC Morning Live, he explained arthritis as a term that causes pain, stiffness and inflammation in the joints: “It literally means inflammation of a joint.”. Talking about CMCJ, which stands for Carpometacarpal joint, he said that it was all to do with the "joint down at the bottom of the thumb and what happens is the joint starts to wear away and the cartilage starts to get more and more worn.

"Even a deformity can start to form and it impacts everything that you do with your hands.” Speaking about treatments for this type of arthritis, the doctor said: “With all types of arthritis, we tend to follow was called a stepwise approach to treatment.”. You can try the below steps to see if it helps your symptoms. It’s worth following the steps first and seeing if hand therapy or just changing the way you hold items can help before you consider surgery.

Talking about step one and how to modify your activity, the doctor showed just how easy it is to strain your hand. Try taking your thumb and index finger and pinch them together, if it’s sore it could be best to see a GP. In fact, you may be making this movement every day and not know it such as when you're holding a mug or plate. The doctor said that they can try something called a “power grip”.

For example, if you are carrying a mug, normally you would hold it by the handle, but this may be making your pain worse and triggering it. So instead, try doing a white grab by putting your hand around the mug and your other hand below for support - just make sure you don't burn yourself. There are different types of arthritis and symptoms vary depending on the type you have. This is why it's important to have an accurate diagnosis if you have:.

The doctor further added: “The two most common forms that people have are osteoarthritis, which in the past has generally been regarded wear and tear. We know it’s not quite as simple as that nowadays it’s usually an underlying problem with the cartilage in joints, it runs in families - that kind of a thing. “That’s a contrast to rheumatoid arthritis, which is more inflammatory process so that’s the body‘s immune system attacking the joints itself.”.