Conservative Treatment of Trigger Thumb and First Carpometacarpal Joint Osteoarthritis Utilizing Adductor Pollicis Myofascial Trigger Point Therapy

Conservative treatment of trigger thumb and first carpometacarpal osteoarthritis include activity modification, nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, splinting, steroid injection, hyaluronate injection and surgical intervention. These case reports describe the clinical treatment and rehabilitation of three patients, one with a trigger thumb and two with first carpometacarpal osteoarthritis, who were treated with adductor pollicis myofascial treatment. Treatment included trigger point dry needling, myofascial massage and a therapeutic stretching home program. The patients responded to intervention and returned to painless function after follow-up. There were no untoward side effects. This paper introduces a new method of management of thumb pain using myofascial therapeutic treatments for the adductor pollicis.