That means skiing injuries!  Ankles and knees are common skiing injuries but often overlooked are injuries of the wrist and hand, particularly the thumb. Most thumb injuries involve falling. This results in forced abduction and extension of the thumb. This injury is not exclusive to skiers and can occur in any fall or even contact or ball sports. The main stabilising ligament of the thumb is the ulnar collateral ligament. This can be partially torn or ruptured. In less severe injuries the ligament can heal with appropriate immobilisation, however, in more severe cases the torn ligament may retract behind a thumb adductor tendon (Stener lesion). In this case, surgical repair is the preferred option.  

What does skiers thumb feel like?

You may experience any or all of the following:

• Pain, swelling or bruising at the base of the thumb
• Weakness and/or pain with pinching eg, turning car keys
• Reduced movement at the thumb
• Pain with sideways stress at the thumb

Often a UCL injury is missed as people consider it “just a sprain”. A physiotherapist can assess your thumb to determine if your UCL injury warrants referral to a surgeon or if physiotherapy management is adequate. Often the provision of a hand based thumb spica splint will allow appropriate healing whilst still allowing function. Depending on your sport you might not even need time off! Our experienced hand therapy teamwork across all our practice locations - give us a call if you need assistance on 9672-3511 Blacktown, 4721-5788 Penrith, 8814-5551 Norwest or 9633-1035 Westmead