Musings

Sunday, December 02, 2007

Arthritis Curiosity

About six years ago, during my tennis years, I had a severe case of arthritis in my left thumb. It was so bad that I could not squeeze a tennis ball in my left hand without severe pain. I could throw the ball up for the serve because the ball only rests in the hand for the toss. Putting the spare ball in my left pocket was impossible from the pain it caused. Consequently, I placed the spare ball in my right pocket with my right hand. It was mildly disconcerting to shift the racket to the left hand while pocketing the ball in the right pocket, then grasping the racket with the right for the serve. If a second ball was necessary, again the racket shift was employed to remove the ball and shift again to get ready for the second serve. I endured this for three years. Today, I have no arthritic pain in my left thumb. I can squeeze a ball easily, place it in my pocket, remove it, all without any discomfort. However, my right thumb now has arthritic pain. I have taken to doing some tasks with my left hand in order to avoid the pain in the right thumb. We are all aware that arthritis is a buildup of calcium in the joints but what is curious is that it should jump from one thumb to another. Why does it do that? How does it do that?

posted by Marcel at 9:51 AM

7 Comments:

  • Hmm, that is interesting. I think some research is in order here...

    Oh, and are you back to playing tennis now?

    By Blogger Sean M., at 12:25 PM  

  • During the recovery period, mom's arthiritis has shifted itself many times. It was in her fingers and then in her wrist and has now worked it's way up to her elbow. curioser and curiouser

    By Blogger Adrienne, at 2:34 PM  

  • www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDUQW8LUMs8
    Papa, you should take a look at this. Just in case you needed one more reason why Mike is the right guy for the job.
    Love,
    Tracy

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:47 AM  

  • Maybe you could find this in your biology book? Or you might have to get a new book about only arthiritis.

    By Blogger cheryl, at 8:32 AM  

  • Marcel, the fact that your arthritis moved from one thumb to the other is indeed a mystery to me. My case with thumb arthritis is that after having it in my right thumb for about 3 years, now I ALSO have it in my left thumb. Makes for difficult use of the thumbs.

    By Blogger Monica, at 3:03 PM  

  • Oh, I forgot to add that after arthritis in both thumbs, if the electricity goes out, as is rather common in my area, you can forget about opening any cans by hand!

    By Blogger Monica, at 3:10 PM  

  • A little late:

    Cheryl, I don't know if Dad will read this in any book. I believe that he turns pages with his right thumb. :-)

    By Blogger Tim B., at 3:42 PM  

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