BBC Morning Live doctor warns common condition can affect hands and people don't know it

An orthopaedic surgeon has described arthritis as "very debilitating" and noted that it could appear in unexpected areas. While most people associate arthritis with the hips and knees, he pointed out that people don’t often consider their hands.

Speaking on BBC Morning Live, discussing the often-overlooked pain, Dr Tom Naylor highlighted the significant impact of arthritis in the thumb, stating: "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.”

Dr Naylor explained that arthritis is a term referring to pain, stiffness, and inflammation in the joints, adding: "It literally means inflammation of a joint." Specifically addressing the Carpometacarpal joint (CMCJ), he described it as the joint at the base of the thumb, explaining that "as the joint wears down, the cartilage becomes increasingly eroded.

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"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.

• Step 1 - activity modification and painkillers

• Step 2 - splints and aids

• Step 3 - hand therapy and injections

• Step 4 - Surgery if nothing is helping

Discussing the first step and ways to adjust activity, the doctor demonstrated how easily the hand can be strained. He suggested a simple test: press your thumb and index finger together—if you feel pain, it may be a good idea to consult 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.

What are the symptoms of arthritis?

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:

• weakness and muscle wasting

• inflammation in and around the joints

• restricted movement of the joints

• joint pain, tenderness and stiffness

• warm red skin over the affected joint

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.”