Chicago Bears' QB Brings Thumb Injuries To Light
Last Sunday, the Chicago Bears quarterback, Jay Cutler, experienced a painful fracture to his thumb. Just a week before Ben Roethlisberger, the QB for the Pittsburgh Steelers had a similar injury occur. While this is bad news to both teams, it does bring up how these painful injuries occur and are treated. Without specific knowledge of the extent of both QB’s injuries it is impossible to discuss their specific case, but we can discuss these traumatic injuries in general.
While pain is an important aspect of the injury, the potential for further complications is worse. Thumb injuries can be life changing due to a diminished ability to grasp objects and an increased chance for arthritis to affect the joint. To reduce the potential for injury, as well as the ongoing implications if an injury should occur, it is important to understand how a thumb can be fractured and what potential treatments are available.
How Does A Thumb Get Broken?
A thumb seems like a pretty stout structure at first glance. It has one fewer bones than the typical three found in the fingers and is usually thicker. Despite this, the thumb can be broken in a number of ways. The patient’s overall health, like calcium deficiency, of course affects the chances of injury. A more severe type of fracture in the thumb is one that occurs near a joint. The worst type of fracture is one that also damages the ligaments.
In some cases breaks are caused by fall or an object being forced backward which pulls the thumb toward the forearm. Another potential mechanism for breaks occurs when the thumb is twisted forcibly. Either of these types of break could be caused by a football being blocked in the middle of a quarterback’s throwing motion. Of course you don’t need to be a football player to injure your thumb. There are numerous other activities that have the potential to cause damage to the thumb including construction, skiing, and even shoveling snow on icy pavement.
