I've started to notice a pain in my thumb recently...

For about a year now I've been feeling a slight twinge of pain in my thumb when I press a button on a controller, I'm kind of worried because my Grandad and my Mam both suffer from arthritis of the thumb as well as tennis elbow. I'm concerned that I might not be able to play games eventually, I've heard before that arthritis is quite common so I'm wondering if anyone here has suffered the plight of worn out joints and if they were able to deal with it and play games...

I'm only 22 btw.

Where on your thumb? MCP (knuckle) or PIP? 22 year old is too young for inflammatory arthritis like your family has, unless you suffer from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (unlikely) or heamophilia (very unlikely).

It's probably just straining and not degeneration.

Aleast you don't have M.S, like me. Anyway, if its gotten that bad I'll say see a doctor.

WebMD says: Its probably cancer.

My first bet would be on a bit of repetitive stress injury. Rest the digit for two weeks, do not perform the activity that causes the pain/discomfort during this time. See how it feels thereafter.

@falserelic: I'm sorry to hear that. My mother's husband has late stage MS. Cannot walk. Limited use of his hands. It's a horrible disease. :(

Get outside more

Eat more dairy.

--Also my grandma said to rub garlic and witch hazel on your thumb during the next new moon.

As a hypochondriac, maybe it's leprosy.

Cut it off, it is the only way

This actually made me see what WebMD would say about it and apparently you have a broken finger.

Just a thought, but maybe you should ask a doctor? Get that shit x-rayed. maybe you broke it or fractured it in the past without noticing (yes thats possible) and it healed slightly wrong, should be easily fixable i think.

I dunno, i'd ask a doctor its what they're there for.

@sterling: webMD Always says it's cancer. Or anxiety. It's those 2. Or wait heart disease.

boneitis

This might actually be sound advice. I had started feeling some numbness in one of my big toes with occasional pain. It had been going on for almost a month, so I finally made an appointment with my doctor. He ordered x-rays and took a lot of blood for testing since he didn't see anything wrong during my exam. He came back with a diagnosis that I was severely deficient in vitamin D. Now I have to take 2000u daily, plus 50000u once a week, until it gets back to an acceptable level.

barely need a thumb for PC gaming.

Sorry to hear about that man, it's awful.

I have the early stages of it, one day the lower to mid part of my body had a numbness. At first the doctors didn't know what it was until I got in a M.R.I machine. They found out my spine had inflammation in two spots and told me I had M.S. Next thing I was givin alot of medication, had some type of steroid shot, and I had to take this one medicine called Avonex at home.

Its one of the worst medication I've ever took. Its a needle with fluid in it that you have to inject into your leg, but the after effects makes it feel like you have the flu. Nowadays, I don't feel the numbess like I used too. Now I mostly feel it mainly in my hands.