Now Botox jabs can fix your sore thumbs

BOTOX could help ease the pain of arthritic thumbs. The toxin, usually used to smooth facial wrinkles, is being given to patients with basal arthritis of the thumb.

This painful condition particularly affects post-menopausal women. Treatments include painkillers, splinting and steroid injections.

However, these do not work in all patients. The new trial, at the University of MissouriColumbia in the U.S. is the first to look at the effectiveness of botulinum toxin injection into the basal thumb joint.

Sixty patients are taking part in the trial — a third will have a single Botox injection, another third a steroid injection, and the remainder will be given an injection of the painkiller lidocaine. The theory is the inflammation associated with arthritis triggers muscle contractions, which are responsible for a large amount of the pain. Botox freezes muscles, so alleviating discomfort.