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Injuries and Conditions: Hand : Skier's Thumb: Medical Details
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Skier's thumb commonly refers to a torn or sprained ulnar collateral ligament in the thumb. The ligament runs along the inside of the base of the thumb and assists in grasping, pinching and stabilizing.
Injuries can range in severity from a partial to a complete tear.
The term skier's thumb is used because it refers to a situation where a person falls holding something in his or her hand. A person holding a ski pole cannot break a fall with the palm of his or her hand and often lands on the tip of the thumb, forcing the thumb beyond its limits of motion.
Symptoms may or may not occur immediately.
A doctor's diagnosis may include X-rays of both the injured and uninjured thumbs for comparative purposes.
Common treatment for a partial tear includes the immobilization of the thumb with a splint or cast.
A complete tear may require surgery to repair the ligament and replace or remove bone that may have fragmented when the ligament ruptured.
Surgery is followed by 6-8 weeks in a cast or splint.
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