Question
During my baseball game yesterday I hurt my thumb while playing. I'm a catcher at the varsity high school level, and I caught a pitch very awkwardly against my thumb. There was immediate pain, but I kept playing for the remainder of the game. As the game went on the pain grew much more intense, especially when there was impact against it. Today I have swelling and bruising of my thumb, however I'm still able to move it very freely from the base of my hand. However, when I move it backwards there is pain, and I can not bend it very much.

Is this just a sprain, or could it be more severe?

Answer
Hi John

Although this is not my area of expertise, I have some experience with this.  When my son was younger and was playing dodge ball, he was thrown to the ground and landed on this thumb and the pain was in the same area where you were hurt.

Go see your doctor.  You have to ascertain if you hit the growth plate.  Many of the joints come out of areas called growth plates.  If you injured the growth plate, you may have to have some orthopedic work done.

Even if you did not hit the growth plate, it needs to be looked at in order to see if you have fractured anything.  My rule of thumb in answering questions is that if the questioner asks me something, especially if the questioner is the same ages as my children, I will answer it as a mother.  If you were my son, I'd take you in to have it looked at immediately.

Sharon Davis