Expert: Russ King - 4/11/2007

Question
The joint area of my thumb (near the bottom of the thumb) hurts when i apply pressure on it. There seems to be some kind of weird feeling of two rough surfaces sliding over each other when i rub it. Also, whenever i start bowling, that region will really hurt when i hold my ball, for the first 10 - 15 min. After that, it's all right (doesn't hurt at all) until i apply pressure on it or until the next time i bowl. This problem has been quite persistent and I'm quite worried about it. Is it something common when someone starts bowling and is it very serious? what can i do about it?

Answer
If you have hurt your thumb even a long time ago, this can cause a problem.A common one is a long time ago you jammed your thumb when reaching to open a door.Your tip joint is messed up very often by having this happen.
 If you aredouble jointed,you need a special pitch to relieve this pressure.
I am also thinking if the span is too long,the pressure from under your thumb where the web is has a lot of pressure & your thumb caulks in the hole to kinda relieve the other pressure.You should feel the thumb hole all the way down the thumb.Problems with pressure on the tip of the thumb usually ends up with another grip problem unless there was an injury some where down the road.
Mess around with the feel & let me know what you find out so we can cure it.