Thumb Twitching Causes

The fine movements of a small area of muscle is called muscle twitching. When it occurs in thumb, it is called thumb twitching. The common thumb twitching symptoms are tingling and numbness. Thumb twitching is normal and often goes neglected. However, minor yet chronic thumb twitching may indicate some sort of nervous system disorder.

Possible Causes of Thumb Twitching

• In carpal tunnel surgery, the median nerve is nicked in the wrist as it passes through the carpal tunnel. This is done to relieve pressure from the median nerve in patients suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome. It leads to thumb twitching.
• Minor muscle contraction leads to muscle cramps in the thumb, which is one of the most common causes of thumb twitching.
• Nutritional deficiencies like hypocalcaemia (deficiency of calcium) and hypomagnesemia (deficiency of magnesium) often result in electrolyte imbalance, which further leads to muscle cramps and spasms.
• Uncontrolled twitching of a muscle group in the thumb that is serviced by a single motor nerve fiber or filament generally results in thumb twitching.
• A disease called complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is characterized by intense burning or pain. It mostly occurs in arms and legs. Thumb twitching uncontrollably may be one of its symptoms.
• Some motor neuron diseases like Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are marked by progressive degeneration of motor neurons. It may be one of the possible thumb twitching causes.
• Multiple sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system. Its characteristic features are numbness and loss of muscle coordination. It can show thumb twitching as one of its symptoms.
• A genetic disease like Parkinson's syndrome may cause thumb twitching. Some such diseases originate in the shoulder or rib area and radiate to other body parts such as the thumb.
• The side effects of certain drugs such as corticosteroids, diuretics and estrogens may include twitching of thumb. Hence, these drugs can be considered to be one of the causes of thumb twitching.
• Over consumption of caffeine may result in muscle twitching over time. Hence, it is another probable thumb twitching cause.
• A muscular disease, called myopathy, involves weakening of muscles. If the thumb muscles are affected, thumb twitching stress may arise.
• Over exercising or working out in wrong ways generally cause muscle cramps, muscle spasms, muscle pain and muscle fatigue. If the thumb gets affected, exercising can be taken as one of the thumb twitching causes.

There are no home treatments for thumb twitching. Therefore, if you are suffering from twitching of the thumb quite frequently, do not ignore it. Rather take it seriously because, as discussed above, it may be a sign or symptom of some nervous system disorder. The correct underlying cause needs to be diagnosed and treated well. Visit a neurologist. He will conduct a number of tests for evaluation. The diagnostic tests for the determination of causes of thumb twitching are numerous. The most commonly conducted ones are nerve conduction test, specialized urine test, spinal trap and MRI to rule out a brain tumor, spinal cord or disc disease, or injury. The tests may also include fasting blood sugar that will work for vitamins and minerals and various other factors. As a part of treatment for thumb twitching, you may be referred to an anesthesiologist. They do excellent work on pain management. Usually, they do not treat a patient for pain unless they know the exact reason behind it. Thus, make use of all such medical treatments to cure twitching of thumb as early as possible.