Glucosamine in thumb osteoarthritis (carpometacarpal osteoarthritis)?

Question:
Osteoarthritis in my thumb, it hurts and pain in my finger. It’s visible on the x-ray. I see glucosamine on your website. But is it the right medication? Perhaps in combination with fish oil.

Answer:
I assume it’s about osteoarthritis in the joint that connect the thumb with the hand. Unfortunately this joint doesn’t respond as well to glucosamine and chondroitin, the most obvious treatment. That’s what we were told by the Sint Maartenskliniek in Nijmegen that treats many people with this so called carpometacarpal osteoarthritis. But we also speak somewhat from personal experience.

My father also has osteoarthritis in this joint. Glucosamine and chondroitin did not seem to work. After addition of ASU Forte the joint was less sensitive. Applying pressure on the joint space was no longer painful. Later he started using Arthro-5 in combination with ASU Forte (the ASU is then double, but it does provide extra ginger root extract and cat’s claw extract). At that moment he still was in pain I think when applying pressure (work around the house).

When I spoke with him about it later he told me that he discovered that his thumb joint wasn’t bothering him anymore. He realized this when he overloaded his thumb by sawing off a branch with the saw upside down. The handle of the saw pushed very hard on the thumb and started to flare up. Only then he noticed that he hadn’t felt the pain in a while.

Now we have a few other customers with carpometacarpal osteoarthritis who had success with ASU Forte. So there’s definitely a chance of success with a product that contains ASU (like ASU Forte, or the more expensive but more successful Arthro-5), but unfortunately we can’t guarantee a positive effect. Also we can’t say how long it will take before you’ll notice improvements.

Fish oil is always good (because of the broad effects on health, especially the cardiovascular system), but it will likely have little added value for osteoarthritis in the thumb.