October 6, 2026
Key takeaways:
• The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center now offers a joint replacement for painful thumb arthritis.• The outpatient procedure has minimal down time with patients back to work and enjoying their favorite hobbies again within six to eight weeks.
• Ryan Schmucker, MD, a hand surgeon at Ohio State, was trained on the surgical procedure earlier this year in France, and he is among only a few U.S. surgeons able to offer it.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Millions of Americans live with painful thumb arthritis. Everyday tasks become difficult as your thumb accounts for 60% of the hand’s total function. Now, a hand surgeon at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center offers a solution to relieve painful thumb arthritis and improve hand function – a thumb joint implant.
It’s described as a joint replacement for your thumb. Ohio State operated on its first patient in June, and many more patients have opted for the procedure since.
“You do not have to see gnarled hands or knuckles that are large to have arthritis,” said Ryan Schmucker, MD, a plastic surgeon who specializes in hand surgery at Ohio State. “It can be there and be there for many years before it hurts. But once it starts hurting, that's when it becomes crucial that we do something about it.”
The implant is not recommended as a first-line solution for thumb arthritis. First, doctors may try steroid injections or suggest a hand brace or wrap before opting for the thumb joint implant.
Schmucker traveled to France earlier this year to train on the thumb joint implant procedure. It has been available in Europe for the last decade, but only now is being introduced in the United States. Few surgeons across the country have been trained on the thumb joint implant procedure.
“The hand is crucial to maintaining independence in our day-to-day lives,” said Schmucker, also an associate professor at Ohio State College of Medicine. “It’s gratifying to see these patients back to enjoying their favorite hobbies and even once again holding hands with their loved ones.”
Previous surgical solutions for thumb arthritis involved removing bones and moving tendons around the thumb, with larger incisions, prolonged therapy and recovery that can last 12 weeks.
Now, this new thumb joint implant leaves patients with a small incision at the base of their thumb and only six to eight weeks of downtime. The hour-long procedure is done outpatient with patients being asked to start moving their thumb and hand that evening. Hand therapy is not typically needed, although Schmucker often refers his patients for at least one session with the Ohio State physical therapy team.
Schmucker added that thumb arthritis is typically genetic.
“There’s a large genetic component to arthritis. If your mother or father had thumb arthritis, the likelihood you’ll develop it is high.”
“I always tell my patients to stay active,” said Schmucker. “We don’t want them to stop using their joints because of pain. So, this new thumb joint implant keeps our patients doing everyday tasks and the things they love rather than living with pain and deformity that cause the loss of function altogether.”
Media Contact: Mary Ellen Fiorino, MaryEllen.Fiorino@osumc.edu