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Identify the symptoms of a sprained thumb. Familiarize yourself with the most common causes of a sprained thumb. Understand why thumb wrapping is beneficial.

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If you are not sure that you have actually sprained your thumb, it is helpful to know what symptoms to look for. These symptoms include:  Sharp, pulsating and/or excruciating pain Swelling Bruising While you can sprain your thumb in a variety of ways, the most common causes of a sprained thumb include:  Repetitive activities that involve the thumb and put excessive pressure on its joints. Sports like basketball, volleyball, and other sports where there is a good chance that the ball will put a lot of pressure on your thumb Contact sports like rugby and martial arts. Wrapping a sprained thumb does not only help stabilize the injured thumb, but also compresses it. Compression aids in stimulating the flow of lymph fluid, which carries important nutrients to the damaged tissues surrounding the injury. Lymph fluid also removes waste from cells and body tissues which is an important function during the tissue regeneration process. Wrapping the thumb also speeds the recovery process and keeps the injury from getting worse. In order to be completely effective, the bandage must be removed, the injury left to rest, and the bandage re-applied a few times a day. In this way, the lymphatic system can complete its evacuation of the injury site.