The ability to pinch and grab items with our opposable thumbs is what separates us from most other animals. “The joint at the base of thumb is what makes us human,” says Steven Maschke, MD, Director of the Cleveland Clinic Hand and Upper Limb Center, and Arthritis Advisor Editor-in-Chief. “It allows us to pull our thumb out of the palm of our hand and oppose it to the other fingers, which gives us dexterity.”
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