Doing hand exercises and wearing a splint appears to improve function for patients with thumb base osteoarthritis, but has less impact on pain, a Sydney trial shows. 

Researchers compared outcomes over 12 weeks for 204 patients, half receiving a splint and an exercise program and the remainder receiving only education about joint protection. 

By six weeks, hand function for those doing the exercises had improved, but pain levels were similar between groups.

After 12 weeks, although there was a statistically significant pain reduction in the treatment group, the effect was too small to be clinically significant, the authors wrote in the study in JAMA Internal Medicine.