For the last eight years I have experienced constant pain in both right and left thumb joints. I can trace the beginning of this to a day in February in 2012 when I woke up with a crick in my neck sending sharp pain down both arms. That resolved in a few weeks but the pain in my elbow joints and thumb joins remained. The elbow pain has subsided for the most part but the thumb joints ache and make it painful to put certain types of pressure on them such as shuffling cards and untying knots.
Hello, I think the origin of your complaints is the neck, maybe herniated cervical disc or discography. Even though you do not have any pain in the neck the nerves of the arm and thumbs have origin in the neck. I suggest you to do a neck MRI and rule out or confirm this diagnosis. Also, EMG (electromyography) helps to see if the nerves are compressed or not. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.