Many of us who love to bowl have experienced the problem of thumb swelling.   It can be very painful to try to get that swollen thumb in and out of the ball cleanly for those first few frames, especially if you haven’t had a lot of time to warm up.

At first, I was almost to a point thinking that I was going through swelling and a sore thumb issue that no one else had problems with, but I soon found out that it is sometimes common when you bowl a lot - and I do.  And yes - I sometimes try to take time off from bowling, but, over the past year, I have noticed that my thumb fit doesn’t feel the same when I take time off from bowling. 

·          For pain, I personally have found that Ibuprofen or Motrin seems to be the easiest on my body, plus it is an anti-inflammatory medication, which also aids in the swolen thumb issue.  I usually take anywhere from 200 to 400 mg about 30 minutes before I start bowling.

·          To compress my thumb (so that it will fit into my bowling ball BEFORE I start bowling), I always take at least 10 minutes before I roll the first ball - and wrap my thumb in a scarf, handkerchief, or even the slip cover for my bowling shoes, and then very slowly insert the thumb into my ball.  

·          At first, it will not go pass the first joint, but as long as I slowly keep pushing into the thumb hole with a little pressure - eventually I get my thumb in after 5 or 6 minutes, with the slip around it.   And about 10 minutes later, I can get my thumb into the bowling ball hole completely with the covering still around my thumb.