Causes Of Trigger Finger and Treatment

A trigger finger can hit you anytime, and it often comes unexpectedly. One moment your fingers are moving your fingers quickly as you go about your work. The next, the finger is bent, painful, and refuses to straighten.
If you are lucky, the finger will snap back to normal. However, once you start experiencing a trigger finger, it is best to have it assessed by a professional Hand Therapist or Surgeon before the symptoms become too severe. Mild cases do not require trigger finger surgery.

Causes

The cause of the trigger finger varies from one person to another. However, most doctors link it to repetitive finger movements. For example, when playing the guitar or gripping the steering wheel.

Sometimes, it is easier to identify the cause by looking at the high-risk groups.

These are the people most likely to be affected by the trigger finger.

• Women.
• People who are 40 – 60 years.
• People who’ve had hand injuries in the past.
• People with rheumatoid arthritis.
• People with diabetes.

Rheumatoid arthritis is one of the major causes of trigger fingers because it causes joint tissue swelling. Unfortunately, joint inflammation usually extends to the tendons in the thumbs and fingers, resulting in a trigger finger.

Another illness that can cause a trigger finger is diabetes. However, only about 10% of those with diabetes are at risk of getting a trigger finger.

Doctors believe collagen molecules build up in the tendon sheaths when blood sugar levels get so high. This results in a thick tendon sheath that affects the flexibility of the finger.

Treatment Of Trigger Finger

There are multiple treatments for the trigger finger. Some are non-surgical, while trigger finger surgery is an option for severe cases. Unfortunately, if you do not correct the trigger finger, it will remain permanently bent.

 

Non-invasive Treatments (Therapy)

Doctors often attempt therapy to see if the finger will heal without trigger finger surgery. Some of the most common therapy options include;

• Resting the fingers. This includes avoiding activities that require repetitive gripping, grasping, and the extended use of a hand-help machine. You should consider reducing the frequency if you have to keep doing these activities. You should also wear padded gloves for protection.
• Use a splint to keep the finger straight and keep it from moving. Most doctors recommend wearing a splint at night when the finger is resting. You may need to use the split for at least six weeks.
• Take anti-inflammatory medications, such as ibuprofen, to relieve pain and swelling of the tendons. Doctors inject a steroid at the base of the swollen tendon when they need to reduce the swollen tendons quickly to ease the pain. Unfortunately, steroid injections are not effective in people with diabetes.
• Stretching finger exercises to improve flexibility.

Non-invasive treatments are ideal when the symptoms are not severe. They are also often used in children because they don’t need trigger finger surgery.

 

Surgery

Trigger finger surgery is a solution when non-surgical treatment methods fail or in cases where the symptoms are too severe.

The percutaneous release method is one trigger finger surgery used by doctors. The doctor will insert a needle in the affected tendon with the help of ultrasound imaging and move it around until it opens the affected tendon sheath. This process is a little tricky because healthy tendons can easily be punctured.

The other trigger finger surgery is open surgery. Most doctors opt for this surgery because they make an incision on the finger and can see the extent of the tendon damage. If the tendon sheath is swollen, the doctor may cut some off the allow for easier movement of the finger.

Whatever the cause, you need to ensure the trigger finger is remedied. It would be best if you visited a hand surgeon to see the best treatment option.