Trigger Finger

[Silver Fiddle]

If you have this, or have had it, you know what it is. In a nut shell, your finger locks up temporarily at the knuckle joint. It's a PIA to change some chords with. Anyway...what I'd like to know is. If anyone has it, or had it....Did you work around it? Have surgery? Or did you get a cortisone shot?

[HHP]

Had it. Initially treated with shots but it returned. More shots and a shorter interval before it returned. Had the surgery and it has not returned and I have full use of the finger. I am told sometimes the shots alone resolve it so I would go that way first.

[Silver Fiddle]

Thanks for the reply HHP. I'm not sure if I developed it from playing guitar, riding my motorcycle, or just (bad) luck of the draw. I'll talk to my DR. about shots.

[s2y]

I had a touch of it last year. You're doing something to aggravate it. STOP playing right now and rest.

[jpmist]

Originally Posted by Silver Fiddle

If you have this, or have had it, you know what it is. In a nut shell, your finger locks up temporarily at the knuckle joint. It's a PIA to change some chords with. Anyway...what I'd like to know is. If anyone has it, or had it....Did you work around it? Have surgery? Or did you get a cortisone shot?

I came down with it September on my right middle finger . A lot of 2-3 hour non-stop sessions of fingerstyle practice probably what led to it, that and hitting 60.

There is tons of info online, here's a good one: http://www.ipcphysicaltherapy.com/TriggerFinger.aspx

I've gotten as far as the cortisone shot and that has helped a lot. The shot was about as uncomfortable as a flu shot so don't let that stop you.

For a while I stopped using my finger and picked up a pic, which really didn't improve anything so after the cortisone shot I went back to bare fingers, but I try not to overdo it like I did before. I'm doing stretches now which I think are helpful. 3 weeks after shot and the swelling is down about 20%, the tendon nodule not at all, but it doesn't catch anymore. For now.

Good luck with it!

[stephenT]

Had it, had the shot, did nothing for me, so i had the surgery. The finger is working fine, left hand, third finger.

Might take awhile for some folks to recover, i still need to ice down my hand when I have a busy playing week (four gigs this weekend (Sunday) and i play through Tuesday night), but the finger no longer sticks and it's not painful to play.

By the time I could fit it in, i was looking forward to having the procedure.

[mhs]

Three surgeries for 4 fingers (you can do a couple at a time): All of them eventually were fine after a great deal of PT (~6 months) to get rid of scar tissue. I refused general anesthesia so that I could "test" the job before the guy closed up, which was pretty cool to see and do.

And like others, I tried cortisone shots first but they not only did nothing, but actually made things worse for a few days each. Somewhere on my website is a pretty decent video of me the day after those surgeries just talking about it in detail. The comments on the page are actually decent and perhaps answer some questions for some people. (the surgeries themselves are pretty trivial, not so much the recovery to full motor skill)

Good luck!

[D18Hoglover]

I had it and was "cured" with an injection, but it took a few months. I was ready to schedule the surgery when it finally loosened up .

[Saltamontes]

Had surgery to correct trigger finger on my left ring finger two months ago. I am a newbie when it comes to guitar playing and while the finger is not quite 100% yet, it seems to be getting better day by day. I just picked up the guitar three days ago and the finger seems to be doing just fine. I should note my surgery was a bit more complex, the dr. had to make an extra long incision to get to the back of my finger as well. Only issue I have is substantial pain when I try to bend my finger "back" towards the back of my hand, but like I said it is getting better. I am back to learning the basic chords and the finger is not really an issue. I can't wear my wedding band yet, but hopefully soon it will fit, if not I'll just get the ring re-sized

[Saltamontes]

I had local anesthesia and the dr. let me look at the incision, it was pretty cool to watch the tendon stretching and contracting, pretty cool if you are not too squeamish. The entire procedure took about 15-20 mins.

[Judson]

I wouldn't do the surgery until I had exhausted the potential of cortisone injection(s).

My own experience subsequent to suffering with trigger finger for 10-12 years has been that the initial cortisone shot works for a while, but then you may need another one ... maybe even a third.

After my second shot, I was able to play without pain and have not experienced a "lock up" in about three years now.

I think just the act of playing regularly once the shot kicks in loosens up the tendon and prevents recurrence.

Of course each person will react differently.

[news_watch]

Cortizone shot fixed up.my trigger thumb.

[jeanray1113]

I had to have two cortisone shots. Doctor said if that didn't do it I'd need surgery. The second shot did the trick and that was at least 10 years ago. I do remember him saying that the surgery is a 10 min office procedure that virtually always works.

[StringMeUp]

Interesting thread. What a huge bummer...

[Nela]

Had the shots, extremely painful and a complete waste of time. I've had a total of 6 surgeries, 3 on each hand. last time I had to have all 4 fingers of both hands done. I elected to have both the right and left hands done at the same time and didn't have too many problems. The reason for this was that my fingers, both hands, had drawn up in the closed position and I could not open them without help from my wife. Only thing that would work was my thumbs. I have most of my grip strength but get along well with all my activities. I do have trouble doing any "lead" work on guitar but manage well with chords. Cannot do a C, D or G shape barre chord but who needs them when you can have a capo.


NELA