Trigger Finger

[GGSanders]

First post to this thread was six years ago. Since then had another trigger finger develop three years ago, left middle finger this time. Rested it, tried keeping it splinted, couldn't play at all. It got worse. Cortisone shot was painful and really didn't help much, either. Opted for surgery.

After 3-4 months it was still a bit stiff, but I was able to start playing again. All I can say is that, for me, surgery was the only thing that worked. My hand's a little stiff first thing in the morning, but it loosens up in a few minutes. If not for the surgery I wouldn't be able to continue playing at all.

[Marty C]

Hello GGSanders,
Sorry to hear of your trigger finger. Glad that you are back to playing.

I have a trigger thumb on my fretting hand which is also my writing hand. Getting more painful by the day. Hope surgery is not in my future. Really stinks. I just purchased my dream guitar and can only play about 10 minute segments before I have to stop. It started when I started to wear a brace for carpal tunnel at night. Not sure if these two are related, but sounds like it could be.

[EZK123]

Strange that I should see this thread pop back up today. I hadn't had a problem with this for a long time when all of a sudden tonight, pretty much my whole left hand locked up.

Icing it is helping a great deal, but I'm thinking I'll have to go see the doc soon (something I don't really relish doing in the current environment).

Ugh.

[Dogma]

Originally Posted by Marty C

Hello GGSanders,
Sorry to hear of your trigger finger. Glad that you are back to playing.

I have a trigger thumb on my fretting hand which is also my writing hand. Getting more painful by the day. Hope surgery is not in my future. Really stinks. I just purchased my dream guitar and can only play about 10 minute segments before I have to stop. It started when I started to wear a brace for carpal tunnel at night. Not sure if these two are related, but sounds like it could be.

I have it in my left hand ring finger and, along with ice and (possibly? jury still out on this) the fish oil and curcumin mentioned in the older part of this thread, the carpal tunnel wrist brace at night has helped a lot. I was waking up with my finger locked in the down position every morning and as soon as I started wearing the wrist brace to bed that immediately ceased.

Also found that the massage technique described in this video helps me quite a bit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXGFI5s0bOY
Yeah, the guys are annoying but the info is pretty good. I did not find the rubber band exercise helpful though. It started making my thumb hurt too.

[hifivic]

deleted.........didn't realize it was a 6 year old zombie thread.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by DDSM2004

In the past three years I have gotten into some fairly elaborate fingerpicking (Doyle Dykes, Tommy Emmanuel) that requires a lot of fast and accurate left hand fingering. In the past year or so I have developed a trigger finger on my left index finger - a nodule on the tendon is binding going through the sheath. I can hardly bend my index finger in the morning and it takes about 20 minutes of easy playing before it loosens to where I can play cleanly but it quickly returns after I stop.

I've already had cortizone injections that were only a temporary fix and am considering surgery to open the sheath where the tendon is binding.
Everything I've read and watched (youtube) indicates the procedure is minor with extremely high success but I obviously have reservations. Has anyone had this surgery or know someone who has? I'm wondering what effect, if any, it has had on their playing.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Please don't take my word as Gospel, but the last thing I'd be doing would be either cortisone or surgery. Orthos are trained to cut. That's what they like to do. I would encourage you to research online deeply for any and all less invasive and less potentially damaging alternatives.

Let me make clear that I'm not a doctor and that my perceptions are those of a layman. However, let me share a brief story.

My daughter is an OT. About five years I developed a "trigger thumb" at the base of my thumb on my fretting (left) hand. My daughter bought a glove with a splint in thumb area to immobilize it while I slept. Less than $15.00. In about three weeks it completely healed and never came back.

The way she explained it to me was, your muscles and tendons etc. in your limbs are still contracting and expanding and working even as you sleep. The glove allowed them to "sleep" too. I was amazed.

Again, I'm not a doc and this is just my story. But if you haven't tried this, what do you have to lose? Almost everything I've heard about cortisone is it gives short-term relief but does long-term harm.

Best of luck to you, and feel free to PM me if I can be of any service.

Be Well,
Scott

[s2y]

I had trigger finger from playing really challenging music on a fretless 7 string bass, only to get fired, not that I'm bitter. I hung up that bass and took a break from playing and was able to heal up adequately.

In that same band, the guitarist plays heavy guitar strings and bends hard enough that he has had surgery and still gets 2 Cortisone shots per year. No thanks. He's a super stubborn dude.

[erhino41]

It really does depend on what is causing the triggering. I had a triggering in my left thumb and was starting to feel the warning signs in my right thumb at the same time as the triggering in my right ring finger. The reason for the triggering in the thumbs was simply overuse/misuse, six years of pallet repair puts your body through unreasonable amounts of stress. One round of cortisone and changing jobs completely healed the thumbs and the small nodes that were developing there.

The reason for the triggering in my middle finger was scar tissue that simply would not go away. It was located at a spot that took an unrelenting amount of stress from constant forceful use of power tools 8 hours a day six days a week. Two rounds of cortisone and changing jobs did nothing for it. Surgery was the only option. There was a significant node there and there still is residual scar tissue that can be felt, however there have been zero lingering effects in use since it fully healed.

It was not in my fretting hand so I was back to playing guitar probably after a month. A lot of physical therapy to break up and smooth out forming scar tissue was key. The PT told me playing guitar would actually be beneficial to recovery. I can see how it could be different for the fretting hand, especially if the repetitive stress of fretting notes is in part responsible.

Every case is different. There are plenty of Orthos who are not simply looking to perform surgery for the sake of performing surgery. My Ortho was consordered one of the best in the country. He was adamant on trying all non surgical methods first, the finger simply did not respond.

[menhir]

It's been almost two week since I last posted...Here's what I have to report:

I've been applying Tiger Balm Ultra to the pad of the offending digit every night
I would take a couple of Aleve in the mornings...when it was at it worst.
I bought canned pineapple because it's been reported that it's a good source of Bromelain, which is an anti-inflammatory that's been reported to help.

As of now...
I still am applying the Tiger Balm before nighty-night time.
I don't take Aleve everyday anymore, Just once in a while. At 65, my trigger finger is not the only thing that hurts anyway.
I ran out of canned pineapples but I'll get more...I like it anyway.

My triggered finger (left ring/anular) has moderated quite a bit. It's still quite stiff every morning, but it soon settles down to the point where I can play guitar almost to the degree before this all started. The finger still triggers occasionally when playing but not as often and as painfully violently as before.

Alas, it still hurts to play, but it's bearable.

I should also note that although I backed off on playing at the beginning, I never really stopped for any length of time.

Now, to use a rather crude metaphor, this is all farting in a windstorm.
With four variables: balm, Aleve, bromelain, and practice, it's hard to say if any one treatment or combination thereof actually had an effect. Adding a fifth variable, time, maybe it would have gotten better if I'd have done nothing at all.

But it has gotten better.

I posted all this because I suppose anyone who is suffering with a nasty case of trigger finger would probably be interested.

Good luck.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by menhir

It's been almost two week since I last posted...Here's what I have to report:

I've been applying Tiger Balm Ultra to the pad of the offending digit every night
I would take a couple of Aleve in the mornings...when it was at it worst.
I bought canned pineapple because it's been reported that it's a good source of Bromelain, which is an anti-inflammatory that's been reported to help.

As of now...
I still am applying the Tiger Balm before nighty-night time.
I don't take Aleve everyday anymore, Just once in a while. At 65, my trigger finger is not the only thing that hurts anyway.
I ran out of canned pineapples but I'll get more...I like it anyway.

My triggered finger (left ring/anular) has moderated quite a bit. It's still quite stiff every morning, but it soon settles down to the point where I can play guitar almost to the degree before this all started. The finger still triggers occasionally when playing but not as often and as painfully violently as before.

Alas, it still hurts to play, but it's bearable.

I should also note that although I backed off on playing at the beginning, I never really stopped for any length of time.

Now, to use a rather crude metaphor, this is all farting in a windstorm.
With four variables: balm, Aleve, bromelain, and practice, it's hard to say if any one treatment or combination thereof actually had an effect. Adding a fifth variable, time, maybe it would have gotten better if I'd have done nothing at all.

But it has gotten better.

I posted all this because I suppose anyone who is suffering with a nasty case of trigger finger would probably be interested.

Good luck.

Hey, I was just curious and wanted to check back. Any improvement?

scott memmer

[jp2558]

Originally Posted by DDSM2004

Thanks for some great responses. I'm not crazy about getting another injection and they only lasted a couple months at best. You can feel the node moving on the tendon. I had tried some stretching excercises as well with limited success. Surgery is scheduled for late Nov. - that'll give me time to try the Bible thing. Does it matter which version?

Yes. You need to use the Catholic version - it’s thicker.

[jeanray1113]

Originally Posted by Marty C

Hello GGSanders,
Sorry to hear of your trigger finger. Glad that you are back to playing.

I have a trigger thumb on my fretting hand which is also my writing hand. Getting more painful by the day. Hope surgery is not in my future. Really stinks. I just purchased my dream guitar and can only play about 10 minute segments before I have to stop. It started when I started to wear a brace for carpal tunnel at night. Not sure if these two are related, but sounds like it could be.

I had a trigger thumb on my fretting hand 3 years ago. Cortisone injection gave relief for a few months and it came back. Doc said that research shows that if one injection doesn’t work additional ones aren’t likely to either. Referred me to an ortho who does hand surgery. This surgery was about 10 minutes long. I had very minimal pain. I was told I could start playing as soon as It felt comfortable, which was less than a week for short periods. Had stitches out in two weeks. Total recovery, no recurrence, thumb is as flexible as ever. Don’t be afraid to have the surgery, you’ll wish you’d done it sooner!

[roylor4]

I have effective gotten rid of clients trigger fingers with deep tissue and Myofascial massage techniques. No scalpel required.

Find a Licensed Massage Therapist that has been in practice for at least 10 years, does Myofascial and deep tissue work. If you find a good therapist thay will be able to help you.

[slide496]

I had one several years ago but I want to a specialist in NYC and he gave me a shot and it's been ok since. I tried for several months with diet recommendations and home remedies and was surprised that the shot worked.

There've been two related issues though one of which was again treated and relieved and the second we agreed that I would get a nerve test and consider surgery if the brace he prescribed at night didn't quiet things down, but it has for the past year. Those things come with a metal insert and I took that out.

[menhir]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

Hey, I was just curious and wanted to check back. Any improvement?

scott memmer

As of today, the ring finger doesn't trigger as easy as it did, and although it's settled down it hasn't truly gone away...I seemed to have reached a plateau. I can play the guitar now, but not as easily as before this all happened.

So better? Yes.
Back to good? Not nearly.

I'm going to give it a while, but it looks like a trip to the doctor may be in the works after all.