TRIGGER FINGERS !!

[Mark L]

Very glad to hear it was so successful for you 1Charlie. This gives me hope in case the curcumin etc. effects ever diminish and my trigger finger returns.

DMSO, yes I forgot about that. I remember it gaining popularity in the 80’s.

Heads right through the skin to the joints iirc. Got to be careful with impurities, or so I remember from when it was popular years ago. Seems to carry them along with it. I’ll be doing some literature research on dmso later today then, thanks for the mention.

[BradHall]

I did the cortisone injection route for about 2 years on my left hand. Finally reached my maximum number of shots and had the carpal tunnel surgery along with 4 tendon releases ( pinky not affected). I wanted to just get it all over with at once rather than stretch it out over a prolonged period of time. It has been almost 5 months now and I’m still in PT 1 to 2 times a week, as well as working on it myself every day for about an hour. My hand is still quite painful and making a fist is challenging. I have made great progress, but it is glacially slow. I’m finally able to play a little, but open position C and F chords are impossible. All guitar building is on hold indefinitely. If I had it to do over again I probably would.
I just wasn’t prepared for the lengthy recovery. The perils of being an old guy I guess. By the way, getting cortisone injection in my right hand tomorrow.

[elasticman]

when I read the title of this thread, I assumed this was a thread about G.A.S. I have a "trigger finger" when it comes to impulsive guitar buying...

Wishing you fast healing so you can get back to playin'!

I enjoy your videos.

[Laughingboy68]

I often use a combination of mobilization, deep tissue release, acupuncture and microcurrent in my practice for these problems - with good success. The surgery solution is much more graceful than it once was, but there are still conservative alternatives.

I’m a chiropractor by training.

[Gordon Currie]

A little over a year ago I had trigger release surgery on my left index finger.

The joint had become painful, swollen and stiff on some occasions. I had early stage trigger finger. After two cortisone shots that gave partial and temporary relief, I elected for surgery.

One thing that I was NOT told was how important PT was for full recovery. After three weeks I didn't feel I was progressing so I started PT on my own. My surgeon (who was a fine technician) didn't seem remotely interested. I was very concerned since I had gigs coming up in three weeks. In this case, the surgeon was way off base and I won't be using them again.

After hand surgery it is *critical* to prevent the buildup of scar tissue. Scar tissue can limit mobility pretty severely, and is FAR harder to get rid of after the fact.

I am experiencing slight trigger symptoms in my left pinky and right index. As StephenT said, it can be challenging to find the necessary time to do the operation, but I will gladly do it again (now that I know how to manage the recovery).