Grandma has developed a trigger finger. It’s a cute name, but not a cute condition. Basically, the tendon rolls over the bones in the knuckle at the base of the finger down where the fingers meet the rest of the hand. This makes the finger bend down and catch so that it can only be straightened by taking the other hand and prying it out of the bent position.
And it hurts!
I brought her to see the orthopedic who had done a prior hand surgery for her – and who had done shoulder/arm surgeries on both my husband and me. He is the best person in our area to see for hand and arm things because he has done advanced fellowships.
He injected cortisone into the tendon sheath and, after a couple of days, the pain was gone. After a couple of more it would occasionally catch, but could be unbent without having to be pried open with the other hand.
In a few days, we have a follow-up with the doctor. I’m not sure what he will recommend. The original finger is still catching once in a while and now another finger is getting in on the act. He can do an in-office surgery, which may be necessary to have a permanent solution to the problem.
Trigger finger – not just a gangster term.
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “finger.” Join us! Find out how here: http://lindaghill.com/2016/02/05/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-feb-616/
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I had trigger thumb years ago from using the computer mouse so much at work. It was extremely painful in the morning. It may have been reverse trigger because when I woke up in the morning, my thumb was frozen in open position. I learned that if I bent it VERY SLOWLY, it would start to work without snapping, but it still hurt. I got cortisone injections which helped temporarily, and then learned to use the mouse with my left hand, which took some practice. A few months later, my LEFT thumb started triggering. This was very frustrating and made it hard for me to play guitar, too. It helped a little for me to do stretching exercises by flexing my hands open, and it helped to send lots of loving energy to my hands instead of being mad at them. Finally, I got a laptop with a mouse pad which has made a world of difference. My hands and finger still hurt sometimes, but no triggering in years. My body is good at healing, but I find it needs more and more TLC as the years progress. I hope your grandma’s fingers heal well.
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Thanks for sharing your story, JoAnna. I’m glad that it resolved over time. I can also relate to the need to give more care to our bodies as they age. Part of the problem with Grandma (B’s mom) is that there is already a lot of damage and inflammation from years of arthritis, so surgery may be the only long-lasting solution available. My dad had surgery for a trigger thumb when he was in his 70s. Wear and tear definitely plays a part.
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Sure does. I’m kissing my thumb joints and feeling grateful for my hands.
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We do tend to take our hands for granted until they hurt or can’t do what we expect them to do. Even though I can’t play much anymore due to my elbow problems, I still have a keyboard player’s fear of anything happening to my hands.
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Sorry to hear about the “trigger finger” – it does sound painful.
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Thanks for your concern, Jan. It was painful before the cortisone injection took down the inflammation. Now it is mostly annoying. We hope if the doctor recommends surgery at this point that it can be scheduled before the pain kicks back in.
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Ooh, that sounds nasty.
I’ve got a short tendon in my thumb, from when I cut it on a broken glass years ago and had it reattached. That causes the opposite problem; my thumb won’t bend in towards my palm as far as it used to and in cold weather it really throbs, right up to my elbow sometimes. Amazing how you never notice that everything is joined to something else until it goes wrong.
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Ouch! That is too bad. It is true about the connections. Nerves and tendons and ligaments can cause pain far away from the original injury.
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That sounds awful. Have you been back to see the doctor yet?
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Followup visit was this afternoon. There are now three fingers involved, although in an intermittent and not-currently-painful way. Still, surgery is the only permanent solution. We currently have it scheduled as an in-office procedure in mid-April, which was the first available date. The hope is that it won’t get painful in the meantime.
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I’ll keep you in my thoughts. Best of luck and thanks for the update, Joanne.
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Thanks, Linda.
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