Advice | Trigger Finger Symptoms

Posted by dmunsie @dmunsie, Mar 14, 2021

Male | 58 | good health. I've done the research, but this still baffles me and I don't know if I should continue this regimen or if I'll need a steroid shot or surgery to permanently heal. I have trigger finger symptoms in my pinky finger (catching, stiffness, pain) but ONLY if I don't use it! If it's in a stint, brace, etc, it gets worse quickly. But if I stretch, use it, etc, it feels fine. When stiff there is an obvious swelling lump (of tendons?) at the base of the finger. But again...as soon as I start stretching, exercising the finger, it all goes away and feels 100% fine. I find myself squeezing an exercise ball a lot during the day because it keeps it loose and feels great. Warm water seems to immediately resolve any symptoms as well. I'm very active with my hands, hand squeezers, sports, I'm also a drummer. I'm pretty sure this is an "over use" injury, but everything I read said avoid doing what might have caused it, rest the finger, etc, etc, but all that makes it worse, so I'm confused how I should proceed. This has been going on for a month now and is not going away, it's not getting worse, just not going away. Thanks for any help.

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Hi happilyalive Just "had" to share my experience. Had trigger finger in right hand. Had injection to help it. Helped so far. Then same in left ring finger. Fell on left shoulder, hip and knee. Ortho doc said I messed up some ligaments in shoulder and down to elbow. Pain excruciating. Had steroid injections with zero help. He said I might have to have shoulder replacement. OMG. NO!!!!! I found a remarkable, amazing MT who performed 3 excruciating massages in that area plus other areas of my chest, etc for other things after mastectomy and the pain in my shoulder is 95% GONE and so is my trigger finger. If this all sounds weird, I understand. I couldn't believe it either. But the pain is literally now gone and the trigger finger was a bonus. Just had to share my story. I will be going to my lovely MT every month if not more frequently. Good luck and blessings on your Trigger finger journey.

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Profile picture for Randy Shields @randallshields56

i have this makes my second go around with trigger finger, my daughter is into essential oils and as long as i coat it and work it in about 5 minuets , its good for hours . i do this three times a day. Its worth looking into. Ps welcome to the group.

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@randallshields56

Hello! I have quite a few essential oils. Which oils does your daughter recommend? I'm a little desperate to manage the pain and Tylenol doesn't work that well.
Thank you in advance.

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Profile picture for aromatherapy @aromatherapy

@randallshields56

Hello! I have quite a few essential oils. Which oils does your daughter recommend? I'm a little desperate to manage the pain and Tylenol doesn't work that well.
Thank you in advance.

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@aromatherapy glad you reminded me with my seizures it played on my short term memory. now have to figure out how to get you a picture ;

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Profile picture for dmunsie @dmunsie

Thank you for the reply, I will more than likely seek out a doctor, but I am trying to self heal at home due to everything I've read said this can be self healed through various techniques. As I said earlier, the puzzling thing is, it goes away with use and flairs up when not doing anything. Which seems to be the opposite of typical trigger finger. I simply don't know if I should continue on this path of just doing exercises, warm water, stretching, ball squeezing, soft tissue massage (for blood flow) etc OR simply put the finger in a splint and 100% stop using it for a while and see what happens. But again...every time I stop using it or splint it for a while, that's when it gets stiff and starts catching. I can use the finger for hours on end with ZERO pain, zero catching, etc, but as soon as I stop using it...stiffness sets in. Absolutely the area is not hot, red, etc. Thanks again for any comments.

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@dmunsie I have the exact issue.? I will give it a couple of more weeks but after that I will see a doctor for the second time. Predisone, anti-inflammatory pills, splints and ointments. After 2 months they will hopefully give me a shot. Not sure why the system works this way but it does seem routine.

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