Has anybody here had "trigger finger" before?

**Willowdancer** · 17-03-2010, 10:05 PM

Hi all

Sorry about the radio silence - taking a bit of time out from minding at the mo while I sort out in my head what I really want to do after the lovely time of it I had last month!

Anyway I took up teaching myself to crochet towards the end of January, and started having problems with my right thumb after 2 or 3 weeks of crocheting like a loony. It is pretty much stuck bent when I wake up in the mornings and I have to push it back the other way, after which it is fine for the rest of the day but starts to stiffen up in the evenings.

My GP said I have "trigger finger" (http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/trigger...roduction.aspx) and to wait and see if it fixes itself. No mention of trying things like ibuprofen or anti-inflammatory gels etc or how long to hang on before going back to see him.

Just wondering:

a) How long is reasonable to play the waiting game before going back? I went a week ago and its no better at all. If anything I'd say its a bit worse and is becoming a pain in the bum for typing etc.

b) If anyone else has had it have you had any success with anything other than corrective surgery? I am pretty certain that will be how things end, but obviously I'm willing to try other methods (even though I know its only 20 minutes and just a local anaesthetic to sort it out.)

Really bummed about this cos it seems that as soon as I find something I really enjoy doing something comes along to put a stop to it. I used to go to tap dancing lessons before I got tendonitis in my foot and was out of action for months (other than necessary walking) with it, and now this

Can anybody help on either point please?

Thanks!

Ali
x

TheBTeam · 17-03-2010, 10:12 PM

I had trigger finger of my index finger, caused by counting many thousands of reply sheets for a project at work. I had cortisone injections in it but they didnt work and i ended up having surgery to shave off the bone and splice and stretch the tendon.

I had private medical cover so it was treated fairly quickly, I had to give the cortisone a month to see if it worked and then i had the operation, the cortisone hurt when the numbing wore off, and the surgery had my hand bandaged up in a huge pressure bandage, but all in all not to bad and this was around 20 years ago when i was in my very early 20's.

Just looked at the link and the position shown is exactly where mine was I have an inch or so scar on my hand.

**Willowdancer** · 19-03-2010, 09:03 PM

Hmmmm...not sure I should have read your reply cos I'm so squeamish

Anyway I went back to the surgery yesterday. My gp didn't have an appointment available for ages so the nurse phoned me and I explained that I'd already been putting up with things and actually thought things were getting a bit worse. So she said that my gp had put "query hand surgeon" on my notes and said she'd go back to him and see what he wanted to do, and if I didn't hear back from her that day then there'd be a "book your own appointment" letter waiting at the surgery in about a fortnight.

She didn't phone me so I guess he thinks that the surgical route is the best option. Don't think they like to go down the injection road cos of the risk of ruptured tendons etc (bleugh!!)

I'll just be glad to have it sorted to be honest - so annoying!

TheBTeam · 19-03-2010, 10:20 PM

The surgery wasnt too bad, bit sore and I was a bit shocked that I had the most massive of bandages on it, they were a good 3-4 inches thick from memory, but I was only in hospital for a few hours and had to travel for 3 hours the next day for a funeral, so must have been reasonably okay!

Wishing you good luck with it, the cortisone did nothing for me except delay fixing it for a month!

It also sounds worse than it was, just feels a bit odd as they numb it fully you just feel a slight fiddling!

**Willowdancer** · 11-04-2010, 11:34 AM

Thanks BT.

I went for my appointment on Friday morning and they decided to try the cortisone injection route first and did it there and then. OMG nobody warned me how painful that was going to be! If I condensed the agony of both of my labours into 5 seconds the injection still wins on the pain factor!!!

Anyway, two days down the line and so far nothing to report. Its still stuck when I wake up and on top of that it now feels bruised etc for having a ruddy great needle stuck in it and hurts to hold a knife etc so at the mo I'm still almost as out of action as I would have been had they just gone ahead with the surgical route.

I have to give it 6 weeks and if its not fixed by then it'll be surgery time. Kind of wish they'd just gone ahead and done it anyway as at least I'd have been mostly fixed by the end of the school holidays and now there's a good chance I'll have to take time off work for it

**ORKSIE** · 11-04-2010, 12:53 PM

Sending a hug....sounds really painful

Hope its sorted out soon xx

TheBTeam · 11-04-2010, 04:25 PM

Originally Posted by Willowdancer

Thanks BT.

I went for my appointment on Friday morning and they decided to try the cortisone injection route first and did it there and then. OMG nobody warned me how painful that was going to be! If I condensed the agony of both of my labours into 5 seconds the injection still wins on the pain factor!!!

Anyway, two days down the line and so far nothing to report. Its still stuck when I wake up and on top of that it now feels bruised etc for having a ruddy great needle stuck in it and hurts to hold a knife etc so at the mo I'm still almost as out of action as I would have been had they just gone ahead with the surgical route.

I have to give it 6 weeks and if its not fixed by then it'll be surgery time. Kind of wish they'd just gone ahead and done it anyway as at least I'd have been mostly fixed by the end of the school holidays and now there's a good chance I'll have to take time off work for it

I have to say the cortisone injection did nothing for me, they gave me a numbing injection before the cortisone and warned me I had half an hour till the pain kicked in and I lived a 40 minute drive from the hospital! The surgery worked well though and have had no recurring trouble just odd aches at the surgery point sometimes feels a little painful on moving, but no problems really.

I only had to wait after a month after the injection before surgery, hopefully you will be fixed soon.

**Willowdancer** · 11-04-2010, 09:04 PM

Eek, that doesn't bode well!! I am kind of resigned to having to have the surgery - me of little faith and all that...

**Willowdancer** · 23-04-2010, 10:46 PM

Well, 2 weeks down the line and the injection has kind of worked. It mostly isn't stuck when I wake up now, but is still quite stiff and doesn't look as straight as my good thumb. So I still don't have much confidence that I should be leaping around whooping and yelling "its a miracle!!!!" when the 6 weeks is up in 4 weeks time!

TheBTeam · 24-04-2010, 05:51 PM

Thats good to hear that the injection has had some effect, mine did absolutely nothing, so this may be a slow improvement, good luck for the next four weeks!

**louised** · 25-04-2010, 07:07 AM

My DD had this when she was a toddler, it was her thumb too. I first noticed it when she was about 18 months it used to get stuck in the bent position but would click out of it but it gradually got worse until it was stuck fast and wouldn't budge. The doctors didn't have a clue why it happened to someone so young but it was easily corrected with surgery although as she was so young it was done under general anaesthetic. She's never had the condition return and she's now nearly 13

**Willowdancer** · 06-05-2010, 06:48 AM

Well I don't believe I'm saying this but it looks like the horrendous injection has actually worked! My thumb hasn't been stuck in the morning for over a week now