You notice that you’re having trouble moving one or more of your fingers — getting the finger to straighten out isn’t as easy as you’re used to. Given how important your hands are, you’re wondering whether this development warrants a closer look.
To answer that question, you can turn to the skilled team of board-certified orthopedic surgeons at New Braunfels Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine. As experts in musculoskeletal health, we’ve seen our fair share of trigger finger and trigger thumb conditions, and we’re using this month’s blog to explain what you should know about them.
A great place to start in your investigative journey is to understand how your fingers work in the first place. Briefly, the movement in your fingers is controlled by flexor tendons, which attach bone to muscle to facilitate movement.
These flexor tendons are located on the palm side of your hand, and they’re surrounded by sheaths. These sheaths are attached to the bones in your hand and fingers at key points to keep the flexor tendon in position and to act as pulleys that operate your finger.
When you open and close your fingers, the flexor tendons are sliding through the anchored sheath to enable the movement.
When people develop trigger finger or trigger thumb, it means that there’s swelling in one of the pulleys that’s creating a roadblock to easy gliding in your tendon. In many cases, this swelling crops up in the A1 pulley, which is located at the junction where your finger meets your hand. Trigger finger can also involve other pulleys along the tendon sheath.
The issue can crop up in any of your fingers, but it tends to strike the ring finger, middle finger, and thumb most often. One in three people with trigger finger have issues with multiple fingers.
Now let’s get into the hallmarks of this condition. The following signs may indicate that trigger finger is behind the trouble with moving one or more of your fingers.
One of the first signs of trigger finger is a catching sensation in your finger as you try to straighten it out or move it. Some patients also describe this side effect as popping or snapping.
Thanks to the swelling inside, you can experience pain and stiffness in your affected finger and in your palm.
Often, a nodule will develop that you can sometimes see or feel on the palm side of your hand. This nodule is an outward sign of swelling in a pulley and it can be sore or tender if you press on it.
The reason why trigger finger got its name is due to an increasing inability to straighten and move your finger, causing it to curl inward in some cases. At first, you might be able to straighten the finger by physically moving it with your other hand, but the condition can get to the point when even that’s not possible.
If we catch the problem early enough, we can usually resolve trigger finger with:
If these conservative efforts fall short, we can be more aggressive with an outpatient procedure in which we release the pulley that’s causing the problem. In fact, sometimes we can perform a minimally invasive, ultrasound-guided procedure right here in our offices that releases your trigger finger.
Rest assured, if we need to perform a minor surgery, we do this in a way that shouldn’t affect future movement in your affected finger.
So, if you’re concerned about a possible trigger finger, your next move should be to have one of our hand and wrist experts analyze what’s going on so we can get you on the right treatment path.
To schedule this visit, please contact New Braunfels Orthopaedic Surgery & Sports Medicine in New Braunfels, Texas, today using our online form or by calling 830-341-1386.
