Tendons, integral bands of tissue connecting muscles to bones, collaborate with muscles in your hands for finger movement within a protective sheath called the flexor tendinous retinaculum. Trigger finger, aptly named for its characteristic snapping motion, occurs when inflammation impedes the tendon’s smooth passage through this sheath, often forming a lump or nodule. This can lead to stiffness and a sensation of the finger getting stuck during movement. Understanding the causes, symptoms, and risk factors, along with exploring various management approaches, is crucial for effective care.
Why is it called a trigger finger?
Trigger finger earns its name as the affected digit can become stuck and suddenly snap straight,resembling the action of pulling a trigger. Inflammation disrupts the finger’s natural movement.
Why does it happen?
Inflammation thickens the tendon, creating a node that may get stuck in the hand’s pulley system, including the A1 pulley, hindering smooth finger movement.
How do you know if you have it?
Symptoms include stiffness, audible clicks during movement, and pain and swelling in the palm below the affected finger.
Who is at risk?
Individuals aged 40 to 60, particularly women, and those involved in manual labor face higher risks. Conditions like diabetes, arthritis, gout, thyroid disease, and osteoarthritis can contribute. Jobs requiring strenuous repetitive motions or forceful finger and thumb use also elevate the risk.
Management Approaches:
Conventional Methods:
Approaches include rest, limited hand use, splinting, physiotherapy, warm water soaks, and finger exercises.
Surgical and other procedures.
Steroid injection
Needle procedure
Surgery – Indication for surgical treatment is generally failure of conservative treatment to resolve pain and symptoms. The surgery is an out patient procedure that usually lasts about an half hour.
Two types of surgery
– traddition trigger finger surgery and percutaneous release.
Homeopathic Management:
Homeopathic remedies have demonstrated efficacy in alleviating symptoms associated with trigger finger.
Some medicines with indications:
Causticum – Dull, tearing pain in hands and arms.Numbness, loss of sensation in hands. Unsteadiness of muscles of forearm and hand contracted tendons.
Ruta – complaints from straining flexor tendons especially tendency to the formation of deposits in the periosteum, tendons and about joints, especially wrist contraction of fingers. Pain stiffness in wrist and hands.
R. Tox – pains, tearing tendons, ligaments and fascia.Loss of power in forearm and fingers.Crawling sensation in tip of fingers. Rhus tox affects fibrous tissue markedly joints, tendons, Sheaths – aponeurosis etc producing pains and stiffness.
Calc flour– swelling and indurations around tendons and joints. Cold wrists and ankle.
Bellis pernis – Wrists, feels contracted as if from an elastic band.
Guaiacum – Rheumatic pain in shoulders, arms and hands. Joints swollen, painful and intolerant of pressure, can bear no heat.
Caulophyllum – Severe drawing, eratic pain and stiffness in small joints, fingers, toes, ankles etc.Aching in wrists. Cutting pain on closing hands.
Take care of your fingers – they’ll thank you!
Dr Sajana K M