What are the causes of trigger finger?
The rubbing or friction of the tendon of the fingers on the pulley or the tunnel in the hand produces inflammation of the tendon, which thickens it, and limiting the passage through the pulley or tunnel.
How is the trigger finger corrected?
A treatment can range from injections to decrease inflammation of the tendon, to the opening the pulley to facilitate the passage of the tendon.
What exercises are useful to do when you have a trigger finger?
Ice and heat should be applied to decrease the inflammation of the tendon. Mobility should be avoided, limiting the opening and closing the hand, in order to prevent the rubbing or friction of the tendon on the pulley.
How many days of incapacity does a surgical trigger finger entail?
21 days approximately.
This illness targets the hand tendons and pulleys that flex the fingers. Tendons work like ropes that connect the forearm muscles to the finger and thumb bones. Fingers have pulleys that look like a sequence of rings, similar to a tunnel, through which the tendons slide through. These pulleys keep the tendons close to the bone and the tunnel has a slippery sheath that allows the tendon to slide through it using the pulleys.
Trigger finger happens when the pulley at the base of the finger gets thicker and therefore compressing the tendon, making it very difficult for the tendon to move through the tunnel and sometimes developing nodes, these may cause pain or give a blocking sensation when moving the finger.
Treatment consists in reducing the inflammation around the flexor tendon and the sheath so the tendon can move easily without issues. This treatment can range from changing daily activities to reduce swelling, steroid injections around the tendon and pulley, up to surgical intervention that would open the pulley at the base of the finger to the tendon can slide through easily.
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