Trigger Finger! What is it and what can I do about it?

Your fingers don’t have any muscle. Well, not exactly anyway.  Our fingers act more like a pully system, with the bulk of the muscle existing in our forearms and hands.  Where the tendons extend to the tips of our fingers, to hold these long tendons in place, there are a series of short bands that run perpendicular to the tendons below each joint.¹  This allows us to bend at each of the three joints in our fingers. While this design is excellent in performing the fingers’ complex movements, it may also lead to a pathology known as trigger finger.  Trigger finger occurs when there is an irritation in the long tendons within our fingers.  This irritation creases a nodule or bump of inflammation in the tendon. This can reduce the smooth gliding and lead to pain in the fingers.  As the digit is used more, the inflammation increases and the bump becomes larger.  Then the finger is flexed.  This bump can squeeze through the perpendicular tendons and become stuck. Leaving the finger flexed.¹

Treatment of trigger finger involves managing swelling, taking down the inflammation and regaining range in the finger and finally
strengthening.  To manage the swelling, we suggest ice but heat may also be used under some circumstances.  Anti-inflammatory
medication such as Advil may also be used to help reduce the swelling.  In some cases, a cortisone injection is done to help
reduce the swelling of the tendon.  Cross frictioning of the tissue is sometimes done, to help improve movement and blood flow.
In more advanced cases bracing for 3-9 weeks may be required.¹

Passive range of motion is a great option to
get affected fingers moving again.  It helps to move the path of the tissue to one another.  Without placing tension on them,
this decreases the friction (Exercise Set 1).  Finally, some strengthening of the finger muscles isometrically
(no movement of the joints) will help to improve the health of the tendons.  This is a way of exercising that does not cause movement
or friction of the tendons because they are not sliding past each other
(Exercise Set 2).⁴

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