Trigger Finger, anyone?

Hi, everyone. I have a trigger finger, the middle finger of my right (dominant) hand. It’s not terribly painful, but it does hurt, and interferes with my sleep and my life in general. I’d rather not go to the doctor if I can avoid it, for right now. And the pain seems to be spreading through my hand and even into my forearm a little. Does anyone have any tested home remedies to suggest? Do antioxidants help (since this is caused by inflammation of the tendon sheath)? Special exercises? Thanks for any suggestions.
(I had one before, in my left thumb. I even scheduled surgery for it, but it went away on its own, and I cancelled the surgery.) I hope this goes away, sooner rather than later.

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You certain this isn’t something to do with circulation/blood clots/cardiac stuff?

When you talk about ‘radiating’ pain, I get nervous.

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I had several trigger finger surgeries, back in 80s (after 20+ years of T1D on older insulins). Carpal tunnel is often common in T1Ds and I had surgeries for that too.

Good bg control can prevent or reduce chance of occurring. Good info in this article.

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Not quite the same illness, but I know it as Dupuytren’s Contracture, it occurs commonly in the left hand, as in mine, and has not progressed to severe pain or trigger finger. On a few occasions, after hard rowing machine workouts, I will experience trigger finger, but it is usually temporary, and directly related to the stress and exertion of hard rowing.

Eventually, as I can see it getting slowly and progressively worse, I will need treatment, and it might be possible to avoid surgery, at least initially, according to the last surgeon I talked with.

Both my thumbs have had trigger finger. The first time I caught it within a couple of months of it starting with acupuncture and it was gone within weeks when he started treatment. The next time I drug my feet and had it until it was major hurting and when I had acupuncture treatment it took a couple of months to get rid of it.

But it went completely away with acupuncture and I had seen a doctor the first time I had it and they wanted to do steroid shots for it. I won’t touch steroids unless it’s an emergency because my BG levels are very badly affected by steroids. Hence me asking the acupuncturist about it.

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You certain this isn’t something to do with circulation/blood clots/cardiac stuff?

When you talk about ‘radiating’ pain, I get nervous.

I’m sure I have trigger finger. I sure hope it isn’t more than that, like mohe0001 suggests. There are some at-home treatments on the Internet that I’ll try. Thanks for the advice.

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I have duputrens contracture. And I also have it in my feet. People who have Viking blood are much more likely to get it and also diabetes. Irish Scottish danish Swedish and Norwegian.

I just developed the same finger on the right hand too @Michelle43. Went to my orthopedic and he gave me a shot of cortisone which has help it greatly. I also immobilize it with the sticky tape they use when you have blood drawn to hold the gauze pad in place. You can find various styles of immobilizing devices on Amazon too. Search trigger finger splints. Triger fingers are quite common with diabetics too. I was also diagnosed with severe Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (diabetic induced) too. You may want to visit an Orthopedic and get you trigger finger injected with cortisone and have them check you for Carpal Tunnel. Good luck.

I have a trigger finger on the middle finger of my right (non-dominant) hand and a Dupuytren’s Contracture on the little finger of my left hand.

Neither bother me that much … so I haven’t gotten either treated. A couple of years ago, I broke my wrist in a fall and required wrist surgery. My surgeon was dying to do the Contracture as well. I know that there are injectable meds that are supposed to help with Dupuytren’s Contracture. Has anyone had that treatment?

Stay safe!

John

I continue to be amazed by the number of seemingly unrelated conditions for which the response is: “Yes, X is much more common if you have T1D …”

Dupuytren’s is common in Scandinavian or Northern European ancestry like type 1 is. It has a strong tendency to run in families. And Duputren’s is more common in diabetics. But I’m not sure that it matters if you are a type 1 or type 2. The theory is it might be more likely to occur because of the worse circulation to the hands because of diabetes.

20 years ago my first trigger finger was treated with cortisone. It was a failure. Never again will I use cortisone or steroids for anything due to the extreme blood sugar rise for days on end. My left pinky is the only digit that hasn’t had trigger surgery. I’ve also had carpal tunnel on both wrists. All surgeries were successful. I’ve also had occasional bouts of Norton’s neuroma in one of my right toes. That’s not fun either. All these issues while having A1 C’s under 6.8. Good luck.

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Do you have stiffness and locking, in addition to the pain? Especially stiffness in the morning? I had a bad case of trigger finger in my left thumb last summer that fortunately only lasted a few months. I went to acupuncture for it a few times and also saw an occupational therapist 4 times for treatment. They performed some sort of laser treatment on the whole area, along with manual exercises and paraffin wax treatment. They also custom-made a special cast for the joint that looked like a bandaid that I wore for about 1-2 months and was not very intrusive at all. Happy to report that the issues completely went away and never returned. I even cancelled my last OT appointment. They did give me some tips—like, don’t hold your phone in your hand and use your thumb to scroll on Twitter constantly (lol), try to avoid resting your hands on hard surfaces (get a gel steering wheel cover, gel gloves, and a gel keyboard wrist rest). And told me to be careful not to bend the joint the wrong way.

I’m not sure whether it was the acupuncture or the OT and cast that helped the most, but I would recommend you ask your primary care physician or endocrinologist for a referral to a OT/hand specialist for an examination (not sure how those facilities are operating during COVID, though). Hang in there!

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I remembered something after I posted this. Several days before I noticed the trigger finger I had a minor injury to that finger. The door to the dryer slammed closed on my fingertip, causing pain and a small bruise to the nail bed. Like I said, it was minor but I wonder if it could have “triggered” my trigger finger?

@Michelle43 I wonder? It seems to me on one of my thumbs I had bent my thumb backwards before my trigger finger on my thumb started. The other I don’t remember.

I have had all 10 released. I have not had any recurrences. I am so glad I had them done too. The lockups are not fun and the inconvenience of the surgery was worth it.
Good luck.

My situation was different because I had no spreading. Had very bad trigger finger and my rheumatologist wanted to give me an injection. Since I’m needle-phobic, I said no and would just wait. I did massage the area much as I could, at the base of my finger at my palm. Took over a year, close to two, but it just gradually resolved itself.

Does anyone have any tested home remedies to ysuggest?

A professional in my HMO splinted mine, and when that splint broke I bought a generic one at my local giant pharmacy. It helps pain and function a lot.

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I have had 3 trigger fingers surgically fixed in the last 20 years T1 50 years. Also had Dequerrvains tendon cut in writ. My endo believes T1s have tendon issues over time. Please avoid steroid injection as it can cause sever hyperglycemia for days! Even weeks!
I tried many alternative treat meats to avoid surgery, but the surgery is pretty easy and solves the issue.
Good luck !

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I have had two trigger-finger surgeries. Super easy. I did not have to be under general anesthesia. It was iv sedation. The Dr. said he wanted me to be able to respond and move my finger when he asked me to. I felt nothing, had very little post-op pain, and had some simple PT for a few weeks. I declined the steroid shots because of how it affects my BG levels. It just delays the inevetible anyway. T1D 33 years.

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Wow never heard of in feet. Will have to look at my feet . I inherited Duputren’s. Am Scots Irish Mother had very mild case. I just had fourth surgery. Two on each hand. Going to try injections in right hand. No more surgery for me. And can’t do on left hand anyway. Not enough tissue. Been wearing splint. Will just keep wearing every night. Hand not good for my yoga practice. Last surgery was May 12. And so far wearing splint has helped a lot. They tell me exacerbated by the diabetes. I never do anything half way lol. Best of luck.