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Struggling with stiffness or straightening one of your fingers? Do your fingers pop, snap, or click when you try to bend or straighten them? You might have a common condition called trigger finger.
The good news is that trigger finger is a treatable condition. At Ortho 1 Medical Group in Chula Vista and La Jolla, California, our providers specialize in diagnosing and treating conditions that affect your hands and fingers — including trigger finger.
While the phrase “trigger finger” may make most of us think of old Westerns or gun ranges, this painful condition gets its name from the sounds your fingers make when you have it. And it can cause pain and irritation that affect your quality of life.
Officially called stenosing tenosynovitis, trigger finger causes your affected digit to snap, click, or pop painfully when you try to move it. You develop trigger finger when the sheath that surrounds the tendons in your finger gets inflamed.
These sheaths protect the tendons and have a pulley that helps the tendon move so you can move your fingers smoothly. The inflammation of trigger finger creates scar tissue, which makes it hard for the tendons to slide cleanly.
As a result, the tendon can catch on the pulley. When this happens, it’s even harder for the tendon to move and your finger can get stuck in a bent position or have trouble going from straight to bent.
If you’re wondering whether the stiffness in your finger could be trigger finger, keep reading to learn more about this condition and the ways we help fix it.
If you’re experiencing pain, stiffness, or tenderness when you try to move your fingers, it’s important to seek an expert diagnosis. That’s because other conditions may have similar symptoms.
To help you understand if you have trigger finger, here’s a look at some of the most common signs of this condition:
You should know that trigger finger can develop in any finger — including your thumbs. If you’re experiencing any of these signs, schedule an appointment with a specialist at Ortho 1 Medical Group.
It’s possible for anyone to develop trigger finger. However, certain factors increase your risk of getting this condition, including:
You also have a higher risk of developing trigger finger if you’ve had surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome.
At Ortho 1 Medical Group, our providers use an individualized approach to managing and treating trigger finger. We usually begin with the most conservative therapies first, including options such as:
If these therapies don’t work, or if your finger is stuck in a bent position, your provider may recommend tenolysis, or trigger finger release surgery.
During this minimally invasive surgery, your provider makes a small incision or uses the tip of a needle to divide the pulley that’s blocking the tendon so you can move your finger.
To learn more about trigger finger and how we can help, schedule an appointment over the phone or online at Ortho 1 Medical Group in Southern California.
