A trigger finger is a condition that affects one or more of your hand’s tendons, making it difficult for you to bend the affected finger or thumb. When you try to bend or straighten the affected finger, you may experience pain, stiffness, and a locking sensation.
Trigger finger is also known as stenosing tenosynovitis, which occurs when inflammation narrows the space within the sheath that surrounds the tendon in your affected finger. Depending on the severity of your trigger finger, your finger may become locked in a bent position.
That said, if your work or hobby requires repetitive gripping actions, you’re at a higher risk of developing a trigger finger. This condition is also more common among women and people with diabetes.
As with any medical condition, a trigger finger can be treated depending on its severity and duration. Among the treatments available are medications, surgical procedures, and therapy. Let’s discover the physical therapies available to unlock the trigger finger.
You see, the inflammation that causes your trigger finger can lead to pain, tenderness, and limited mobility. And if left untreated, these symptoms may worsen over time causing you to experience persistent pain and unable to straighten your finger after bending it.
Doctors or orthopaedics will usually recommend performing targeted exercises and stretches to help alleviate the pain and stiffness associated with your trigger finger or thumb. We outline some of the exercises below.
You can perform these exercises anywhere you like as the only things you’ll need are an elastic band and various small objects like coins, bottle tops, and pens. Try performing these exercises at least 10 to 15 minutes a day. As you get stronger, you can gradually increase the duration, the number of repetitions and sets.
As the name suggests, this exercise can help to ease symptoms of trigger finger by extending your trigger finger release therapy. Here’s how you do it:
Since a trigger thumb is caused by the inflammation of the thumb’s tendon, this ball squeeze exercise helps to alleviate the symptoms such as stiffness, popping and clicking sensation. Here’s how you do it:
Resistance exercises can help alleviate thumb tendonitis while strengthening your fingers. Here’s how you do it:
This is a basic exercise that helps to strengthen the tendon in your thumb. Here’s how you do it:
When you perform this exercise, you may find it easier to rest your elbow on a flat surface like your table. You should perform this exercise as follows:
Aside from these exercises, your doctor or orthopaedist may recommend you to practise self-massage to help treat your trigger finger. When you massage the affected finger before and after these exercises, it will help to increase circulation, flexibility, and range of motion.
You should see improvements within a few weeks to six months of consistent exercise. However, if your symptoms persist or worsen, you should consult your doctor as these exercises may be less effective on you. When that happens, your doctor may recommend surgery.
At Spire Orthopaedic Centre, everyone should be cared for and healed holistically in comfort without having to travel to different locations to seek medical and surgical help and rehabilitation support.
With a combined facility for collaboration between physicians, physiotherapists, and surgeons, you will experience a seamless service from diagnosis to treatment and rehabilitation, that’s tailored just for you at our clinic.