Trigger fingers and trigger thumb are prevalent hand injury diagnoses here at Premier Physical Therapy, and they can be quite painful.

What is Trigger Finger? Each of your fingers in your hand is like a separate fishing pole. The muscles are like the fishing pole reel that move the tendons in the fingers. The tendons are like the monofilament in the fishing pole. And the pulleys in your finger/thumb are like eyelets in a fishing pole. (See video in the comments.)

The A1 pulley, located in the palm of the hand, gets the most trauma and can become inflamed with activities. Gripping or holding an object repetitively or excessively can aggravate the pulley and tendons at the pulleys, causing them to become inflamed and painful.

This inflammation at the tendon and pulley can make it difficult for the tendon to glide through the pulley. At times, the inflammation can be so severe that the finger gets stuck after making a fist, or in extreme cases, the finger isn’t able to make a tight fist at all. Pain, clicking, and catching are the common symptoms. Waking up with your finger “locked” in the palm of the hand is another common symptom.

At Premier Physical Therapy, we treat Trigger finger with specific orthotics to provide rest to these painful structures to allow quicker, natural healing. We will also design a program of special exercises and will recommend specific modalities to help your body naturally heal this condition. Deep Tissue Laser is also a huge help in the recovery of Trigger Finger.

Call us at 573-335-7868 to get started on a program designed to get your back doing those things you love without pain!