flexor tendinitis

[tvashtarkatena]

cold/hot + immobilize at night + vitamin I recommended by the Dr. Innernutz. Any experiences/treatments to share?

[rob]

If you can, I'd recommend seeing a PT to figure out what caused it. I've dealt with tendinitis in my knee twice, and each time it was caused by muscle imbalances in my hips/butt. A few weeks of Jane Fonda type exercises fixed the problem quickly. I can recommend a good PT in the Wallingford area, I think she charges $100 for 1.25 hours, which was all I needed. She is knowledgeable in skiing and climbing related activities, as well.

 

I bet GGK could give some good advice.

 

Good luck!

[tvashtarkatena]

it's in one finger joint (R and L) - so no imbalances (no muscles in there) possible, I don't think.

[matt_warfield]

I spent a couple weeks unable to straighten my finger a "few" years back. Attempting to flex, hot/cold, meditation, astrology, rest, splints, tape, etc. didn't fix it. Luckily it wasn't my middle finger.

 

One shot of cortisone solved it. For real.

Edited April 16, 2013 by matt_warfield

[tvashtarkatena]

Review: I've had flexor tendinitis (trigger finger) in my ring finger of both hands for just over a year now. It was pretty bad early this fall when I was remodeling. It is hugely better now. My observations and experimentation so far:

 

Partial immobilization: Coindidentally, I had a common wart on the proximal (affected) joint of my right ring finger - so I froze it and wrapped it in 3/4" wide Gorilla tape, as you do. I accidentally discovered that this was the most effective method for immobilizing the joint enough to prevent triggering without losing use of the hand for typing, climbing etc. Both affected joints are wrapped this way now. Accessorize with black fingernail polish when clubbing is on the agenda.

 

Joint Support Supplements: The science is mixed, but I began NOW's chondroiton, glucosamine, and MSM joint support supplements about 2 months ago (iHerb.com seems to be the cheapest source). Both hands got much better.

 

Activities: Having said that, I also finished the remodel about the same time as I started taking the supplements. Strangely, rock climbing doesn't seem to exacerbate the condition, but full grip activities (power tools, etc) certainly does. I've put most of my current home projects on hold until this thing's resolved.

 

Steroid injection: I got one in the left hand only, which remained worse than the right, a week ago. Hard to tease out causality because I'm doing so many things at once, but that hand is now on par with the right.

 

That is all.

 

 

[ivan]

in russia, trigger fingers you

[nordicpunk]

The issues here are inflammation and over-use of an injured tendon. The NSAIDS and/or cortisone might help but your issues will keep coming back if you don't let the connective tissue heal. I'm guessing you will have to be very careful with how much you do with these fingers until the problem is resolved. Glucosamine/chonroitin is thought to be useful for type II cartilage lubrication which is probably not the issue here. Also, "mixed results" is a little more positive than I would give the evidence on that supplement. There may be a surgical option which can remove a pulley that that inflammation is "catching" on. I generally view surgery as a last resort, but if it is seriously affecting your lifestyle... Basically, I think you should really scale back using that finger for a while and see if you get any improvement.