Trigger finger left hand index finger

dieter

dieter

Inspired
As the title states,
Got some issues with my left hand index finger
Just wondering if you guys had issues and how you solved it
Had ultrasound done and the pulley is a bit thickened. I’m taking some meds
but it’s only getting slightly better, but
It’s impacting my playing quite a bit, actually stop playing for the last couple of weeks as it started to hurt
Did any of you who had experienced such an issue had surgery and what was the outcome
Cheers
 
Hi dieter i have had trigger finger release surgery on all five fingers on my left hand and glad I did it helped me. If you end up having it done keep doing the finger stretch exercise even when your fingers are better. I also had three fingers done on my right hand and carpal tunnel surgery on both hands.
Still playing and that helps to keep those fingers working.
I was not sure about doing it but now I’m glad I did.:)
 
Thanks for your reply Freds55
I was thinking of surgery as the last resort
I’m a bit concerned, haveing read about side effects like nerve damage and impact on flexibility and strength
Did you get back your flexibility and strength in the fingers in full after surgery
Cheers
 
Greetings dieter i was like you very concerned about my playing and nerve damage. I have all of the strength in my hands back i do still do the stretches that the physical therapist showed me.
The orthopedic Doctor told me he had never seen all 5 fingers having trigger finger.
I do have to warm up and stretch but I really don’t have any problem. I’m glad I had them done and one of my old band mates had his done and he is a Doctor and puts stitches in people He had his done before me and he is doing great.
Him having his done and doing good helped me to do the same it is nothing to take lightly but I’m playing everything I used and more. :)
 
Well, I'm a surgeon (but not an orthopaedic one). And if I had a trigger finger, I'd have the release operation, preferably done by an orthopaedic hand surgeon. The nerves should be fine unless the surgeon strays way off the midline of the finger - they run up the sides of the fingers. The fibrous band that is causing the "ridge" that the tendon has to "jump", which is what gives it that trigger action, gets divided in the midline of the finger. It's part of the tendon sheath that the tendon normally glides through. Here in Australia, it's done under local anaesthetic as an outpatient or day patient. Here's a bit of info on it:

http://brochures.mater.org.au/brochures/mater-hospital-brisbane/trigger-finger-surgery
 
Doc Rock said:
Well, I'm a surgeon (but not an orthopaedic one). And if I had a trigger finger, I'd have the release operation, preferably done by an orthopaedic hand surgeon. The nerves should be fine unless the surgeon strays way off the midline of the finger - they run up the sides of the fingers. The fibrous band that is causing the "ridge" that the tendon has to "jump", which is what gives it that trigger action, gets divided in the midline of the finger. It's part of the tendon sheath that the tendon normally glides through. Here in Australia, it's done under local anaesthetic as an outpatient or day patient. Here's a bit of info on it:

http://brochures.mater.org.au/brochures/mater-hospital-brisbane/trigger-finger-surgery
Click to expand...

Thanks DocRock for chiming in
Are you in Brisbane and if so can you recommend a orthopaedic hand surgeon
I do live in Albany Creek north of Brisbane
Cheers
 
dieter said:
Thanks DocRock for chiming in
Are you in Brisbane and if so can you recommend a orthopaedic hand surgeon
I do live in Albany Creek north of Brisbane
Cheers
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm in Brisbane. If you have private health cover, I'd go to either Dr Pritpal (Prit) Bansi, or Dr Alok (pronounced Arlock) Jamb. They're both excellent, and are in practice together at the Wesley. They're both as good as each other. I wouldn't hesitate to let either of them operate on me - and my hands are my livelihood...!
 
dieter said:
As the title states,
Got some issues with my left hand index finger
Just wondering if you guys had issues and how you solved it
Had ultrasound done and the pulley is a bit thickened. I’m taking some meds
but it’s only getting slightly better, but
It’s impacting my playing quite a bit, actually stop playing for the last couple of weeks as it started to hurt
Did any of you who had experienced such an issue had surgery and what was the outcome
Cheers
Click to expand...

I had a pretty bad trigger finger two years ago - middle finger of fretting hand locked up constantly. It is now at about 95% after a few sessions with an occupational therapist (ultrasound stuff) and arm massage. What made a huge difference was focusing the massage on the entire forearm, etc. - I'd been focusing on my hand, wrist, etc. with no luck. After about four therapy sessions I was much improved but couldn't play too much yet - kept massaging and stretching on my own for a couple of months and then began playing a bit and slowly built up again to where I was doing gigs. Not sure how much it helped but I also switched to lighter gauge strings 10s to 9s (have even tried 8s on a couple of guitars). Not sure what your options are - I was open to the surgery but wanted to give therapy a shot and was lucky that it helped a lot. Good luck!
 
Thanks Lee
I still can play but it hurts and the flexibility and strength is not as it was.
I probably give a therapist a try before surgery
But I’m not sure if I got the patience to have therapy a couple of months till I can play properly again
Cheers
 
Doc Rock said:
Yes, I'm in Brisbane. If you have private health cover, I'd go to either Dr Pritpal (Prit) Bansi, or Dr Alok (pronounced Arlock) Jamb. They're both excellent, and are in practice together at the Wesley. They're both as good as each other. I wouldn't hesitate to let either of them operate on me - and my hands are my livelihood...!
Click to expand...

Thanks Doc Rock very much appreciated
I decided to let a therapist from the Extend Rehabilitation in Ashgrove have a look at it next week.
If this doesn’t help I’ll will contact one of the doctors you’ve recommended
Cheers
 
dieter said:
Thanks Doc Rock very much appreciated
I decided to let a therapist from the Extend Rehabilitation in Ashgrove have a look at it next week.
If this doesn’t help I’ll will contact one of the doctors you’ve recommended
Cheers
Click to expand...
You're welcome. However, as Lee Konrad suggested above, physio etc takes a long time, and while in some cases it may be successful, by the time you find out, you may as well have had the operation and you'd be all healed up and raring to go. It's a mechanical problem, so a mechanical fix - the release procedure - is probably the better option eventually. May be worth talking to one of the two guys I mentioned - they're both very conservative (which I like), and if a non-operational approach has a half decent chance of working, they'll steer you that way. Nothing to lose by having an initial consultation apart from the consult fee - remembering that initial consult fees are higher than follow-up consult fees. Once you get that first consult out of the way, you're on follow-up rates after that.
 
Doc Rock said:
You're welcome. However, as Lee Konrad suggested above, physio etc takes a long time, and while in some cases it may be successful, by the time you find out, you may as well have had the operation and you'd be all healed up and raring to go. It's a mechanical problem, so a mechanical fix - the release procedure - is probably the better option eventually. May be worth talking to one of the two guys I mentioned - they're both very conservative (which I like), and if a non-operational approach has a half decent chance of working, they'll steer you that way. Nothing to lose by having an initial consultation apart from the consult fee - remembering that initial consult fees are higher than follow-up consult fees. Once you get that first consult out of the way, you're on follow-up rates after that.
Click to expand...

I will have an initial consultation with the therapist to see what time frame she can give if one at all
And go from there. As I stated in the other post if it takes months to get better I’d rather go for the surgery
Cheers
 
dieter said:
Thanks Lee
I still can play but it hurts and the flexibility and strength is not as it was.
I probably give a therapist a try before surgery
But I’m not sure if I got the patience to have therapy a couple of months till I can play properly again
Cheers
Click to expand...

All said, I think Doc Rock has it right - it was a time consuming process for me. What made that work in my case was also the timing - the band I'm in only gigs during the spring-fall season except on rare occasions. So, no conflicts gig-wise and I could still play piano/keys stuff for fun. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had the patience either! Good luck though and hope you get some relief soon.
 
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