Anyone have "Trigger Finger" surgery/injections before?

[JR11]

As a follow up to my earlier post I had my stitches out on monday (12 days post-op) and will try and go to the driving range tonight to see how the hands feel. I will probably just look to do some pitching and slowly build up to normal swings.

[PoeKingShankspeare]

I have a trigger finger when I started golfing again. I’ve been back the last 8 months, the trigger finger less than two months. When I don’t swing a club and take few days break, it gets better. I was practicing almost every day for several hours with play time once a week.

 

I might need shots that’s for sure, but the supplement I’m taking seems to work..p5p 50...it’s been three weeks taking the supplement, and my finger isn’t stuck in the last few mornings... tumeric also helps too....

[smitherz86]

Wow, i had a bad case of 'golfers elbow' and as a result, i got trigger finger in my left pinky finger. My doctor mentioned that if i do nothing it will get to the point of surgery. But as i came in early, a strong regimen of stretching (fingers, wrist, shoulder and forearm) and resistance band work, it would heal up and strengthen both my elbow and the trigger finger. Sure enough, it did. I know that some people will not respond so well to that type of treatment, but caught early, my doc said that it should fix in most cases. Its when docs jump straight in with injections and no rehab work that it just snowballs and gets worse.

 

I know this doesnt help anoyone above (many of which were years ago), but in case anyone is experiencing this now... stretch your heart out 2-3 days a week, massage tendons on your forearm and in your elbow as deep as you can. This will help more than anything else and can help avoid surgery. Avoid injections if you can, they only mask the issue and dont cure it.

 

100% agree. My problem was that it was badly misdiagnosed when I first had issues years ago so when it flared up again this year it was really bad. I tried 1 round of steroid injections in both fingers which did nothing so I pretty much had to have the surgery.

 

I would definitely be interested to hear what stretches/exercises you did to prevent it.

 

I was misdiagnosed originally also, but i was lucky in that I had just been given private medical at work (in the UK, so not common due to the NHS). I didnt like my diagnosis so went back to my NHS doctor, told them I wanted a referral on private medical, the doc couldnt write out the referral quick enough!!, and off i went to a sports injury specialist. Some shockwave therapy and deep tissue massage once a week combined with daily exercises made a huge difference. Im not sure on the shockwave if im honest, and id put nearly eveyrthing down to the wrist and forearm strengthening and stretching.

 

Strenghten was as follows (all with therabands, starting light and working up to stronger bands as progress is seen)

 

Over knee wrist curl (palm up) / over knee wrist extension (palm down) alternating sets of 10-15 reps without rest between them.

 

Wrist twists, pronation (downward twist) and supination (upwards twist) alternating sets of 10-15 reps without rest

 

Elbow flexion and elbow extension (basically bicep curl and tricep pull downs but with therabands) again 3 sets of 10-15 alternating between the 2.

 

I did this every other day, coupled with twice daily stretching of wrist, forearm and elbow, coupled with increasing my water intake as i noticed when i got dehydrated it got worse.

 

This is a good resource which has everything above, and more. http://www.osteoinfo.com.au/self-management/self-management-of-the-elbow-and-hand/strengthening-for-elbow-wrist-and-hand

[Ri_Redneck]

Had my ring finger left hand done mid November 16. Played a full round 10 weeks later with no discomfort. Nothing but PT in between though. Mine was caused by playing with my wedding band on (wide band caused damage to the tendon).

 

BT

[fmzip]

Had my ring finger left hand done mid November 16. Played a full round 10 weeks later with no discomfort. Nothing but PT in between though. Mine was caused by playing with my wedding band on (wide band caused damage to the tendon).

 

BT

 

Damn, Just did a quick search since I have trigger finger too, been hitting a lot of balls. took my wedding band off today thought maybe that was the case and found your post. I KNEW it!! I NEVER should have gotten married ;)

 

Did find this though, Hope it works:

 

https://bottomlineinc.com/blogs/pain-relief-in-motion/best-trigger-finger-cure

[hbear55]

I had trigger finger in the middle finger and the ring fingers of my left hand. It was very painful to even grip a club. Tried playing after taking ibuprofen but it didn't help much. Thought it might get better with time away from golf, didn't play for 6 weeks but the pain failed to improve. Had the surgery and was playing golf with out pain again as soon as the incision healed. That was four years ago and have had no problems since then. Only wish that I would have gotten the surgery sooner.

[HaywireDan]

Hi all. I'm new here. I am passionate golfer although only a mid handicapper. But I have trigger finger on my left middle finger (ie my lead hand, being a right handed golfer) for the past 3 years. I think I got it from over practising (both on course and driving range time) prior to me and mate's 40th "Great Thailand golf tour" (that's what we call it!!) I didn't know what it was at that time and all I knew was to keep getting the Thai masseuse to massage my finger and palm everyday after golf.

 

Fast forward 3 years later I'm in pain every morning in my trigger finger. I have tried P5P, and different vitamin supplements... massages... But no help because I'm constantly practicing golf maybe 2x a week.

 

I am seriously contemplating surgery since I've past the window of going through injections. I had tried injections before for my De Quevains about 2 years ago n the condition came back after a few weeks, so I feel injections may not work for me especially being so late in the condition.

 

Just a few questions:

1. I'm in Melbourne Australia. Can anyone recommend a good hand surgeon that I could go to?? I'm really hoping to recover from this.

2. Has anyone failed to regain full 100% strength or mobility after surgery???

3. What happens to the swollen node on the tendon after snipping the sheath? Does it just go away after a while since there is no more "friction" between sheath and tendon anymore, or does it just stay there??

4. Best post surgery hand exercises to specifically help me get back to golfing asap?? After surgery, when would you recommend me holding a golf club even for a half swing and hitting a ball??? Is 1 month really all it takes to recover?? Or does it mean 1 month to recover but to swing a club and actually hit a ball (and not cause any shock to the ex trigger finger), in say 6 to 8 wks???

[loree]

On 3/14/2014 at 6:20 PM, Brian Kwiatkowski said:

Thank you Robbie for sharing your thoughts on this! I'm glad I posted this question on the boards, I didn't know what to think. All I know is that I had a really bad day at the driving range. I shanked at least 5 shots and I'm a single handicapper!!!

Brian