of Brooklyn and Staten Island
"Failure is not an option"

What is trigger finger?
Trigger finger is a painful or painless clicking or snapping or locking of a finger.

What you feel
Trigger fingers cause pain in the palm of the hand and snapping, clicking or triggering of the involved finger. In the beginning, finger movement is uneven. Untreated, this progresses to snapping of the finger as one makes a fist. With time, the finger gets unexpectedly locked when one tries to hold an object. Finally, the finger locks in bent position as the tendon gets locked outside the flexor tendon sheath or the sleeve. Rarely, the patient cannot make a full fist as tendon becomes locked inside the sleeve of the tendon. It is painful to unsnap and straighten the finger. Finally, the finger becomes locked in the bent position and cannot be unlocked any more. Trigger finger may occur in one or more fingers at the same time or may occur in different fingers at different times.

What your doctor finds
The palm is tender at the base of the finger. The finger may snap or lock when the patient makes a tight fist. If the finger locks, the doctor is able to unlock it.

Treatment
When the finger snaps or temporarily locks, splinting and or one injection relieves the symptoms in 80% of the cases. For patients who are afraid of injections, splinting is the best choice but it is necessary for 6 weeks. For those who prefer injections, one, two or three injections are necessary before the pain and clicking subside. For those who do not like the idea of multiple injections, percutaneous trigger finger release done in the office under local anesthesia is successful in 95% of the cases. The surgery is done with a needle inserted through the skin. No incision is made and thus no stitches are necessary. Most patients return to work the same day. Patients with stiffness of the finger need therapy for a few days.

Five percent of the patients need open surgery. This is done as outpatient ambulatory care surgery.