Trigger Finger - All You Need To Know

Trigger finger or trigger thumb is a condition in which your finger or thumb gets stuck in a bent position or if you feel a popping or clicking sensation when you bend or straighten your finger. Watch on as Sng Wenlin, Occupational Therapist, Department of Rehabilitation, National University Hospital (NUH) Singapore, gives you a rundown on the causes, symptoms and treatment of trigger finger.

Trigger finger occurs when there is inflammation and swelling that narrows the space between the pulley at the base of the finger and the tendon sheath.

People whose work or hobbies require sustained or repetitive gripping, pinching, pressing with the fingers or maintaining a firm grip of the hand with hard surface for prolonged periods of time are at higher risk of developing trigger finger. Common activities that could cause trigger finger include wringing a wet cloth or laundry, opening of tight jars, carrying heavy bags, gripping of a thin pen, using power tools that vibrate and prolonged typing.

The condition is also more common in women, patients with rheumatoid arthritis, gout or diabetes.

In the early stages, it can be self-managed and treated by:
- Modifying the way you perform certain activities. View our video on activity modification at    • How to self manage Trigger Finger con...  
- Doing appropriate finger exercises and view our video on finger exercise at    • NUH Occupational Therapy - Management...  
- Wearing a splint to rest your affected finger

Another treatment option would be a steroid injection but there’s a chance of recurrence. You can only get at most 2 injections for each finger.

If none of the above works, your doctor will recommend a trigger finger release surgery.

00:00 - Introduction
00:18 - About trigger finger/thumb
01:13 - Signs and symptoms
02:25 - Causes
03:36 - Treatment
03:55 - Self management through activity modification
04:26 - Right way to wear & care for splint
04:58 - Steroid injection
05:16 - Trigger finger release surgery

Visit the NUH website https://www.nuh.com.sg/Health-Informa... to read about trigger finger.

For an appointment with NUH, visit
https://www.nuh.com.sg/patients-visit...

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About National University Hospital (NUH) (Singapore):
NUH is Singapore's major tertiary hospital and referral centre with over 50 medical, surgical and dental specialties. It is the only public hospital in Singapore to offer a comprehensive suite of specialist care for adults, women and children as well as paediatric kidney and liver transplant programme, in addition to kidney, liver and pancreas transplantations for adults.