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trigger finger

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iplew
iplew

I have had this with my right hand fingers many years ago & then suddenly over four weeks ago I woke one morning with my two middle fingers stuck down & unable to open them at all. After a few days, I went to my GP who sent me to A&E as she was concerned at the "dampness" accumulating in the folds of the two stuck fingers. They took xrays & made an appt for me to see an orthopaedic consultant the following day. He gave me two steroid injections & hoped it would help but unfortunately it didn't & the following morning my fingers were locked down again. He told me if this happened he would have to operated to remove the nodules in the tendon sheaths. Had my pre-assessment check-up & signed the op consent form & then a couple of days later was told permission had to be granted by PCT & his letter was marked urgent. They didn't refuse the op but refused him doing it & said it would be done under a cheaper option. My fingers have now been stuck down for over four weeks, are extremely painful now & have a terrible smell under my fingers so I am concerned about infection & circulation problems. I now have an appt at a medical centre (they told me I couldn't be seen till April until I said I just could not wait that long!). This is only for a consultation so not sure when the operation will take place. I am now having trouble with my little finger bending down too & the whole hand feels incredibly painful. I suppose I just have to wait till next week now to see what the consultant says but am concerned my fingers will be very stiff after surgery as they have been locked for so long. Maybe I should consider complaining but who to? I just want this sorted - I can't drive at the moment nor do sewing craft work I like doing. I'm utterly fed up with it all.

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • iplew
    iplew

    Posted

    I should have said this time my left hand is affected!
  • justiris
    justiris

    Posted

    Did you try popping them back up? I have one that pops down and I pop it back up. It usually happens when my fingers are going into a certain position. Ask your physician to do a ana test to see if you have scleroderma. Scleroderma is a progressive sclerosis of the skin which affects the organs but it is also said to affect the bones POSSIBLY by making them thinner. Think of a bone with acid swirling around it and after awhile the bone gets thinner and thinner and when the bone becomes a little too thin or too much thin it has a habit of tilting at the joints. It would be a good thing to see a rheumatologist as scleroderma falls into arthritis as well. If ana tests are 1/3 it is said to be rheumatoid arthritis. 1/2 possibly Lupis but if it is ceiling high it PROBABLY is scleroderma. My are ceiling high but they will not actually say, "You have scleroderma." Your problem may not be a scleroderma tilting but you should check it out before any operation. It doesn't hurt me to pop mine back. I have noticed on another finger that there is a curvature and I have considered having the muscle and tendon sliced in such a way that it would lengthen the back of my finger. I don't remember ever having polio to any degree but sometimes you will see a shortening...rite...from polio in children but then again I'm 66 and age is always a shortening...somewhere...don't let it be your smile.
  • iplew
    iplew

    Posted

    thanks so much for replying. My fingers won't pop back up but I know when I had the same problem with my right hand years back I could actually get them straight albeit for a short time. I had to have my wedding ring sawn off this time as the swelling was so bad. The consultant straightened my fingers after I had the steroid jabs but as I said yesterday they went back down the following morning & have stayed in that position since. They are just too painful to try to straighten. The odd thing is I had a problem this time last year when I had a suspected tiny piece of glass in my little finger (same hand). The surgeon performed minor surgery at that time under 'local' but the problem was still there. He then decided to put me to sleep to investigate further. They didn't find the 'foreign object' but the pain (like a splinter touching on a nerve) went afterwards. This finger has not recovered though & is still numb from the first fold in the finger. When I got this trigger problem this time I did wonder if it was in any way connected to this previous problem? Especially as now that finger is bending down but not locked. My appt with the consultant is booked for next Monday so will see what he says when he sees me. Its the awful smell thats there that is horrible. Just to add, I'm close to your age, I'm 65. I will report back when I've seen this guy. thanks. Pat
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