OT - Judilyn - about your trigger finger

I know you mentioned you have trigger finger also.  I have a couple questions for you just to compare notes    Do your fingers just ache???  Do you wake up in the morning and are your fingers super stiff?  When you start getting pain in your fingers, does it tend to be in the same areas or is it in different finger joints?  Do your fingers ever swell in the mornings and evenings?  When your fingers "stick" can you straighten them easily or do you have to do it manually with your other hand? 

Mine start out slowly. First, they're stiffer than usual in the morning, and may be swollen. I find holding them under warm water does wonders to help me get movement. Then I'll start getting aches - pretty much always across the knuckles at the base of my fingers. Sometimes I'll get spots at the base of one or more fingers that are extremely sore to pressure. Then my fingers will start sticking. Intially, it will be painless and I can straighten the finger without using my other hand. As it progresses, the fingers will stick in a flexed position and there'll be severe pain. I have to use the other hand to open them. When that phase starts, I know it's time for more injections.

Right now, I only have intermittent aching and one finger that painlessly sticks a bit. My last injections were 18 months ago, but she gave me a higher than usual dose because I was getting ready to have to rehab from shoulder surgery. I do know that anything that puts constant pressure on my palms (the hand bike or pulleys in PT, for instance) will make my hands worse.

Hope this helps.

I got injections to all the affected fingers - the second and third fingers and thumb in both hands. The first time it lasted a year. I really could have waited longer, but was going in for shoulder surgery and knew using the rehab equipment would accelerate the problem. So I had injections before, and she gave me the larger dose for that reason.

The last injections are still working for me; I just have one finger that's starting to stick a bit. My ortho said if I can get by with injections yearly or less, I could avoid having myofascial releases. I also try to avoid activities that put a lot of pressure on my palms for a long time. Mine developed after my first shoulder surgery, and I'm pretty sure the hand bike and pulleys were a big factor.

Not sure Elaine. I've always had issues with my hands and fingers even before Uc but it wasn't until maybe 3 years ago that I started developing trigger finger. But before that I was diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel and tendonitis. I believe mine is due to my computer usage and typing. Not quite sure yet how I got trigger finger.