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Trigger finger is when your thumb or finger can’t properly bend or straighten. It happens when a tendon swells, limiting movement.

When you move your finger, you may feel it locking or catching. When it’s severe, your digit can get frozen in a bent position, as if pulling a trigger.

Trigger finger is most common in middle age, but it can also occur in children. Though trigger finger and arthritis are sometimes linked, trigger finger isn’t a form of arthritis.

What Is Trigger Finger?

Trigger finger, or trigger thumb, is a condition that most commonly affects people in their 50s. It happens when the tendon that bends the finger swells and doesn’t move smoothly.

The tendon in the finger runs between five rings of connective tissue called pulleys. (There are two pulleys in each thumb.) These pulleys keep the tendon in place, similar to a fishing rod.

With trigger finger, the tendon becomes swollen. The swelling stops it from sliding smoothly through the first pulley in the thumb or finger. When it catches, it can cause pain and stiffness.

Over time, the finger can get locked in position. It usually gets stuck in a bent position, but a trigger finger can also get locked in a straight position.

Trigger finger most commonly occurs in the ring finger, followed by the thumb.

What Are the Symptoms of Trigger Finger or Trigger Thumb?

Symptoms of trigger finger include:

• A finger or thumb stuck in a bent or straight position.
• A popping or clicking sensation when you bend or straighten your finger or thumb.
• Pain where the digit meets the palm when you bend your finger or thumb. The pain usually gets worse over time. Over time, your finger may hurt even when you aren’t bending it.
• Swelling or a lump in the palm, just below the painful finger or thumb.
• Stiffness in the finger or thumb.

Is Trigger Finger Arthritis?

No, trigger finger isn’t the same as arthritis. People with some types of arthritis have a higher risk of trigger finger. But trigger finger also happens in people who don’t have arthritis.

Osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, doesn’t increase the risk of trigger finger.

What causes trigger finger?

In many cases, doctors can’t explain why someone develops trigger finger.

In other cases, another condition causes the tendon or pulley to swell, increasing the risk of trigger finger.

Trigger finger is more common in people who have:

• Diabetes — Inflammation from diabetes can affect the blood supply to tendons and cause swelling.
• Gout — High uric acid levels in the blood form uric acid crystals in the joints. This results in swelling and pain.
• Low thyroid function — Thyroid hormone plays a role in maintaining healthy tendons. Low levels can inflame tendons.
• Rheumatoid arthritis — A form of arthritis in which the immune system attacks soft tissue in the joints, causing inflammation.

Trigger finger is also more likely to occur in people who engage in repetitive gripping motions. Athletes, musicians, and people who work with their hands are often more likely to get trigger fingers.

How Do Doctors Treat Trigger Finger?

If you think you might have trigger finger or trigger thumb, seek treatment early. By getting treatment early, you can often avoid surgery.

If it worsens, the thumb or finger can get locked in a bent or straight position. (You may find you can straighten the finger only with your other hand, for example.) When a trigger finger is this severe, treatments may not bring back the full range of movement.

Treatments for trigger finger include steroid injections, splinting, physical therapy, and surgery. Your doctor may combine two or more of these treatments.

Steroid injections

A steroid injection relieves pain and reduces swelling so the tendon can move freely through the pulley. The treatment can resolve pain and stiffness within days. However, it may take several weeks for steroid injections to improve the joint’s range of motion.

Some people require one or more steroid injections because the pain may come back after several months.

People with diabetes can experience an increase in blood sugar after a steroid injection. If you have diabetes, you should closely monitor your post-injection blood sugar levels.

Splinting

Doctors use splinting in combination with steroid injections. A splint on the finger or thumb keeps it in a straight position. The splint gives the swelling time to come down before you move the tendon through the pulley again.

Physical therapy

Your doctor may suggest finger-stretching exercises, along with steroid injections or after surgery. Physical therapy exercises can help reduce finger stiffness.

Surgery

Doctors only suggest surgery when other forms of treatment don’t work. The surgeon cuts the pulley that the tendon is catching on. In some cases, the surgeon will also need to remove the thickened lining of the tendon that was rubbing against the pulley.

Surgery relieves pain and can restore normal movement. But swelling and stiffness can take four to six months to resolve completely. That’s according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

Even after surgery, you may find that your finger’s movement doesn’t return to normal. Limited range of motion after surgery is more likely if you can’t fully bend or straighten your finger before surgery.

After surgery, you will wear a cast on the thumb or finger, usually for about two weeks. Your doctor may also recommend physical therapy exercises to help restore strength and flexibility in the finger.

Trigger Finger in Children

Trigger finger can often occur in young children, usually in infancy. In children, it almost always occurs in the thumb, though it can occur in other fingers, too.

Doctors think this happens because the tendon grows faster than the pulley in the digit. In some cases, trigger finger happens in children because juvenile arthritis leads to swelling of the tendon.

Young children with trigger thumb or finger may not complain about it. Parents often notice it because the child can’t give a thumbs-up sign. Or a finger may stick in a bent position.

In most cases, trigger thumb or trigger finger gets better on its own as the child grows. If it doesn’t get better, doctors recommend surgery.