How Ann Developed Trigger Finger from Gardening and Canning

Meet Ann. Ann is an avid gardener during the summer months. While this hobby may seem harmless, she has developed trigger finger in her right hand from the countless hours in her garden pulling weeds and canning various vegetables and fruits.

What is trigger finger? Trigger finger is a painful condition that causes your finger to lock up in a bent position. This condition can occur any of your fingers, more commonly in your thumb, ring, and middle finger. Although there is no definite cause of trigger finger, one of the most common underlying causes of this condition is repetitive gripping. Trigger finger does vary in its symptoms and may progress from mild to severe over time. Because of this is it not always clear if you do have trigger finger.

Here is a list of trigger finger symptoms that may occur:

• Finger stiffness - this is most common in the morning.
• A popping or clicking sensation as you attempt to move or bend your fingers.
• Tenderness at the point where your palm and base of the finger meet.
• A bump or nodule at the point where your palm and the base of your finger meet.
• Fingers locked in a bent position for extended periods of time, and you aren't able to straighten them.

BraceAbility gave her a trigger finger brace to try in hopes that she would find some relief from her trigger finger condition. While this brace did its job and prevented her from being able to bend her finger, it prevented her from being able to fully grasp the weed and pull it out of the ground. This resulted in her using her other hand, which led to pain and the start of trigger finger in that hand as well.

Being a dedicated gardener, a little pain was not going to stop her from being in her garden and getting those weeds pulled. Check out the huge weeds she was pulling out of her wildflower garden!

Aside from being a dedicated gardener, another hobby of hers is canning fruits and vegetables.  This includes peeling the skin off of numerous fruits and vegetables and putting them in cans for easy storage. This hobby also adds to her painful trigger finger. She said once it got so bad she had to have her husband finish peeling the fruit. But she still preserved, as her grandkids love to enjoy the fruit in the middle of the winter.

Fortunately for her, she only experiences trigger finger pain when she is doing such activities. Whereas many others suffering from trigger finger wake up in the morning with stiff and sore hands because they are clenching their fists in the middle of the night without realizing it. A little trigger finger pain is not going to stop her from planting, cutting, trimming and enjoying the outdoors in her many gardens. So all we can do is offer her some other solutions for her trigger finger pain such as:

• Exercises before gardening
• Wear the brace when she is not gardening
• People have also found relief using acupuncture and physical therapy
• Surgery: Open or percutaneous surgery