Your finger catches when it moves, and the pain throbs. Have you thought about icing it until you can get to the hospital? Does that actually help? This article answers those questions.
In this article, I will explain three things:
- If you are going to ice trigger finger, it is better to leave it alone instead.
- Have you checked whether the cause is really tenosynovitis?
- If you understand the cause of trigger finger, you may be able to avoid it becoming severe.
This article is based on published research, so the information is reliable.
If you are going to ice trigger finger, it is better to leave it alone instead.
When inflammation causes pain, people often say you should cool it. That way of thinking is outdated.
It is natural to think that if it hurts, you should ice it. That is what I was taught as well.
Of course, there are exceptions, such as cases involving internal bleeding inside a joint, but in most cases there is no real benefit to cooling it. In fact, it may even lead to negative consequences.
Research shows that when inflammation occurs, your body is working hard to repair the damage.
Why icing is a waste: Part 1!
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When muscles are damaged, acute inflammation occurs. Then cleanup cells called macrophages remove the damaged cells.
At the same time, macrophages produce a growth factor called insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), which has been shown to increase the rate of muscle regeneration.
So even if inflammation is present, it is a waste to cool the area and create conditions that prevent macrophages from doing their job.
Why icing is a waste: Part 2!!
There are cells called satellite cells. They normally stay dormant, but they become active when muscles are damaged.
They are very dependable, but they do have one weakness.
They do not tolerate cold well, and if you keep icing an area because it hurts, their activity can stay sluggish for as long as two days. * 2 It is almost like being so cold that you do not want to get out of bed. Somehow that feels relatable, doesn’t it?
Some people say icing makes the injury feel better, but cooling the area to suppress inflammation only slows recovery.
If you have trigger finger, the correct approach is not to cool it. Cooling it is a waste.
Have you checked whether the cause is really tenosynovitis?
Now you can see that even when inflammation is present, cooling it is not a good idea. By the way, sometimes the place that hurts and the real cause are not the same.
In some cases, trigger finger is caused by a problem somewhere other than the finger itself.
For example, try pressing on your smartphone screen a little harder with your thumb. Did you notice your abdomen tighten slightly? Your shoulders and arms tense up too, don’t they? Even a small thumb movement uses your whole body.
Now imagine your shoulder were dislocated. It would be hard to put strength into your thumb, right?
When you are told it is finger tenosynovitis, it is easy to think the problem is only in the finger. But you may actually be using your body in a way that puts too much strain on the fingers and prevents them from moving properly.
If the cause is not in the finger, no amount of cooling the finger will improve it. Before you cool the finger, it is important to check whether the real cause lies somewhere else.
If you understand the cause of trigger finger, you may be able to avoid it becoming severe.
Even when inflammation is present, cooling has negative effects. What matters for solving the problem is identifying the cause. If you do not know the cause, you cannot make a treatment plan.
[keikou]At a hospital, equipment such as elastography may be used to help identify the cause. That is something we cannot do ourselves.[/keikou]
If a doctor determines that it is tenosynovitis, treatment for tenosynovitis can begin. However, some cases that seem similar may actually be completely different conditions, such as rheumatism or tendon dislocation, so it is best to get a diagnosis from a doctor first.
And even if you are diagnosed with tenosynovitis, there is not just one possible cause. Female hormones may be involved, the abdominal muscles may be involved, and of course in some cases the cause is in the finger itself.
[aside type=”boader”]
Here is an interesting article about female hormones (estrogen) and trigger finger!
[kanren url=”https://naoako.com/trigger-finger-equal/”]
[/aside]
In fact, when we work with people, [keikou]it is quite common for trigger finger and hand numbness to disappear during the process of adjusting the muscles in the lower back and buttocks, without touching the finger at all.[/keikou]
The key point is that there are many possible causes, and until the cause is identified, no treatment direction can be decided.
Go to the hospital first. If treatment drags on, or if surgery is suggested after two or three injections, that is the time to start questioning whether there may be another cause.
[keikou]There is nothing wrong with questioning things. Simply believing what you are told is no more than blind faith.[/keikou]
Summary
So far, I have explained whether icing trigger finger will improve it.
- Icing trigger finger may make it worse.
- When you cool it, the cells responsible for recovery stop working properly.
- Sometimes trigger finger is caused by a part of the body other than the finger.
- Go to the hospital first.
