reverse trigger finger (or kinda) - finger gets stuck straight

Hey, so I have this condition that I have trouble googling because all I find is trigger finger. 

I wonder if anyone has experience with this, or of there's a condition name to research at least?

I have one finger that gets sorta stuck straight, as PIP joint; it happens when I sleep and occasionally during the day. It feels uncomfortable and like I want to wiggle it. Trying to bend it either normally (which I can usually do with some willpower at the onset of pain), or with assistance causes a click and high level of pain. It varies but sometimes it's like grunting out involuntarily level of pain.

One thing that helps is kinda open hand grip pulling on something, like edge of the table, with this one finger bent at DIP joint. Usually then it gets unstuck much easier with less pain. Interestingly if I just grab it at DIP joint and try to stretch directly, even with lots of force, that doesn't work.

This joint, when bending, usually clicks a lot too. My fingers generally have arthritis in the PIP join and are all kinds of gnarly, but this only happens to one of the least gnarly ones. I assume some sort of tendon is getting stuck, but I've had this go on for like 4 weeks, and it's not getting better. Unlike e.g. a collateral tear on a different finger I had last year... that was somewhat recovering after 2-3 weeks. 

It's definitely made worse by climbing, at least for 1-2 days after :( I do heating, icing, take collagen, MSM, PT exercises like finger glides, finger rolls, all the goods. So I doubt PT will tell me anything new unless I can get an MRI or something. I am actually questioning if I should be doing PT exercises or finger rolls at all, or let it rest more...

Hey Sergey, sorry to hear about your trigger finger.  I had surgery almost 4 weeks ago to release a trigger thumb. 

It started out as clicking, sometimes getting stuck in the bent position (early on) but I could voluntarily bend it.  It advanced to being stuck in the straight position and became very difficult to bend voluntarily.  When I did manage to actively bend it, it was pretty painful.   I was able to climb with it, and even do hangboard, but eventually it became painful to place gear and even to hold a pen and write.  My doctor told me that the trigger thumb was advanced enough that I needed "trigger thumb release" surgery.

Only needed local for the outpatient surgery which took about 45 minutes.  During surgery the surgeon asked me to bend my thumb, which I was able to do voluntarily/actively (for the first time in months).  I've only needed to take an ibuprofin tablet twice in the last 4 weeks, so relatively pain free.  I have another two weeks before I can climb.

I hope this helps.  Good luck.

L Gazelle wrote:

Hey Sergey, sorry to hear about your trigger finger.  I had surgery almost 4 weeks ago to release a trigger thumb. 

It started out as clicking, sometimes getting stuck in the bent position (early on) but I could voluntarily bend it.  It advanced to being stuck in the straight position and became very difficult to bend voluntarily.  When I did manage to actively bend it, it was pretty painful.   I was able to climb with it, and even do hangboard, but eventually it became painful to place gear and even to hold a pen and write.  My doctor told me that the trigger thumb was advanced enough that I needed "trigger thumb release" surgery.

Only needed local for the outpatient surgery which took about 45 minutes.  During surgery the surgeon asked me to bend my thumb, which I was able to do voluntarily/actively (for the first time in months).  I've only needed to take an ibuprofin tablet twice in the last 4 weeks, so relatively pain free.  I have another two weeks before I can climb.

I hope this helps.  Good luck.

Thanks for some good info.  
 Randomly woke up with trigger thumb one morning. Not even my dominant hand…. No idea where it came from!

30years of climbing with nothing.  Ah well.

No pain as of now, but it’s been months. Wearing a brace for bedtime.  It is good to hear about surgery success!

Hi Sergey!

I am a physical therapist who specializes in working with climbing athletes. This sounds like a flexible, swan neck deformity, which is typically a result of capsulitis or synovitis of the joint that leads to hypermobility. Open-hand pulling likely makes it feel better because it’s tractioning the joint and facilitating the finger flexors simultaneously to rebalance. I would recommend using more open-hand climbing grips versus crimp while you're working through this discomfort. I will attach an article from The Climbing Doctor blog which is run by Dr. Jared Vagy, a physical therapist and climbing specialist from southern California. It's an excellent resource and can help guide you to climbing without modification in the long term. If you feel like you need more guidance I would encourage you to find a physical therapist or hand specialist (can be an occupational therapist too) in your area, one that knows climbing is a bonus! Don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. 

Finger Tenosynovitis Management