5 Exercises for Trigger Finger: How to Treat and Prevent Trigger Finger

A trigger finger is a condition that many people experience. It can be very uncomfortable to have this condition, and it can also be difficult to treat. 

Fortunately, there are exercises for trigger fingers that you can do to help prevent the pain from getting worse, as well as work on your grip strength again! In this article, we will list some of these exercises so you know what you should do if you experience any symptoms of a trigger finger.

What Is A Trigger Finger?

Also known as stenosing tenosynovitis, a trigger finger is a condition in which one of the fingers gets stuck in a bent position. The tendons that bend your knuckles get caught behind the bone and make it difficult for you to straighten out your finger again.

Trigger Finger Symptoms Trigger finger symptoms include inflammation around affected joints, pain while attempting to straighten out your finger, clicking, popping, or snapping around the affected joint.

The symptoms are usually worse when making a fist, grasping an object, or pointing at something. You may also feel pain while resting your hand on a hard surface for too long.

Can Trigger Fingers Be Cured With Exercise?

A trigger finger is a condition that causes the fingers to become stuck in bent positions. It usually affects one of your thumbs, index finger, or little finger and occurs due to swelling around tendons near affected joints.

Exercise can help reduce pain associated with trigger finger by strengthening muscles in your wrist and hands, which reduces pressure on tendons, leading to less inflammation.

5 Effective Exercise For Trigger Finger

1) Wrist Extension

Wrist extension is one of the most effective exercises for trigger finger. To do this you need to sit in a chair with your affected hand resting on its arm and palm facing down. 

Keep your fingers straight while bending back your wrist slowly towards yourself. Hold it at the furthest point for five seconds, then release it back to the neutral position. Repeat this five to ten times.

You can also try this exercise while standing and gripping onto a countertop with your affected hand. Repeat it as mentioned above, though remember not to bend back too far or strain yourself in the process. This way, you will be able to perform this stretch smoothly without overextending your wrist.

To make things easier for yourself, you can place a cushion or rolled-up towel under your palm.

If these exercises are too easy to perform, try using weights while doing them by wearing wristbands filled with water bottles or cans of food around your wrists. This will make the exercise more difficult and thus provide better results in terms of reducing trigger finger pain.

Check this video about wrist stretches:

2) Flexor Stretch

To perform a flexor stretch, sit on a chair with your back straight and feet firmly placed on the ground. 

Now bend your affected hand at your wrist towards yourself as if pointing to your tummy button or touching those two bones that meet in front of it. Hold this position for five seconds before releasing back to the neutral position. Repeat this exercise five to ten times.

If you find it difficult to keep your elbow straight while doing this stretch, try sitting on a chair with armrests and resting one hand over each of these rests. 

This way, you won't have to worry about exerting too much pressure on either side. Remember not to bend your elbows in the process.

If you still have trouble keeping your elbow straight, try using a door frame for this exercise by standing with your affected hand resting on the edge of a door and pointing towards the floor as if trying to touch something that's in front of it. 

You can also use a wall in place of a doorframe or even just open space around you to perform this exercise.

Check these hip flexor stretches to see more details about the exercise:

3) Towel Curls

Towel curls are an effective exercise for trigger fingers because they work on strengthening your wrist extensors. To perform this, you need to sit in a chair with both of your hands resting palm down just above the height of your hips and fingers pointing towards each other. 

Now take a rolled-up towel between both of these palms and start curling your hands into fists without actually gripping the towel. You can hold this position for five seconds before releasing back to neutral, then repeat it again several times.

If you find it hard to perform this exercise while sitting down, try doing it standing up with feet shoulder-width apart in front of a kitchen countertop or something similar to that and gripping the towel as mentioned above.

You can also try doing this exercise with a weight in each hand instead of having one weighing down your palms as you perform it. This way, you will be able to strengthen those wrist extensor muscles even more, which is always good for reducing trigger finger pain.

Learn how to do this exercise by checking this out:

4) Finger Extension

This is another exercise for trigger fingers that is easy to do at home and comes highly recommended by doctors all over the world. 

To perform this, you need to sit in a chair with your back straight and both of your affected hands resting on their arms, palm facing down while keeping fingers straight throughout the whole process.

Now move your hand away from your body as if trying to push something in front of you until you feel a slight stretch in your fingers. 

You can hold this position for five seconds before releasing back to the starting point, then repeat it again ten times while keeping hands straight and resting on the armrests of chairs if possible.

Check this video for more information about the exercise:

5) Finger Tendon Glides

If you still have trouble with trigger finger after performing all of the above exercises, it might be a good idea to ask your doctor about tendon gliding. 

This is an exercise that doesn't require any equipment and can be done by almost anyone without much difficulty at home. It also comes highly recommended for treating this condition.

To start this exercise, you need to sit on a chair with your affected hand placed palm down between the thighs while keeping your fingers straight. 

Now use the other hand to pull back each finger from pinky all the way up to thumb one by one, starting with index and going towards little until you feel a stretch at some point during this process without causing yourself pain or discomfort. You can hold this position for five seconds before releasing back to the starting point and repeating it ten times with each hand.

These are some of the most effective exercises for trigger finger that you can do at home without any special equipment or even having to leave your house and they work no matter what kind of form this condition might come in, whether it be an acute or chronic one. 

With regular practice, you should see a significant improvement in your condition, and trigger finger pain will become something of the past with time as long as you don't make any mistakes that can cause this problem to come back again, such as resting your injured hand on hard surfaces for prolonged periods of time without even realizing it.

Learn different finger tendon glides by checking this video:

Preventing Trigger Finger

There are ways that you can do to prevent trigger finger from occurring:

1) Make Sure To Do Your Daily Exercises

Performing these exercises regularly will help you maintain good levels of fitness and strength in the tendons, muscles, ligaments, and joints, which can go a long way towards preventing injuries. 

This is also why doctors recommend that patients with trigger finger should perform lots of hand movements during their everyday tasks to keep those fingers flexible as much as possible.

2) Stay Away From Hard Surfaces

One of the key mistakes people with trigger finger often make is resting their injured hands on hard or rough surfaces for prolonged periods while doing nothing, whether at home or even during work. 

This can cause further inflammation, prolong recovery time, and lead to more damage to your fingers. Your best bet would be to try and avoid resting your hand on hard surfaces as much as possible until you recover.

As mentioned before, the trigger finger is a condition that should not be taken lightly since it can lead to more serious problems if allowed to progress without proper treatment or rest. 

This is why everyone who thinks they might have the early stages of this disorder should see their doctor as soon as possible to see what the best course of action would be in their case.

3) Avoiding Strenuous Activities

Trigger finger usually occurs due to repetitive use of the hands, which causes small tears in your tendons that allow them to move too easily back and forth. 

This can cause you some serious discomfort at first, but if it continues for an extended period without rest or the proper treatment, this problem will only worsen and lead to scar tissue formation, which will be much harder to treat.

This is why doctors recommend that you avoid any strenuous activities as much as possible if you feel like your trigger finger might be getting too bad for comfort so that you can give yourself a chance at fully recovering without further complication or injury from these kinds of activities. 

This is especially important during the early stages of this disorder since it can be hard to tell just how severe your case might turn out. As you can see, the trigger finger is a condition that should not be taken lightly. 

It is best for everyone who thinks they may have contracted this disease to seek proper medical attention as soon as possible to receive the best treatment possible for their condition. 

In many cases, trigger finger is easily treated and resolved in a timely fashion without any further complications or problems but you always need to be on your guard when it comes to this disorder and makes sure that you take care of yourself as much as possible throughout the course of your recovery.

Conclusion

With regular practice, you should see a significant improvement in your condition, and trigger finger pain will become something of the past with time as long as you don't make any mistakes that can cause this problem to come back again, such as resting your injured hand on hard surfaces for prolonged periods of time without even realizing it. 

There are some key mistakes that people with trigger finger often make, which can cause them to have a more difficult time recovering from this disorder.

If you do not follow your doctor’s advice, it is easy to see how trigger finger could easily come back in even worse condition than before and lead to long-term damage if left untreated for too long. 

This is why it is important to follow your doctor’s advice as much as possible and try not to take any steps that could potentially lead you down a road where this disorder will be more difficult than ever before.

With these easy exercises for trigger finger, you can start taking better care of yourself without having to spend too much time on recovery so that you can start enjoying all of the things that you love again with minimal problems or setbacks in your day-to-day life.