Scott... keep us posted about your ongoing situation. I am very interested to hear whether my recommendation proved effective for you.

Probably a little early to tell, but please post back as things progress.

Hi Diki,
Ok, I saw my doc last week
and he confirmed that I indeed have trigger finger of the thumb,
so scheduled me an appt with the orthopedics clinic for a
cortisone injection which he assured would reduce the
inflamation of the tendon & surrounding sheath immediately, allowing me to bend and straighten my thumb freely & pain free again almost right away.
He said the cortisone typically lasts 1-2 years, and in some cases people don't get trigger finger in that joint ever again.

In the meantime, he recommended I try icing it 3-4 times a day for 3-4 days, and if my thumb got better, cancel the injection appt.
I did exactly that, as well as (per Gary D's) advice, soak my LH in hot water + epson salts
a few times a day, and also have continued taking the Tumeric capsules you (Diki) recommended 3x a day.
Interestingly enough when I asked my doc about Tumeric as a treatment, he sounded skeptical, but said taking it shouldn't do any harm either.
After ten days now, my thumb hasn't really improved and now perhaps even more painful, so
I'm off tomorrow morning (Tuesday) for my scheduled cortisone (steroid) injection. I hate shots but
my doc assured me that it shouldn't be too painful (promises promises )
as they first apply a numbing spray to the skin and that linacane is also mixed in with the cortisone to help reduce the pain.
At this point, I suppose it'll be worth some pain to rid the debilating pain of trigger finger.
I've got an important gig coming up a week after this coming Thursday
so hope my LH thumb will be pain free and fully functional by then, as currently,
even playing in arranger mode, switching back and forth playing LH small & large interval chords is pretty painful.

Realizing tendinitis is a common ailment of professional keyboard players, I'm surprised that more people on this forum haven't posted experiences regarding trigger finger or tendonitis.

Diki, please followup with more details about your trigger finger (thumb) experiences & current situation.
After taking the Solaray 'Special formula' tumeric for 2 months, did your trigger thumb ever come back, or show up in any other finger(s)?

Regards,

Scott

Scott,

What kind of doctors do you folks have around there. Man you'd better move away or you'll be gigging just to keep your doctor payments up in a few years.

20 years ago When I had my first shot, my family doctor gave it to me right on the spot. I hope having to go to a Ortho whatever doesn't run you broke.

Watch these guys man, they'll have you going to their friend the chiro whatever twice a week. Some of those folks will have you working full time two jobs just to pay them in no time. Be careful!!!

Take two aspirin go to bed and call me in the morning.
This is no pun. They have huge house, car and golf cart and golf payments every month not to mention the wife's beauty parlor visits two or three times a week and don't get me going on the face lifts.

What about only the very best private schooling for the kids and believe me the list goes on and on and on and you'll be paying for it all. He he! I know it ain't funny friend!

Be careful, lots of us old farts have been there, did that and own the T-SHIRTS.

Boo, my Kaiser Permanente HMO health insurance co-payment is $15 for a doctors office visit and $10 for the injection at the orthopedic clinic.
Total out of pocket expense: $25. That's a lot cheaper than the rip off Blue Shield Health Insurance plan I had before.
I switched to Kaiser Permanente 3 years ago and I'm very happy with the care they've given me (so far), and signifantly lower monthly premiums and co-pay amount as well.
Believe it or not, I feel I'm receiving far better health care now, along with courteous service to boot.
Boo, don't know what (if any) health care insurance you got, but Kaiser Permanente is availabe in Colorado, as well as here in California, so Check it out here,
as the 2011-2012 NCQA Health Insurance Plan Ranking lists Kaiser Permanente as the highest rated plan in Colorado, and ranked #6 in the nation.

Scott

Scott,
The musicians in New Orleans have no insurance. They can hardly eat and pay rent. I thought you were a poor musician. In New Orleans the only musicians that have insurance are folks like Al Hirt (when he was alive), Pete Fountain, Harry Connick Jr, Fats Domino etc.

If you have insurance, unless you have a full time day job too, you are one of the best well off musicians I'm proud to say I know. Good for you friend.

We have lots of entertainers here that probably have insurance because they make the big bucks. There's something to say about making big bucks for sure.

Scott,

Start taking Glucosamine, MSM and Chondroitin as soon as your knees start giving you trouble if that ever happens. Don't even wait a week. If 5 pills a day does not do the trick in 8 weeks, then go to a doctor. Especially when you get old like DonM, Gary, Donny and Uncle Dave. Oh yea, don't forget Fran on this list of old ones.

Scott, I'm on medicare with a supplement policy.

Scott, the trigger thumb has never recurred...

And don't be surprised about your doctor being skeptical. He can't charge you for it, or make any money from the drug reps and Big Pharma..!

Hell Scott,

It all free in the UK, free to anyone who comes here, the older you are and the more problems you have the better, we'll fix you.

Trigger Finger Update:

I recieved a cortisone shot 6 days ago and though it helped to relieve the pain, my left thumb joint's still catching (clicking).
I'm thankful that playing in arranger mode allows me to reduce my LH to simply playing full chords and only minimally playing LH melodic motifs in order to limit LH thumb joint activity.

Diki, I'm really glad to learn that even with your more severe case of trigger thumb that yours never came back, and that you cured it simply taking the turmeric pills alone. Wow! Not sure yet about me, but unless my trigger thumb fully recovers relatively soon (another month?!) I may have to opt for hand surgery to permanently solve the problem. I hope I won't need to resort to that though, so continuing (as you recommended) to take the Solaray Turmeric 'Special Formula' capsules 3x a day for a month. Keeping my fingers (but not thumb) crossed.

Scott

I was concerned when I didn't see immediate improvement on only the turmeric pills, but my buddy who recommended them said it was going to take a while... One of the keys to recuperation on a thing like this (an inflamed tendon) is immobilization and as little use as possible. Sleep in that hand splint, basically, try to even play in it if at all possible.

I hope that you continue the turmeric, and show a bit of patience before you get to the surgery option. After all, I bet your doctor was pretty optimistic about the injection route, too... but that doesn't seem so far to have panned out for him. What guarantees is he giving that surgery will permanently cure it and impart NO loss of function of the thumb? Me, I was scared sh**less of that possibility, and gave the turmeric FAR more time than I would have were it another joint in my body!

Fingers (and thumb) crossed!

I would get even another opinion before doing surgery - even though that might be the best option. Good luck with turmeric. If you take a lot of it, you might start making a lot of Indian friends.

Maybe just resting the hand for a couple of weeks might be helpful ...

Wishing you a full recovery.