Releasing the trigger

Q: My father, sister, and myself have been or are still afflicted with something referred to as “trigger finger.” My father puts up with it, my sister had a procedure done where they snipped something at the base of her finger and evidently it alleviated the problem. I, however, had cortisone shots in my index finger which worked for about three years. It now has returned, but on a lesser level and tolerable. Unfortunately, my middle finger has started to lock up worse than the index finger ever has. I also had the middle finger injected with cortisone, it worked, but to a much lesser degree and returned much faster. I’d like to avoid the “snipping” my sister had, but I haven’t been able to find any alternative. Do you have any suggestions as to what could be done at this point?

Dr. Wright: For those readers not familiar with it, trigger finger is a condition in which your finger joint gets “stuck” and won’t move without quite an effort. Then, when it does move, it moves quite suddenly. Fortunately, there’s a simple solution that doesn’t involve surgery.

Years ago, Dr. John Ellis found that taking 100 milligrams of vitamin B6 three times a day for several months almost always eliminates this condition.