Un-sticking what’s stuck

Q: My sister, my father, and I have been troubled by something called “trigger finger.” Dad just puts up with it, my sister had surgery, and I have tried cortisone shots. The shots worked for a few years, but now it’s back and has spread to a second finger. I don’t want to have surgery, but what else can I do?

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.