'Trigger Finger' and underactive thyroid... any comments?

[Hashi-hacker]

Hi,

I have developed 'trigger finger' or more correctly 'trigger thumb' in my case, and have seen on the NHS website that this is associated with women of a certain age and those with under active thyroid.

nhs.uk/conditions/trigger-f...

Has anyone had this, how did they treat it, and was it something that happened once or is a regular thing.

I have Hashi's and am trialling T3 at the mo. Take LDN, the usual supplements and am gf, df and soya free too.

Thanks,

[amaranthe]

I had trigger thumb a few years ago. I have Hashimotos. Nothing was said at the time about it being related to hypothyroidism so I was interested to read the article. I also had carpel tunnel syndrome which I also believe is now associated with hypo. It seems all sorts of conditions could be linked to it.

I ended up with surgery for both problems which was successful. I am not sure about other treatments available

[JumpJiving]

Interesting. I didn't know that an underactive thyroid could cause trigger finger. My wife used to get trigger finger regularly, as a result of one of the other conditions on the NHS page that you linked to (rheumatoid arthritis). She hasn't had trigger finger in quite some time though, presumably as a result of adjusting medications until she got them just right. I would assume (but am not medically qualified, so take with a pinch of salt) that treating your hypothyroidism by taking T4, T3 or NDT to get your hormone levels optimal (for you) would remove what is causing trigger finger in your particular case. It might take a while to get things optimal (I'm at day 212 and only now think I am there), but it's certainly possible.

[Hashi-hacker]

Thanks all. I think it may be auto-immune related as I've been poorly in the last week with a virus, I'm normally fairly fit and well on the whole. I'm going to use iboprufen gel and a wrist splint at night to stop it from moving and give it a week. The GP was great and said you can get the steroid injections but to consider that carefully and surgery is also an option. I hope it settles back down soon as although it has loosened off now, it was quite uncomfortable during the night and most disconcerting when you have to 'click' your thumb joint back manually to stop it from hurting.

[Hidden]

I did have a bout of that but had forgotten about it. I was in the hospital and mentioned it, only to be shown to the adjacent room where a doctor was administering a clinic for trigger finger. He gave me an injection in the appropriate place and that sorted out the problem.

I was there probably regarding my gout or my carpal tunnel syndrome. I associate all my illnesses to thyroid issues.

[Hashi-hacker]

Update. Due to covid I put off having the steroid injection in my thumb to relieve the pain of trigger thumb. However over the weeks, the pain and discomfort has eased up and I now have 95% mobility back with only a tiny amount of stiffness in the joint. I am very happy about this as most reports seemed to suggest that once it developed it wouldn't get better by itself. I didn't do anything different specifically other than lockdown related changes.