TromboneChat

Hello

Wednesday is when the bandage will come of from my hand. I had a surgery the 12:th of June to remove a problem I've had for a while with a finger that "locks". The condition is known as a "Trigger finger". It can cause pain and uccures for me every time I bend my fingers. One finger then get caught and can not be straightened without some help. Another word for this is “stenosing tenosynovitis.” The ring finger and thumb are most the ones affected, but it can occur to other fingers, as well. To me it was the ring finger of the left hand. Thank God I'm not a piano player because that had been a nightmare. As a trombone player it has not become a hindrance of my playing and that is fortunate because I have had it for a couple of years, but now it had became worse so I discussed it with my doctor.

If you are troubled with this I recommend the surgery. It only took ten minutes and I got local anesthesia so as not to feel anything. I was adviced not to stress the hand for two weeks so I planned no gigs for this time, but the recovery was quite fast. The first day the hand was stiff and of no real use, but I played euphonium for 20 minutes just to keep the chops. I did the same the second day. The third day I picked up a small bore and balanced the bell on top of the hand and tried some alternate very loose grips. A normal grip was impossible.

Anyway I managed to play every day and even played at a garden party a couple of days ago with a trombone quartet. Today was the first day I could use a normal grip. It feels now as everything is in place and the bandage in itself is now the only hindrance. A trigger trombone can not fit the hand with this bandage.

Other problems is to wash the dishes, and to be able to wash the right armpit It takes some planning and little more time to do this. I long for Wednesday when the bandage comes of. I recommend to do this surgery if you have the problem

/Tom

I had a problem with trigger finger with my left hand ring finger. It happened because of the weight of my Getzen Eterna bass bone and how I was holding the horn. I was able to treat the problem and restore my finger by resting from the horn and using a Get-A-Grip to take the weight off of my fingers.

Thought I'd mention for other intermediate players like me. (I definitely don't play at Tom's level! )

--Andy in OKC

Forum search is great! Anyone else here had trigger finger surgery on index finger of their left hand? I'm facing that exact dilemma and wondering how long I might be out.

I had trigger finger surgery on four of my left hand fingers (two separate surgeries). My middle finger on my right hand is presently locking up, so I am predicting that surgery on that finger will be needed in a year or two.

I highly recommend that you work with a physical therapist. My therapist gave me some great exercises and self massage techniques that really help with recovery.

Some of the things that my therapist recommended was to start with a light-weight horn (no F attachments) and wear an oven mitt on your left hand. The oven mitt forces you to hold the horn with your entire hand and not manipulate the weight of the horn with individual fingers.

It worked. I looked like a fool when I wore the oven mitt at a couple of gigs, but I never strained any of my fingers that were recovering from the surgery.

Warning! Things that will very quickly remind you that your fingers need more time to recover:

*Picking up your trombone case or gig bag.
*Picking up a trash bag or something with a strap.
*Turning a door knob or pulling/pushing door open.

I'm gonna be not playing trombone at all the rest of the fall. I'm playing tuba for a community band this winter but that's all so far so I'll definitely have recovery time before I start playing trombone again.