If you've failed to prevent trigger finger, you'll want to consider hand surgery or physical therapy.

Cut it out or rub it out?

If you've failed to prevent trigger finger, you'll want to consider hand surgery or physical therapy.

Medical doctors tend to recommend medication and/or surgery. Physical therapists don’t like those risks.
Dr Vichai Vijitpornkul at Lerd Sin Hospital is confident that his 5-10-minute hand surgery will quickly erase the pain.
Therapist Khompakorn Limpasutirachata will keep you safe from chemicals, but you’re probably going to be seeing a lot of him over the course of weeks or months.
Physicians often prescribe one or two weeks of medication in minor cases, a painkilling steroid injection in worse cases, and hand surgery if absolutely needed.
Steroid use can cause long-term tissue damage, though.
Therapists go for ultrasound treatment to relieve pain and inflammation. The sound waves create heat deep in the tissue to draw in more blood, with its healing nutrients.
Regardless, treatment is usually based on an assessment of all the factors, says orthopaedic surgeon Pak Thongpak – lifestyle, career and age among them.
A 60-year-old woman who’s usually home looking after her grandchildren would be advised to try drugs, and if they don’t work, physical therapy with ultrasound. That’s assuming something as simple as a good soak in warm water is getting her nowhere, Pak says.
But a young professional pianist is better off going straight for surgery, his career being dependent on a quick resolution of the problem.
Trigger finger can be “cured” by either way, but there’s no guarantee it won’t return if you don’t start taking better care of your hands and fingers.