Here’s a personal story about how I managed to deal with trigger finger. I avoided surgery and found creative ways to adapt. With the right tools, I can still cook and celebrate in the kitchen and at the barbecue—despite the issue with my finger. Why not give it a try yourself?
So, here is my story.
Last winter, I began suffering from a trigger finger. It started with difficulty bending my right thumb and ended with my finger getting stuck with every full bend. The pain was unbearable. I couldn’t straighten my finger without forcefully using my other hand to release the locked thumb.
Guess what the hand specialist said
I went to a hand specialist, who was hesitant about recommending physical therapy and occupational therapy. He explained that only 20% of trigger finger sufferers manage to restore finger functionality through such treatment. The alternative was surgery. I understood that surgery was his recommendation.
Guess what I decided to do
I said, “No, thank you,” and asked for referrals to physical therapy and occupational therapy. The occupational clinic instructed me on how to exercise the finger. She made me a splint to limit the movement of the finger outside of exercises. The physical therapy mainly involved heat treatment, including paraffin baths for my hand.
I had two therapy sessions. During the second session, I "trained" my finger to move only within the range allowed by the splint. Afterwards, I removed the splint but continued functioning as if it was still in place. As a result, I managed to regain almost full functionality.
I make an effort not to challenge my finger or push it to the max. It hasn’t been triggered for many months now. In the kitchen, I use simple gadgets that help me not to strain my finger. these gadgets are offered in my online store. They work wonderfully.
For example: instead of using a manual garlic press that requires bending your finger and applying pressure, you can use a mini grinder.
Instead of a single cherry or olive pitter, which similarly requires finger pressure, you can use our 6-slot pitter, which pits six at once using the palm of your hand without involving your fingers. Learn more about our cherry pitter >>
And instead of scrubbing glasses or bottles left in the sink, it’s much easier to place the glass on our cup rinser, press lightly, and let it do the work for you.
Our dumpling maker saves you all the fingerwork involved in sealing dumplings—it’s pure finger-free convenience.
And finally, the grill brush with a built-in water container for steam saves a ton of effort when it comes to cleaning the grill. True, you do need to grip it with your hand, but on the other hand, the cleaning requires far less effort and significantly less time.
Try our products and discover how you can cook and clean with much less effort and pain.
