Re: trigger finger

Thanks to all of you who took the time to respond with lengthy and
very helpful replies. Our fencer is going to see a hand surgeon today
for an evaluation; the coach's main concern, of course, is even with
surgery, how to avoid future injury. The "point control" circle
exercises with weapon in hand look promising as a warm up, the flexing
and stretching I'm sure will become part of the routine, and even the
continuation of heat/cold therapy. The coach feels that the grip was
something that contributed to the problem, and will probably be very
interested in how some of you modified (I'm sure legally!) your grips.
It was interesting how common this was in fencers, but not surprising
given the nature of the sport. You guys are the best! Thanks again.
I'll post any info I get today.

dksbook@earthlink.net (dksbook) wrote in message news:<b3df24a8.0311110632.67500a74@posting.google. com>...
> Thanks to all of you who took the time to respond with lengthy and
> very helpful replies. Our fencer is going to see a hand surgeon today
> for an evaluation; the coach's main concern, of course, is even with
> surgery, how to avoid future injury. The "point control" circle
> exercises with weapon in hand look promising as a warm up, the flexing
> and stretching I'm sure will become part of the routine, and even the
> continuation of heat/cold therapy. The coach feels that the grip was
> something that contributed to the problem, and will probably be very
> interested in how some of you modified (I'm sure legally!) your grips.
> It was interesting how common this was in fencers, but not surprising
> given the nature of the sport. You guys are the best! Thanks again.
> I'll post any info I get today.

REPORT:

Hand surgeon's conclusion is surgery is the only indicated treatment -
bummer. And mid-season, too! Our fencer is going overseas to fence
tomorrow, and then we will begin the hassle of getting insurance
approval, etc. Thanks again for all your input - now may I ask for
candle-lighting, bead-rattling, and good thoughts?

WOW... definitely get a second opinion from another medical
establishment. If at all possible, dont tell them you saw someone as
doctors are often reluctant to reverse the decision of a colleague.

However, in the case of hand surgery...the equipment used is often so
minimally invasive that it may be time/cost effective to do the
surgery. the lasers are good stuff. Eat lots of gelatine,
glucosamine/msm, etc. for the collagen necessary to heal. Nothing
wrong with taking herbs like ginseng/dong quai/he shou
wu/astragalus/foti either. good stuff and all of them are considered
both anti aging/anti trauma.

All the best!

Magni

dksbook@earthlink.net (dksbook) wrote in message news:<b3df24a8.0311111855.1b533a94@posting.google. com>...
> dksbook@earthlink.net (dksbook) wrote in message news:<b3df24a8.0311110632.67500a74@posting.google. com>...
> > Thanks to all of you who took the time to respond with lengthy and
> > very helpful replies. Our fencer is going to see a hand surgeon today
> > for an evaluation; the coach's main concern, of course, is even with
> > surgery, how to avoid future injury. The "point control" circle
> > exercises with weapon in hand look promising as a warm up, the flexing
> > and stretching I'm sure will become part of the routine, and even the
> > continuation of heat/cold therapy. The coach feels that the grip was
> > something that contributed to the problem, and will probably be very
> > interested in how some of you modified (I'm sure legally!) your grips.
> > It was interesting how common this was in fencers, but not surprising
> > given the nature of the sport. You guys are the best! Thanks again.
> > I'll post any info I get today.
>
> REPORT:
>
> Hand surgeon's conclusion is surgery is the only indicated treatment -
> bummer. And mid-season, too! Our fencer is going overseas to fence
> tomorrow, and then we will begin the hassle of getting insurance
> approval, etc. Thanks again for all your input - now may I ask for
> candle-lighting, bead-rattling, and good thoughts?

I would not recommend ginko, as it does increase bleeding. Also garlic. Good
luck with the surgery if you need it!

I have been repairing weapons for a school that uses several of the varied
Zivkovic grips. Many of these have rather wide sections that you fold your hand
over rather than wrap your fingers around. I have never used them. but it seems
as if there is a significantly different way to hold them, compared to Belgian
(which I have used) or Visconit grips. Some of these may be useful to people
with the triggerfinger problem.

Bill Hall

fencerbill@aol.com (Fencerbill) wrote in message news:<20031114184318.23171.00002086@mb-m05.aol.com>...
> I have been repairing weapons for a school that uses several of the varied
> Zivkovic grips. Many of these have rather wide sections that you fold your hand
> over rather than wrap your fingers around. I have never used them. but it seems
> as if there is a significantly different way to hold them, compared to Belgian
> (which I have used) or Visconit grips. Some of these may be useful to people
> with the triggerfinger problem.
>
> Bill Hall

Well, after the Bonn tournament (bad results due to hand)we saw
another doc, got a referral to another plastic surgeon, and will be
proceding with surgery. Aparently, there are two procedures to deal
with it - the quick and dirty one is cutting the sheath of the
ligament to leave room for the cyst to pass through the sheath more
easily, and the other (more delicate) is to clean the ligament of the
cyst and its bi-products, and repair any damage that can be repaired.
We are hoping there is no ligament damage, but we are persuing the
latter procedure. I can't see doing more damage by cutting the sheath
which won't deal with the originating problem anyway. If he wants to
be a surgeon or something needing fine manual function later, we want
to preserve as much potential function that we can. One good
by-product of this medical situation is that he has compensated for
lack of hand strength by really improving his distance and speed. So
if all goes well surgically, he will have actually improved his game
by this problem! (Yes, I am trying very hard to see the silver
lining!)

Thanks for the good wishes and good ideas about dealing with this.