Trigger Finger?

Well, its almost the end of my trip back to the states, as I fly out to
HK on Monday. Its been a blast, I've had some nice firsts (first
largemouth (first few hundred, actually) on a fly, got my first salmon
the other night below the dam in Bingham, went striper fishing down at
Popham for the first time (didn't get any), my first exposure to the
fabled Rapid River, and my first trip down the Allagash in a canoe.
Unfortunately, with all this paddling and casting, I seem to have
stressed the ligaments in my hands a bit, and am nursing a case of
trigger finger back to flexibility.

I haven't paddled a canoe in earnest for a few weeks, but I'm casting
my flyrod pretty much daily. My grip has evolved into the one where you
put your pointer finger along the top of the grip rather than your
thumb, and I suspect this puts some extra lateral pressure on my ring
finger. The result is that in the mornings, for about a half hour, I
cannot extend that ring finger without it 'popping' when it extends or
bends. I saw a doctor today who said it is either the first signs of
arthritis, or else it should go away as soon as I get back to my desk
job. I chose option 2.

Anyone else had experience with hand injuries or strains from fly
casting?

--riverman

"riverman" wrote in message
oups.com...

I cannot extend that ring finger without it 'popping' when it extends or
bends. I saw a doctor today who said it is either the first signs of
arthritis, or else it should go away as soon as I get back to my desk
job. I chose option 2.

Anyone else had experience with hand injuries or strains from fly
casting?

--riverman


Riverman, better the ring finger than the middle finger.
All seriousness aside, could have been from all that paddling and not the
casting grip that caused this injury.
I would get a 2nd opinion, to diagnose this as early signs of arthritis is
heavy-duty.
-tom

On 1 Aug 2006 13:47:19 -0700, "riverman" wrote:

Well, its almost the end of my trip back to the states, as I fly out to
HK on Monday. Its been a blast, I've had some nice firsts (first
largemouth (first few hundred, actually) on a fly, got my first salmon
the other night below the dam in Bingham, went striper fishing down at
Popham for the first time (didn't get any), my first exposure to the
fabled Rapid River, and my first trip down the Allagash in a canoe.
Unfortunately, with all this paddling and casting, I seem to have
stressed the ligaments in my hands a bit, and am nursing a case of
trigger finger back to flexibility.

I haven't paddled a canoe in earnest for a few weeks, but I'm casting
my flyrod pretty much daily. My grip has evolved into the one where you
put your pointer finger along the top of the grip rather than your
thumb, and I suspect this puts some extra lateral pressure on my ring
finger. The result is that in the mornings, for about a half hour, I
cannot extend that ring finger without it 'popping' when it extends or
bends. I saw a doctor today who said it is either the first signs of
arthritis, or else it should go away as soon as I get back to my desk
job. I chose option 2.

Anyone else had experience with hand injuries or strains from fly
casting?

--riverman

If you are actually rotating your wrist to get that forefinger on top of the
rod, it's no wonder the ligaments in your hand are sore.

Stop doing that!

Put your thumb on top of the rod...

/daytripper

"daytripper" wrote in message
...

If you are actually rotating your wrist to get that forefinger on top of
the
rod, it's no wonder the ligaments in your hand are sore.

Stop doing that!

Put your thumb on top of the rod...

/daytripper

I've been using the index finger on my right hand to power forward and have
never had any adverse effects?

Op

On 1 Aug 2006 13:47:19 -0700, "riverman" wrote:

Well, its almost the end of my trip back to the states, as I fly out to
HK on Monday. Its been a blast, I've had some nice firsts (first
largemouth (first few hundred, actually) on a fly, got my first salmon
the other night below the dam in Bingham, went striper fishing down at
Popham for the first time (didn't get any), my first exposure to the
fabled Rapid River, and my first trip down the Allagash in a canoe.
Unfortunately, with all this paddling and casting, I seem to have
stressed the ligaments in my hands a bit, and am nursing a case of
trigger finger back to flexibility.

I haven't paddled a canoe in earnest for a few weeks, but I'm casting
my flyrod pretty much daily. My grip has evolved into the one where you
put your pointer finger along the top of the grip rather than your
thumb, and I suspect this puts some extra lateral pressure on my ring
finger. The result is that in the mornings, for about a half hour, I
cannot extend that ring finger without it 'popping' when it extends or
bends. I saw a doctor today who said it is either the first signs of
arthritis, or else it should go away as soon as I get back to my desk
job. I chose option 2.

Anyone else had experience with hand injuries or strains from fly
casting?

--riverman

I had a very similar issue. My doctor said it was a carpel tunnel type
problem and said a shot of cortisone at the base of the finger should
help. He told me he sees the same thing in musicians a lot. The
steroid shot worked fine. It's been 6 months with no return of the
symptoms at all.

harry

riverman wrote:

Anyone else had experience with hand injuries or strains from fly
casting?

"Single malt elbow" doesn't count?

That's all I got on the subject of your post, Myron, so to hijack it a
bit, I guess you've probably already heard this math education joke:

*****

Little Zachary was doing very badly in math. His parents had tried
everything: tutors, software programs, flash cards, special learning
centers; in short, everything they could think of.

Finally, as a last resort, they took Zachary and enrolled him in the
local Catholic school.

After the first day, Zach came home with a very very serious look on his
face. He didn't even kiss his mother hello. He went straight to his
room and started studying. Books and papers spread out all over the
room, and little Zach working like a demon.

His mother was amazed. She called him to dinner. To her shock, the
minute he was done, he marched back to his room without a word and hit
the books as hard as before.

This went on for some time, day after day. His mother didn't understand
what had made the difference. Then one day, Zach brought home his
report card. He laid it on the table, went up to his room and hit the
books. His Mom looked at it and to her great surprise, saw that Zachary
had gotten an A+ in math.

She went to his room and said, "Son, what was it? Was it the nuns?"
Zachary shook his head.

"Well, then, was it the books, the discipline, the structure, the
uniforms? WHAT WAS IT???"

Zachary looked at her and said, "Well, you know, on the first day of
school, when I saw that guy nailed to the plus sign, I knew these people
weren't fooling around."


--
John Russell aka JR

On Tue, 1 Aug 2006 18:16:19 -0400, "Mr. Opus McDopus"
wrote:


"daytripper" wrote in message
.. .

If you are actually rotating your wrist to get that forefinger on top of
the
rod, it's no wonder the ligaments in your hand are sore.

Stop doing that!

Put your thumb on top of the rod...

/daytripper

I've been using the index finger on my right hand to power forward and have
never had any adverse effects?

Op

I'm thinking the kind of flyfishing one does makes a difference. Most of the
fishing I did in your neck o' the Great North State was done with only a few
feet of line out of the tiptop, with the casting consisting of very light
flicks. I can see how having the index finger on top would dampen power out of
the cast, which is probably a good thing in those circumstances, but I don't
think that translates well when fishing big water and particularly with bigger
gear. It just doesn't feel like there's any power there, compared to holding
the rod with the thumb on top of the grip.

Then again, I was first taught to hold and swing a rod like a hammer :-)

/daytripper (And every trout is a nail. Take that, Tim ;-)

I just had surgery for Trigger Finger 4.5 weeks ago. It's been a pain
in my ass for several years. Long fishing trips really wrecked it, in
addition to lots of shovel and rake work each spring.

Splint your finger and rest it for 8-10 days and see if it helps.
Don't try to work it loose, because that will irritate the tendon and
make it worse. I've had a couple of steroid injections but it's not
good to get those year after year because the cortisone softens your
tendons.

So I finally got the surgery and although it's much better, I doubt my
hand will ever quite be the same. I had to get it done or I wouldn't
have been able to function in Alaska later this month. RW and Willi
and the gang (Danl and Bevin) probably won't believe this but I'll
probably fish a little less than my normal "never stop fishing" M.O.

We'll see.

There's a newer "endoscopic" version of the trigger finger surgery that
makes for a quicker recovery. I should have done a little more
homework beforehand because that procedure is much better. I'm just
basing that on anectodal evidence and comparing my experience with a
friend's endoscopic results. Good luck. If you're just now noticing
it you've probably got a few years before it becomes really
debilitating.

bruce h

Anyone else had experience with hand injuries or strains from fly
casting?

--riverman

I think I was destined to have wrist problems. First, I worked on a
salmon farm in Maine for a while. Many people came down with carpal
tunnel syndrome while working there. I didn't but when I started, some
nights my wrists ached at night so bad it was hard to sleep. Secondly,
I play fingerpicking-style guitar. I learn a lot of Leo Kottke's tunes.
He's a real rapid fire fast fingerpicker. Well, Leo had to take 6
years off from playing because he screwed up his wrists. I am not half
the player Leo is, so I can mess up my tendons far more easily!
Flycasting has to be considered repetitive stress. I first started
noticing tingling fingers about 8 years ago during the fall runs. I was
fishing so much, and having such good success, that my carpal tunnel
couldn' t take it. So my pinkie and ring finger on my right hand feel
tingly. Finally, last winter I built a couple more bamboo fly rods.
Pushing a hand plane is strenuous work, and I developed trigger thumb.
I would notice it in the morning, and it would loosen throughout the
day. Haven't had a problem since I completed the projects, but I am
leery about staring another rod!

Pete

oh woe is me

riverman wrote:

Anyone else had experience with hand injuries or strains from fly
casting?

Have you considered learning to cast with your other hand?

I tried practicing left handed casting on my lawn a few days ago, not
because there's anything wrong with my hand, but because there are
situations where it would be an advantage. I felt extremely awkward, to
the point where I had to quit because I was afraid someone would see me. :-)

I felt like with some practice I'd get it, but I need to find a private
practice spot.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.