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