Do you think your fingers are cracking and you think it’s nothing? Doctor: It could be this disease, go to the hospital for treatment immediately!

Your fingers may become swollen and painful with a cracking sound, and may even be unable to straighten once bent. This may be "mouse hand". In the early stages, mouse hand may just be painful and can be relieved by rest. If medication, rehabilitation, and injections are difficult to improve, and it seriously affects your life and work, you should consider surgical treatment to eliminate the discomfort and troubles caused by mouse hand once and for all.

If your fingers make crackling sounds or snapping sounds when you bend them, be careful of mouse hand. The official scientific name for mouse hand is "stenosing tenosynovitis of the finger flexor tendons." Doctors say that under normal circumstances, the tendons in the hand can bend and straighten at will, and there are several ring-like structures that are responsible for restricting the movement of the tendons.

If it is overused and constantly rubbed, the annular structure will easily become fibrotic and thickened, which will hinder tendon activity and affect the bending of the fingers, resulting in symptoms of mouse hand.

In the early stages of mouse hand, pain is the main symptom, and some patients may feel a bulge near the distal wrinkles of the palm.

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In more serious cases, when bending the fingers, one will feel that something is stuck and they cannot be straightened. It takes more force to open the fingers. In more serious cases, the fingers cannot be straightened on their own and must be straightened with the other hand.

When you pull your bent finger back, you often feel a "clicking" sound, just like pulling a trigger, so it is commonly known as mouse hand. The symptoms are usually more severe in the morning when you just wake up, and you often need to use your other hand to help straighten it. It will be relieved after moving around.

Chefs, people working in beauty salons and computer users are at high risk of developing mouse hand. There is no clear answer to the cause of mouse hand, but most people believe it is related to overuse. This is more common in jobs involving frequent and prolonged use of hands, such as beauty salons and chefs. It is also prone to occur in office workers who use computers for long periods of time.

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In addition, patients with diabetes and rheumatoid disease are also at high risk. Mouse hand occurs more frequently in women than in men. The exact cause is unknown, but it may be related to hormones or lifestyle habits.

It is more common in people in their 40s and 50s and rarely occurs in their 20s. Children may also develop mouse hand, but it is caused by structural problems and is different from the condition in adults.

Mouse hand often occurs on the thumb, middle finger, and ring finger. It does not necessarily appear on only one finger. In the outpatient clinic, we often see patients with mouse hand problems on multiple fingers at the same time. And it is not limited to the dominant hand, but also occurs on both hands.

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If rehabilitation and injections are not effective, surgical treatment can be performed. If mouse hand symptoms occur, you can go to the rehabilitation department or orthopedics department. If the symptoms are mild, it is recommended to adjust your lifestyle habits, including hot compresses, giving your fingers more rest, and avoiding frequent bending, grasping, and overuse of your fingers.

You can also undergo rehabilitation treatments such as ultrasound and wax therapy. At the same time, wear protective gear to force the affected area to rest. If necessary, the doctor can prescribe anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs.

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If the above methods still do not improve the condition, local steroid injections may be considered to relieve inflammation and reduce swelling. However, the effectiveness depends on the severity of the finger and can usually last for 3 to 6 months. If the pain is severe, the effect of the injection will be shortened and surgical treatment will still be recommended.

The chance of recurrence after surgery is low. The principle of surgery is to open the ring structure to relax it so that the finger will not get stuck when moving. If the tendon can be completely relaxed after surgery, there will be almost no recurrence and the cure rate is very high. Surgery can be divided into traditional surgery and minimally invasive surgery:

◎ Traditional surgery: Anesthesia is required to open the annular structure, and the wound is about one centimeter. The traditional method has a wound, so compared with minimally invasive surgery, there is a higher risk of postoperative infection and pain, but the tendon and annular structure can be fully seen, so the surgery will be safer, the chance of injuring the tendon is low, and the tendon can be completely relaxed.

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◎Minimally invasive surgery: Use a normal injection needle to cut off the ring-shaped structure, but because you cannot see directly, it may not be cut off completely, causing mouse hand to recur. However, with the use of a needle, the surgical wound is extremely small, and no sutures or stitches need to be removed, and recovery is relatively fast. Many patients who do not have much time to rest due to work will choose minimally invasive surgery.

There is no problem if the needle is chosen well, but it is also possible that the tendon or peripheral nerves may be injured if the needle is not chosen well. Therefore, it is important to choose a specialist with skilled and experienced skills.

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Other common complications include nerve injury and excessive relaxation of the annular structure. Nerve injury often occurs in the thumb because the sensory nerve of the thumb passes not far in front of the tendon. If minimally invasive needle picking is used, it is easy to injure this nerve. Therefore, minimally invasive surgery is not recommended for the thumb.

Excessive relaxation of the annular structure may cause the tendon to deviate from its original path, causing the tendon to float when the finger is bent, resulting in poor finger movement.

Move your fingers more after surgery to avoid adhesion. Doctors say that in addition to taking care of the wound after surgery, the biggest concern is adhesion at the surgical site. Some patients are very afraid of pain after surgery or are very concerned about the wound not healing well, so they don't move their hands at all after surgery, leading to tendon adhesion.

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Therefore, doctors will remind patients with mouse hand to do some moderate hand movements after surgery. Nurses will teach them how to do it. They must not be afraid of pain and dare not move their hands. Otherwise, once adhesion occurs, they may not be able to fully straighten their hands. Severe adhesion may require rehabilitation to help improve the condition.

Some patients with more severe symptoms had problems with finger joint contracture before surgery, and they also need active rehabilitation to improve finger movement.

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If you can take good care of yourself in the early stages, you can reduce the risk of worsening. The most important thing is to reduce the overuse of your hands. However, many people are unable to move less due to their work, especially in the hairdressing industry. It is recommended to wear protective gear at all times to reduce injuries. You can also do moderate massage, hot compresses, and stretching exercises, such as pulling your five fingers back or stretching your fingers.

Mouse hand is a very common disease. If it recurs but is not treated, the chances of requiring surgery will increase. Therefore, as long as you experience pain or a stuck finger, you should see a doctor and seek the best treatment.

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