Effective Natural Remedies for Trigger Finger Relief

Borax for Trigger Finger

I had it in my middle finger for over a year and wearing a splint does nothing. Borax is the winner! I would say it's about 90% gone. The only thing I notice is that when trying to open a tight lid on a jar, sometimes I get a twinge. But no more stiffness, pain or waking up with a bent finger. I take the borax protocol for arthritis (which worked a miracle on my very painful shoulders in less than a week) and fixing the trigger finger was a pleasant side effect. It took longer for the finger to get better than the shoulders. I take 1/4 teaspoon in a litter of water and feel like its more effective for me if I drink 25% at a time, spaced throughout the day. By the way, I am a woman, 5'6 125 lbs but I am very comfortable with the man's dosage because I had a lot of inflammation.

Borax protocol for trigger finger

75 mg Boron tablets are available through Hakala company named BOROTAB.

I think the same thing is happening to me, as I started to eat one orange a day and started to get trigger finger. I am wondering if the orange supplies magnesium or potassium or both? I remember reading about someone eating oranges to supply one of those minerals and suggesting that you eat a little sea salt, to not unbalance the minerals, just a thought. I will start to eat a little salt with my oranges and see if that would fix it.

Correlation does not imply causation. I highly recommend distilled water. Please do not go back to your municipal supply. I've provided a few links that will hopefully clarify some of the misnomers behind distilled water and reasons why people should be drinking it.

Tap water analysis- Three reason why I drink distilled water https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7d2Q4ONZJM

Distilled water - What doctors and people say https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27Xqfz5wZY8&t=696s

"Fluoride: Poison on tap" https://www.vissestormdds.com/news/44-fluoride-poison-on-tap-full-documentary

People should get their minerals from food, not water.

Use magnesium glycinate which does not affect the intestines. Mag. oxide is horrible and of virtually no health effect. I think magnesium citrate might be safe as well.

I'm thrilled to report that Ted's borax protocol, 1/8th teaspoon of borax in 1 liter of water sipped throughout the day, has been helping my trigger finger which I had been unable to bend since April. It took 3 weeks on the protocol to start seeing results. It happened quickly. All of a sudden, I could bend my thumb again. It's no longer stuck in a straight position and popping when I bend it!

I'd say it's 60% better at this point. If I stop the borax for even just a day, my thumb starts to stiffen up again, so I have NOT been taking any days off (per the protocol).

Amazing results as Trigger Finger supposedly has no "cure." I have tried many supplements over the past 3 years for my thumb. Surgery was my next option as I have already had 2 cortisone shots that wore off. P5P, the recommended supplement for trigger finger, did not help at all.

Update 1/15/2024:

The borax protocol 100% worked on my trigger thumb. It took about 6 months to diminish the inflammation to the point I could easily bend my thumb again. I cut back on the borax protocol at the 6-month point, only doing it a few times a month when my fingers start to feel stiff. Works within a day. This is the BEST fix for a trigger finger. I tried them all!

The bandaid method worked for me. It took a long time before I could take it off and leave it off, but it worked. I believe that my other thumb is doing it now too. It's actually not clicking/locking, but it's seriously painful. I was in so much pain, I didn't know where to turn past alternating Advil with Voltaren gel. A brace didn't work nor a bandage wrap, so I decided to try a bandaid on it just for the heck of it. I put it right over the knuckle like I did on my other hand. In that way, I can't bend it. It worked. The pain subsided as soon as I got it on there. What a relief! On first trigger thumb, I also used the new surgical tape that's out there. It's a tan color, and I think it's possibly breathable. I wrapped that around several times and that worked well. It would eventually get dirty and start to come off because of working and getting it wet, but it worked. The bandaids did pretty much the same thing. I've even used both, including waterproof bandaids. What didn't work was the old-fashioned white surgical tape. My skin dried out so badly that it left a long cut across my skin (as if I wasn't in enough pain already).

I had trigger finger for about a year, some days it worse than others. And then, it magically went away on its own. Then after a few days, it magically came back. Then it magically disappeared again!!

What did I do differently in the days when it went away? I simply stopped drinking keurig Coffee for about a week. I thought, maybe it's the BPA in the plastic, so using a french press, I made some coffee which came from a Keurig pod. Next morning the Trigger Finger was back. It's definitely the coffee!! Why, I don't know, but coffee has small traces of mold in it and I believe that's the cause.

Hi Tanya,

Yes, various water filtration devices can certainly pull essential vitamins and minerals from the body, so we all need to be watchful of that.

Please look into the research for high dose Vitamin B-6 for trigger finger. It can take up to 6 months for it to work depending on how bad your fingers are when you start, but there is research dating back decades showing that carpal tunnel and trigger finger are caused by b-6 deficiency caused by hormonal changes, especially in women. There's a great book on the subject called Vitamin B-6 Therapy by John Ellis, MD published in 1999 that anyone with these issues should read.

I had to go in for a second cortisone shot a couple of weeks ago in just one thumb, which got triggered (!) again from lifting my heavy elderly dog... The shot takes a couple of weeks to kick in, but helps immensely. I am just finishing up my first month of B-6 therapy, but hoping it will do the trick. My other thumb is fine now, no more symptoms.

Wishing you fast healing!

Okay that's fascinating because I also have a stainless steel Berkey with the black Berkey filters and my issue started around the same time. I'm going to try drinking the municipal water and see if it makes a difference.

Thank you for the due diligence and the update, it is appreciated!

I know B-6 helps trigger finger and this is interesting by Eric Berg on Trigger finger:

How to Get Rid of Trigger Finger Pain | Dr.Berg - YouTube

Can you please let me know which hand held vibrator you used? Is it small enough for children? Thanks

Hi! I was wondering if you also had a hard nodule at the base of the finger which prevented the tendon from sliding. Where did you learn about the sesame oil? I am wondering if it would also help with pediatric trigger finger. Thanks!

Trigger finger seems to be a vitamin B6 deficiency. My mom had a severe case for years. She could not bend her finger and had pain. I began giving her vitamin B6 in P-5-P (pyridoxal-5-phosphate) form. 50 mg 3x/day. Within a few weeks all pain was gone and she had full movement. I then reduced her dose to 50mg twice a day and still no symptoms. Truly a miracle! This remedy is also good for carpal tunnel syndrome.

Hello. I had trigger finger really bad a year ago. Tried everything on this site. Did not work. I did more research and Pyridoxal 5 Phosphate (P5P) WORKS....gone gone! I took 3 a day for 7 months and GONE. I still take 1 a day and I have absolutely no stiffness. Get it at a health food store. May help arthritus.

Yesterday after a nap my right 3rd finger was stuck closed. Helped it open with my other hand; it hurt like crazy, even when rubbing it. Came to EC, read about the bromelain. Took 1 capsule and an hour later, I realized the symptoms were gone. This is the 3rd time this has happened in about 3 months. I applied castor oil with frankincense which helped a bit – the pain and stiffness lasted about 3 days – but the bromelain was amazing!

I had experienced severe TF locking in both hands when waking in the morning and frequent 'locks' during the day. I had been trying natural treatments but none ever worked as decisively and definitely as a comfrey poultice. My TF became significantly reduced overnight, both in frequency and intensity. I began making comfrey ointments for the direct purpose of treating TF symptoms.

I went to an orthopedic surgeon several years ago who told me to come back when it got worse. I've never been back and continue to apply a comfrey-based ointment regularly (3-4x weekly) to manage my symptoms. Pulling a cork from a wine bottle will cause one finger on my left hand to fire/lock.

Using a comfrey-based topical ointment often offers fast response as there is little body mass in the hand to fully diffuse the benefit of, methinks, the mucilage that comfrey carries with it. Comfrey is also a natural source of allantoin which encourages cell-growth. Although a direct poultice seems to offer the most benefit, this fresh type of treatment is not possible for most folks.

A comfrey-based topical ointment is an excellent substitute.

Hi, I'm so glad I saw your note. I have trigger finger on and off lately, I'm 53 and it started a couple years ago. I haven't had trigger finger in a long time but it came back today and I had 2 small oranges yesterday, for the first time in weeks. Thanks so much, I would have never made the connection myself.

This is fascinating Deirdre.

What type of water did you start drinking instead?

I've been drinking Berkey filtered tap water for years. Might be a good idea to change things up for a while!

I want to give an update to my trigger thumb issue that I wrote about last summer. I tried many of the remedies listed on EC, topically and internally, and none helped at all. After one of my thumbs basically froze in place because the tendon was so inflamed, I decided to see a hand specialist about it at the end of September. He gave me a cortisone shot in each thumb and said it would take several weeks to heal. There was definitely improvement after about 3 weeks, however the rest of my fingers were still feeling oddly arthritic.

As mentioned in my first post on the subject, besides a possible karate training injury, I had also purchased a Berkey Stainless Steel Water Filtration canister and started drinking the amazingly purified water right around the same time the trigger and arthritis finger symptoms appeared out of the blue.

Well, when healing was still moving very slowly a month after the cortisone shot, I decided to stop drinking the filtered water from my Berkey just to rule it out. Well guess what. Within a few days, all arthritis and trigger finger symptoms in both hands COMPLETELY disappeared!

People often mention to avoid distilled water because it can deplete critical nutrients from your body. However they rarely mention the same about purified water. Just wanted to put it out there that if you have sudden onset of arthritis in your hands (or elsewhere for that matter) or trigger finger, you might want to change your drinking water source and see if that helps.

It was an easy fix, but took a few months to figure out!

I hope this information helps someone else.

Wanna bet? If I use too much mag oil it triggers my ibsd. Be careful and start slow.

Trying massaging with magnesium oil. That will not give you diarrhea.

I have had much success with bromalein for my trigger finger which I took for a year...Trying now to supplement with pineapple juice now to sustain. Haven't done that enough yet....but a trigger maybe once a week isn't bad. Trying to boost the juice. How much does one need? What exercises?

I went to a chiropractor in Astoria NY. The ganglion cyst was on my right hand between the wrist and the hand. All he did was massage the wrist part and said he was going to make my body parts talking to each other. In one day the cyst diminished by 50 percent. In one week it was gone. He said there is a disconnect due to overuse of the wrist and hand. Now I am developing trigger finger in my pinky on right hand and finger in left hand next to ring finger. I am taping them and ill start taking magnesium malate and vitamin c. Hopefully I'll see results.

1 teaspoon MSM crystals, mixed in 2 or 3 ounces of water, 1 UC-II (standardized chicken cartilage - providing undenatured type II collagen - 10 mg). (take on an empty stomach), and 6-500 mg capsules of PABA. My thumb was frozen and useless.

Used the dried leaves of the sour sop tree. 15 leaves boiled in three cups of water till it reduces to one. Twice a day for a month.

Yes, surgery does work each time for the current problem . My spouse has had multiple fingers operated on and had the ulnar nerve from the elbow moved over. Now many years later those same fingers are starting to trigger again. He won't try any natural cures to get to the root of the problem, so now he will need more surgery. As his wife, I hate to see him keep getting cut instead of looking for the cause of the problem. I call this the tip of the iceberg and it is stressful that the medical community is scratching the surface and not finding any permanent solutions. I guess it makes a lot of jobs for the medical community.

I realize this post is 4 years old but for others in the same position I wanted to add this: I have had 3 trigger finger surgeries and 2 for Dequervain's tenosynovitis. All successfully cured the stenosising tenosynovitis. I had complications on one surgery with a cyst that debeloped at the base of one finger after surgery that has caused considerable pain and as it is over the tendon interferes with the finger straightening fully. I have it drained at the doctor's office and this helps considerably. I would recommend surgery for anyone with this condition if it is what your doctor recommends. It does work and the majority of time without any sort of complications. This individual's experience and my one with the cyst are the exceptions and not the rule, and will not prevent me from getting further surgery if required. Surgery does work and the relief from triggering and its resultant pain is almost immediate.

I've noticed that eating oranges gives me trigger finger. Always eaten oranges and drank orange juice. Started to get trigger finger in my 50's stopped eating oranges, no more trigger finger. This may not be the case for everyone but it's definitely cured mine. I did actually try oranges again, after eating two oranges in 1 day, trigger finger started to come back. Stopped again, trigger fingers gone away, too much of a coincidence. Even if this helps a few of you it's worth posting.

How many mg did you take of the bromelain for the trigger finger?

For trigger finger, try taking the bromelain on an empty stomach with water. If you take it with meals, it will digest your food rather than working on healing your trigger finger.

How did you make the tea from the flesh and hot water?

I never had any results with acupuncture,, Had it once for sinus problems and was super painful....Has anyone tried B6 ...has to be activated form ....I am going to try today,,, I have one index finger I cant bend and one ring finger that has painful trigger locking symptoms early in am when wake up

For trigger finger, try holding ice on it to relieve the inflammation, that worked for me.

I already drink distilled water and it hasn't done anything to help my trigger thumb and middle finger on my left hand. Last year, I had surgery on my right thumb to address triggering of that thumb.

Be sure to eat a little something before if you use the oregano oil mix. It can be hard on some people's stomachs...and start with one drop and work your way up. Never take pure oregano oil straight, it will burn like crazy.

I did 5 drops pure oregano oil and 2 teaspoons sesame oil in 1/4 cup warm water. I was doing this for a while and then switched to just the sesame oil.

From personal experience, I am also a huge advocate for raw foods for any ailments, staying alkaline and MSM and turmeric for arthritic symptoms.

I strongly encourage you to not seek out surgery. Seek wisdom. Your body was created to heal, you just have to feed it with the things it needs to do its job and cleanse from things you shouldn't have fed it. It is a wonderful machine that was created to run on certain things. Provide it the right tools to do it's job.

Ganglions are fluid fill sacs. If you don't disrupt the sac they usually return. Surgery is an option where the sac is removed or if you break the sac I.e. smash with a book you must apply direct pressure for a few weeks with a pressure dressing to hopefully prevent the sac from forming again.

I've had trigger finger in my thumb for several months. It was stiff and very painful. I was not able to bend it at all. Then I ran across the suggestion here to try bromelian. I ordered it the same day. In about two days, I could wiggle my thumb a little. It's been two weeks now and I have full range of motion in my thumb and no pain. It still clicks some, but at this rate, I'm sure it will be fully healed soon. I have tried so many things that didn't help at all. It was very demoralizing to have so much thumb pain because it is hard to do anything at all without using your thumb! Bromelian was like a miracle cure for me.