Since coming home from the driving range last week, the pinkie finger on my right hand has been agony. The pain has died down greatly, but the "first joint" in the pinkie finger (the one immediately above the nail) can be felt "locking" and needs to be forced to "unlock". There's no pain accompanying the locking of the joint, and it's doesn't take a lot of force to unlock it. There's what feels like a dull rubbing kind of click when the joint bends.
I was quite rigourous at the range, hitting some 350 balls ... along with trying out different handed grips.
Has anyone else experienced this when beginning their golfing?
What you seem to be describing is a possible "trigger finger," though the "locking" happens at the base of the metacarpophalangeal joint which is the joint right next to the palm at the base of the digit - is this what you were referring to?
Trigger finger is the result of inflammation of the tendon sheath which surrounds the tendons as it glides back and forth. As the sheath gets inflamed, it "catches" under a pulley that surrounds the tendon (kind of like a Mac truck trying to get under a bridge that is too big)...
In any case, if this is what you have, then a physician may inject a small amount of steroids to suppress the inflammation - I recommend going to a hand surgeon for this...let me know if I can be of anymore help!
Is there a doctor in the house? Excellent diagnosis EPARK99!
The suggestion to remove the digit reminds me of Ronnie Lott, the Hall of Fame Linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers. During a game he had his half his pinkie finger crushed by a cleat. In the locker room the doc's told him the could repair the finger and he could return to play in a few weeks or remove the finger tip and he could return for the 2nd half.
He has one less fingernail to trim.
Last edited by ENYO : December 30th, 2004 at 01:55 AM.
Is there a doctor in the house? Excellent diagnosis EPARK99!
The suggestion to remove the digit reminds me of Ronnie Lott, the Hall of Fame Linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers. During a game he had his half his pinkie finger crushed by a cleat. In the locker room the doc's told him the could repair the finger and he could return to play in a few weeks or remove the finger tip and he could return for the 2nd half.
He has one less fingernail to trim.
Smart decision by Ronnie Lott....replanted digits often take months and months of therapy and rarely do functional results return close to normal...
even a dislocated finger joint can be swollen for up to a year....
keep those intricate hands safe!!!!!!!!!!!! after all we don't want our golf game to suffer....
I've used the interlock for 40 years without a problem... with my fingers, not my swing, that is.
Actually, I used the interlocking grip for many years as well with few problems, but when I started spending a lot more time at the range, I began having terrible pain in that pinky. Perhaps advancing age made my arthritic joints protest more than ever before. Perhaps my increased strength from a weight-training program produced additional force on that interlocking part of the grip. Whatever the cause, I had to go to the overlap or stop playing.
I found that the change was for the better--a lot better!
I found that the change was for the better--a lot better!
I fooled around with the overlap at the range once just for the heck of it but it felt like I had no control of the club. I only hit the range about once a year now as a warm-up before playing at the beginning of the season & do most of my practicing on my short game in a field out back. Who knows what advancing age may bring. I already had some back aches towards the end of the season... but I think that had to do with getting away from the crunches & other exercizes I used to do... one of my New Years resolutions. :nodsmiley
i have the same problem on my left pinky. I can make a fist and when i open my hand the pinky stays down. I need to lift it to get it unlocked. It does not hurt when playing but does in the morning. I think this happened many years ago when I was learning the grip and clenched the club. I would really like if it did not do this.
I had that problem as well after hitting a zillion balls, experimenting with grips... a doctor suggested injecting cortizone to shrink the tendon, but thankfully, while deliberating, it started to subside. Cortizone sort of "eats away" at the tendon (for lack of the real term...) so you can't do it more than a couple of times... that thought kept me from following through as well... R & R worked for me...
I've gone through this all my golf life. All I do now is wear two gloves for a while and ignore the pain, stiffness, and swelling. Rest never helped me - the finger would just flare up again right away - I just played through it. **** - there were mornings went my fingers needed to be manipulated just to un-claw them! A little ibuphoben(sp) or aspirin and keep grinding and sure enough it would rectify itself somehow. Of couse down the road I'd mis-hit an iron and have the turgid finger(s) again for awhile. ****, I have an ancient friend who plays with arthritic "claws" and doesn't even complain - "Certainly," I told myself, "if he can play with those crippled hands I can play with a sore finger or two." -IH
Last edited by ForgedRbest : May 29th, 2006 at 03:10 PM.
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December 29th, 2004, 07:15 PM
- there were mornings went my fingers needed to be manipulated just to un-claw them! A little ibuphoben(sp) or aspirin and keep grinding and sure enough it would rectify itself somehow. Of couse down the road I'd mis-hit an iron and have the turgid finger(s) again for awhile. ****
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