Synonyms in a broader sense
Medical: Digitus saltans jumping finger, tendovaginitis de Quervain, tendon rubbing, tendon thickening, rheumatoid arthritis, jumping finger
Definition
A fast finger is usually a wear-related disease. In the course of wear and tear, the flexor tendon of the hand thickens. The tendons of the hand are connected to the bone by so-called ring ligaments.
Their task is to hold tendons to the bone when bending. During bending and stretching of the finger, the tendon passes under the ring band. If the tendon thickens in front of the ring band, the ring band can be overcome first with increased force, but then quickly. On the right you can see the typical image of a jumping finger:
- Thickened tendon node
- Ring Belt
- Flexor tendon
EpidemiologyPopulation incidence
A quick finger is more common in women than in men. Especially beyond the age of 60 it occurs more frequently. Children can also be affected by the disease, which is a congenital thickening of the tendon. The thumb is almost always affected. If your thumb is affected, we recommend our even more appropriate topic: quick thumb
Cause
A jumping finger leads to a thickening of the flexor tendon of the affected finger. In most cases, this is a process of wear and tear. As the quality of the tendon deteriorates with age, the tendon thickens in places in order to withstand the daily strain. In addition to the wear and tear process, jumping fingers are more frequently found in combination with rheumatic diseases (rheumatoid arthritis), Dupuytren’s disease and existing injuries or tendon tears.
Combination with other diseases
A springy finger often occurs with Dupuytren’s disease or carpal tunnel syndrome. In carpal tunnel syndrome, the flexor tendons of the hand also increase in size due to wear and tear. This increase in size limits the space available in the carpal tunnel and increases the pressure on a nerve (median nerve) that runs through the carpal tunnel with the tendons.
If the pressure is too high, functional disorders of the nerve become noticeable. A typical symptom is the nightly numbness of the first three fingers (thumb, index finger, middle finger). Likewise, a jumping finger occurs more frequently in combination with a sugar disease (diabetes mellitus) or rheumatic diseases (rheumatoid arthritis).
All articles in this series:
