Trigger Finger (Stenosing Tenosynovitis)

Your finger locks. You bend it — and it gets stuck, as if someone has built in a brake. When you then force it straight, it snaps back with a jerk, sometimes accompanied by a sharp pain. The tendon that should move the finger no longer glides smoothly through its sheath. It has thickened, the tendon sheath is swollen, and what was once a fluid movement has become a laboured struggle.

Medically this is called Tendovaginitis stenosans — a narrowing of the tendon sheath that obstructs the free gliding of the flexor tendon. It is usually treated with cortisone, splinting, or surgery. But the psychosomatic question goes deeper: what in your life has stiffened so much that even your fingers can no longer let go freely?

Your finger is showing you what your consciousness does not yet want to see: you are holding onto something — with a force that is blocking you yourself.