Side effect forces diabetics into involuntary bend and snap motion

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Diabetics who don’t control their blood sugar are experiencing a painful side effect known as trigger finger, a new study shows. 

Trigger finger is a disorder that causes a person’s finger to bend and lock. The finger stays stuck in the position until it suddenly snaps back into place. It happens when a person’s fingers become inflamed. Inflammation occurs when a diabetic’s blood glucose levels are too high–a state called hyperglycemia. 

Scientists in Sweden looked at close to 100,000 Type 1 and Type 2 diabetic men and women 18 years and older from a national diabetes registry between 2004 and 2019.

Of the group, 1,280 men and 1,629 women were diagnosed with trigger finger. Women were up to 1.26 times more likely to have trigger finger if their blood glucose levels were higher than normal. Men were up to 1.4 times more likely to have it under the same conditions. This led researchers to conclude that high long-term blood sugar levels are associated with an increased risk for trigger finger in both men and women with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. 

“Optimal treatment of diabetes seems to be of importance for prevention of diabetic hand complications such as trigger finger,” authors write in the paper. 

The study was published in the journal Diabetes Care.