Do you have pain in your thumb, first (index) finger and middle finger as well as your palm on the same side of your hand? You might be very surprised to discover which muscle can cause these symptoms.
Turn your hand so your palm faces forward and your thumb points away from your body. Beside feeling the pain in your thumb and first two fingers, do you also feel it in your lower arm (more toward the thumb side) and in your upper arm (more toward your armpit) and below your collar bone?
Ah-ha! Then the muscle that is causing your pain is the subclavius. That muscle is located in back of (behind) your collar bone.
Trigger points are highly irritable places in muscles which cause pain elsewhere, sometimes at a far distance. I call them crabby places. The trigger point which is causing your
finger and thumb pain is in the subclavius muscle on the same side as your pain. (‘Subclavius’ means behind your collar bone.)
How can you get rid of it?
Well, the trigger point is located pretty much in line with your nipple, straight up and behind your collar bone. A skilled massage therapist can press into this trigger point and cause it to relax.
You, too, or a friend you recruit, could press into this muscle. The pressure would be applied from below the collar bone upward toward the back side of the collar bone. The “tool” that works well is a finger.
If the pressure feels way too uncomfortable to you, use less pressure and allow the muscles and surrounding tissues to soften and relax more before pressing into the subclavius muscle. When working in this area, you may be surprised at all of the sensations that occur in your chest, hand and arm.
If you go to the Massage Category here you will find an article on how to locate a massage therapist who can help you with this. Just “fill in the blanks” to fit your situation when you interview him or her.
Another option is to get the blue self-help Trigger Point book by Claire Davies. Available at your local library or book store or Amazon. It is simple to read and use and will show you exactly where to press to get rid of all kinds of pain. It’s worth its weight in gold.
By treating the trigger point that causes this pain pattern, you can get rid of the pain in your arm, chest, thumb and first two fingers on the palm side.