Swollen Finger

I seem to have been spending a lot of time in the banking hall lately. Today the teller who was processing a sterling dividend cheque for me (“can’t stage musicals without checkies!”) had a grotesquely swollen middle finger on her right hand – it was like a cartoon finger – and the one next to it looked like it was going the same way. It wasn’t reddened or anything, it was as if something glandular had gone wrong. The poor thing. I wanted to ask what caused it, but I suppose it would have been rude. Surely in this day and age, there must be something they can do to cure this kind of thing?