Talk to me about broken finger experiences. My daughter broke her finger 18 days ago but we only learned today that it is broken š¬š¬
Still have to wait until Wednesday am to see the ortho doc. What am I looking at? Arm cast? Splint? How long is typical to be sitting out of sports and gym? She is 9 if it matters and was her index finger.
Iām sure someone will have more experience. I wanted to share what NOT to do. I broke my middle and index fingers in HS. I was so focused on getting back to playing volleyball that I didnāt take care of it like I should. I splinted it until the swelling went down, then went back to playing too soon. 20 years later, my fingers have lumps on them and ache often, especially when the weather changes.
Please remind her that sitting out right now stinks, but itās far better than living with a nagging ache forever. Itās just not worth it. I hope it heals quickly and fully!
Iām sure someone will have more experience. I wanted to share what NOT to do. I broke my middle and index fingers in HS. I was so focused on getting back to playing volleyball that I didnāt take care of it like I should. I splinted it until the swelling went down, then went back to playing too soon. 20 years later, my fingers have lumps on them and ache often, especially when the weather changes.
Please remind her that sitting out right now stinks, but itās far better than living with a nagging ache forever. Itās just not worth it. I hope it heals quickly and fully!
Thanks!
Sadly she has been playing basketball, gym and recess for the last two weeks since we didnāt know it was broke. I feel awful that I let her play for so long. I had no idea it was broken! Everything I read online said a jammed finger could hurt for several months so I thought was normal š¤¦š¼āāļø
I broke my thumb. The urgent care doctor originally said it wasnāt but the specialist said it was. I had a splint for a few weeks/month? I donāt exactly remember, it was when I was in high school. It was no big deal.
Sadly she has been playing basketball, gym and recess for the last two weeks since we didnāt know it was broke. I feel awful that I let her play for so long. I had no idea it was broken! Everything I read online said a jammed finger could hurt for several months so I thought was normal š¤¦š¼āāļø
Donāt beat yourself up about it. Itās really hard to tell the difference...until it doesnāt heal (or obviously X-rays). Youāre addressing it now, and thatās what matters. Hopefully, theyāll just be able to set it and splint it and then wait for it to heal. Iād imagine a lot depends on where itās broken.
I jammed each finger on both hands over the years. Iām sure some were broken. My dad (GP) had us ice it and use finger splints.
How big a fracture is it? Hair line fractures heal in 2-4 weeks. Worse breaks take 6 weeks. Once healed, you just ease back in. The muscles are weak from immobilization but the bones are fine.
Oh, donāt feel bad about not knowing! My parents treated all injured fingers the same. I also fell around 11 and my wrist hurt a lot. I could bend it but I couldnāt turn my hand from palm up to palm down. I complained for several days before they finally took me to a doctor. Yup - broken.
Itās hard with some of these injuries. You know now - all that matters!
I fractured my index finger in high school. I think my mom took me to the urgent care 3-4 days after the fact. It's hard to know. It was in a splint for 2-3 weeks and taped to my middle finger for another 2-3 weeks.
As for treatment, it's going to depend on the kind of break and where. When I broke my thumb, it was right where the thumb meets the hand. I had to be casted for 6 weeks, basically "light duty" for 6 weeks and then I was back to normal. When I broke my pinky finger, I literally just buddy taped it and was on restrictions for 4 weeks. Luckily fingers are small bones and do heal relatively quickly. In the case of your daughter, I'd venture to guess she will be close to back to normal around 6 weeks, but that's just a guess.
I broke my middle finger and had it splinted to the one next to it for about 6 weeks. It's been over 20 years and you can still tell where I broke it because it has a funky little curve toward the joint by the nail.
Post by patches31709 on Dec 11, 2018 9:56:32 GMT -5
I broke my pinkie. The initial pain was horrendous for a few minutes, but then it wasn't terrible so I didn't think I broke it. About a month later, I still couldn't bend it so I went to see a hand specialist, who said that he would have recommended surgery if I had seen him immediately. I ended up in a splint for a few more weeks, then did a month or two of therapy. The therapy was crucial in my getting use of it back. That said, it's still crooked and ugly and hurts sometimes.
Each experience is different. In high school we were using the weight room during a rotation in gym class. Someone bumped a stack of weights and some fell on my fingertips. Several fingertips cracked, and I had to wear these strange protective plastic sleeves over my fingers for about a month. (Basically hollow plastic fingers.) There was some sort of splinting over that.
Sometimes you just need buddy tape, other times you need some type of splint or cast.
We have been buddy taping it since it happened so at least we were on the right track with that.
Her basketball team is going to let her be a ājunior managerā for the rest of the season since it sounds like she will prob be out for most/all of it.
And I will be saving a bunch of $$$ not paying for piano lessons for a bit so thatās a bonus haha!
Will see the ortho tomorrow but glad to have a general idea of what to expect.
To follow up - we saw a PA today and I was not impressed. She looks at it, poked it a few times, asked her to make a fist.
Then she gave her a squeeze ball and told her to use that whenever she wants for the next two weeks and should be fine. š can resume all normal activity after 2 weeks and doesnāt need to be seen again.
I have an appointment with a hand doc for her later in the week who I hope does a more thorough job. Even if the outcome is the same I would prefer that someone spend a bit more time with us and act interested in my kidās hand.
To follow up - we saw a PA today and I was not impressed. She looks at it, poked it a few times, asked her to make a fist.
Then she gave her a squeeze ball and told her to use that whenever she wants for the next two weeks and should be fine. š can resume all normal activity after 2 weeks and doesnāt need to be seen again.
I have an appointment with a hand doc for her later in the week who I hope does a more thorough job. Even if the outcome is the same I would prefer that someone spend a bit more time with us and act interested in my kidās hand.
Did they take x-rays? Glad you are getting a follow up. In high school, my sister broke her nose playing lacrosse. The first doctor said it was fine, but later we learned that it had been broken and thus never set correctly.