I was going downstairs to get E some milk in the middle of the night and tripped on something. I reached out to stop myself from falling and totally jammed my finger. It is now twice as big as my other middle finger and black and blue. It is painful to the touch and to bend. I didn't hear it pop or break or anything. Do you think that it requires medical care? I have it taped to my ring finger right now. I'd rather not go in if they aren't going to do anything, but I also don't want to fuck it up.
There really is very little they can do for a broken finger except tape it to the neighboring finger. There are braces you can buy as well, and it would probably be worth the $1 investment. I'd skip the dr.
Post by gibbinator on Sept 18, 2014 15:10:33 GMT -5
As long as it doesn't look obviously like a bone is in a crazy place, there's little the Dr can do. I broke my pinky in college when my hand accidentally ended up between a wall and a guy's fist (truly an accident!). I just taped it to my ring finger. It took about 3 months to move normally. It wouldn't hurt to get an x-ray thiut
If it's broken there might be something they do depending on the break. Sometimes surgery is indicated for a finger break, I'm not saying that's the case here, but there are things done for certain breaks. The only way to know if it's broken is to get an xray.
I've broken my fingers multiple times and I knew right away because I couldn't move the finger below the break. I've had casts, splints and pt for various breaks.
Post by nonsenseabound on Sept 18, 2014 15:22:50 GMT -5
I'd ice it and give it a day. My mom broke her finger in three places and there was very little they could do. She eventually had to have wires put in but they couldn't even do that until the swelling went down.
Oh no! Go to the orthopedist and get it checked out. Sooner is better than later. It may not be broken, just badly sprained.
MH dislocated my pinky finger almost 2 months when he went to grab hold of my hand - just a total freak accident. My finger swelled up to 2-3 times its normal size. I splinted and taped it for a few weeks and it still didn't look right, so I went to the orthopedist. They took X-rays to confirm it wasn't broken. I've been going to physical therapy twice a week to try and regain my range of motion and strength. It's still swollen and bruised, but getting better. It still doesn't fully extend and I have a splint that I wear to bed. The dr said it could stay swollen for up to 6 months, which seems crazy.
I tripped over a suitcase on the floor and rammed my hand into the footboard of my old bed. I broke my ring and middle finger. All that was done at the hospital was that my fingers were taped together to splint each other after xrays were taken to see the break.
The break did cause my knuckles to swell quite a bit and it took a long time before I was able to get my ring back on my finger. Fortunately, I took it off before I had tripped or it would have had to be cut off of me.
Post by delawarejen on Sept 19, 2014 9:58:28 GMT -5
I'd get it checked out. I had an exterior door slam shut on my finger as a kid and broke it (in addition to damaging the nail, so I had to go in anyway). I did have a cast for a while. If it's nothing, at least you'll know.
Pretty much the same. I had a meeting last night, but think I will go in this afternoon since it is still as swollen and still pretty painful. Thanks for asking!
Post by patches31709 on Sept 19, 2014 11:24:31 GMT -5
I broke my pinkie - I wasn't paying attention when holding our dog's leash, he pulled to chase something, and the leash wrapped around my pinkie. It hurt a lot for a few minutes, I think I even sort of blacked out for a second, but then it wasn't so bad. Except I couldn't bend it. It was a good 6 weeks later when I saw an ortho because I still couldn't bend it. I thought I damaged a tendon or something, but they took xrays and I had broken it. They would have done surgery on it but it was too late by then, and luckily I had bought a finger splint at the pharmacy so it was healing ok on its own. I did end up in physical therapy though so that I could actually get it to bend again.
Post by bostonmichelle on Sept 19, 2014 14:59:44 GMT -5
That stinks! I broke my pinkie once when I was little. It was definitely broken. I got put in a cast for 6 weeks, I think(?). I would get it checked ouot.