[Sabertooth]

How long is a broken finger meant to hurt for?

I was playing badminton in early June and my partner hit my finger. At the time it swelled up a load and hurt a lot to move but I thought it's a finger doctors won't do anything. It's the ring finger on my left hand so not particularly of use to me. Anyway, it was swollen a lot for maybe 2 weeks, and hurt a lot to straighten or bend. It's now August so 2 months later and it still hurts when I bend it - I can bend it a bit with no pain but if I bend it more than a bit it hurts maybe 4/10 so not incredibly painful but still noticeably so.

Is this normal? Is there anything I should be doing to get it to stop hurting?




ps. The really annoying thing is I'm meant to be getting married in a couple of months and now my future wedding ring doesn't go on anymore, which is slightly annoying to put it lightly. Anyone know if the swelling is likely to go down during this time or is it permanent?

[boba]

maybe you should go to the doctors since its been so long. I understand your initial reaction of "its just a finger" and not going but if it hasn't fixed itself in this long its probably time to go.

[SuperCat007]

Go to your GP, it could be a tendon or a ligament problem. Or a break. I have broken all of my fingers and they still hurt on and off years after the initial break. But I'd say if it's still swollen and you have limited movement then you really should get it checked out.

[sarcos]

Was the finger on your racquet hand or free hand?

[Sabertooth]

(Original post by SuperCat007)
Go to your GP, it could be a tendon or a ligament problem. Or a break. I have broken all of my fingers and they still hurt on and off years after the initial break. But I'd say if it's still swollen and you have limited movement then you really should get it checked out.

Yeah, if I compare my 2 ring fingers then it does still look a little swollen but I don't have limited movement I can bend it all the way it just hurts to do so. I thought tendons were in your hand not fingers?

It's not on and off pain, it's everytime I bend it, is that how your's hurt?

(Original post by sarcos)
Was the finger on your racquet hand or free hand?

Not entirely sure of the relevance but it was my free hand.

[katehlouise]

I would definitely get it checked if it's still hurting, especially if it's hurting every time you bend it. Could be that it did break and hasn't set right - that's what the splints are for!

[sarcos]

If it was on the racquet hand it would unlikely be tendon/ligament issue since there would be no movement of the hand as such.

As it was on your free hand it could have twisted the finger in an odd way, I'm sure it wouldn't take much force to damage a ligament on on of the joints in the finger if you bend it the wrong way.

From my experience ligament issues only hurt when you move the joint and breaks have like a dull ache. But you should probably get it seen to since its been 2 months, and trusting internet diagnosis is probably not the best idea.

[Sabertooth]

(Original post by sarcos)
If it was on the racquet hand it would unlikely be tendon/ligament issue since there would be no movement of the hand as such.

As it was on your free hand it could have twisted the finger in an odd way, I'm sure it wouldn't take much force to damage a ligament on on of the joints in the finger if you bend it the wrong way.

From my experience ligament issues only hurt when you move the joint and breaks have like a dull ache. But you should probably get it seen to since its been 2 months, and trusting internet diagnosis is probably not the best idea.

Ok, yeah now I see the relevance of you asking.

It's not a dull ache, it was to begin with (a dull constant ache with a much increased amount of pain when I moved it) but now it's more of a sharp constant pain for as long as it's bent.

I realize no one can diagnose what's wrong with my finger online I was asking more out of interest of whether the time frame is normal, I have absolutely no idea how long it should hurt for.

[sarcos]

Well I pretty badly sprained my ankle about a month ago (ankle hit the floor) and that's only just stopped hurting throughout its normal range of motion but can still feel it if i stretch it a bit further.

It hurt whatever i did for a couple of days. Then while it was healing it just gave a sharp pain whenever bent past a certain point but as long as it was within a smaller range of motion and there wasn't significant force on the ankle it didn't hurt.

This sounds like a similar thing although yours seems to have persisted longer, so it could be a partially torn ligament or maybe worse. I recommend you get it checked out as soon as is convenient since my opinion is just unfounded guesses.

[SuperCat007]

(Original post by Sabertooth)
Yeah, if I compare my 2 ring fingers then it does still look a little swollen but I don't have limited movement I can bend it all the way it just hurts to do so. I thought tendons were in your hand not fingers?

It's not on and off pain, it's everytime I bend it, is that how your's hurt?




Not entirely sure of the relevance but it was my free hand.

You have tendons almost everywhere. But certainly they're in your fingers... How do you think your fingers have the range of movement they have without tendons and ligaments??

Have you been keeping it immobilised for extended periods of time? If you have the pain could be associated with the tendons shortening due to lack of use. Either way if you're worried make a non-urgent appointment with the GP and just get it checked. It can't hurt...

[Sabertooth]

(Original post by SuperCat007)
You have tendons almost everywhere. But certainly they're in your fingers... How do you think your fingers have the range of movement they have without tendons and ligaments??

Have you been keeping it immobilised for extended periods of time? If you have the pain could be associated with the tendons shortening due to lack of use. Either way if you're worried make a non-urgent appointment with the GP and just get it checked. It can't hurt...

I dunno how it moves....I just thought well you can see the ones in your hands but not in your fingers

You don't think the GP will be pissed I took an appointment to ask about a sore finger?

[SuperCat007]

(Original post by Sabertooth)
I dunno how it moves....I just thought well you can see the ones in your hands but not in your fingers

You don't think the GP will be pissed I took an appointment to ask about a sore finger?

What do you think GP's are there for?! General purpose questions and worries, if they're annoyed you need to find yourself a new doctor. They'll only be annoyed if you go to A&E or something like that and waste their time!

[boba]

(Original post by Sabertooth)
I dunno how it moves....I just thought well you can see the ones in your hands but not in your fingers

You don't think the GP will be pissed I took an appointment to ask about a sore finger?

A&E would be annoyed if you turned up there when you could of just went to your GP.. but no your doctor wouldn't be annoyed. if something has been hurting that long going to the doctors is sensible.

[David.B]

Go to your GP to get it checked, but if he refers you for an x-ray i'd go to A&E myself rather than getting an appointment through your doctor as it'll take a lot longer, took me 2 weeks for an appointment and then they sent the results back to my doctor rather than dealing with me at the hospital.