Played basketball this morning. First pass of the day bounces off my ring finger. No biggie, I've jammed fingers before. Tape it up and play the rest of the game, no real pain, just some slight swelling.
I look at it after the game and the last section of my finger won't straighten out. Shit. I do the google self-diagnosis thing and find out it is mallet finger and I need to see a hand specialist immediately as it won't heal on its own.
Long story short, I get an appt. No fracture (good) but definitely mallet finger (bad). Essentially there are two main ligaments in your fingers, one on top and one underneath that are in constant tension. I snapped the one on top of the finger, so now I have a droopy finger.
No surgery required (good) BUT, I need to wear a small splint for - get this - 2-3 MONTHS. Okay, no biggie, except for the fact that it needs to be on 24/7 and can only be taken off for cleaning the finger. AND when it is taken off, I cannot let the finger droop or the healing will be undone and the clock starts over again.
I feel nauseous just thinking about how I am going to "survive" the next few months.
Anyone have any experiences with this??
Meh - other hand
This was not the typical broken wrist cast where your thumb is mobile, the cast went around my thumb so I had no use of the dominant thumb on my right hand for like 2 months. Literally had to learn to do everything lefty including figuring out how to button a shirt with one functioning hand.
Just be grateful it's not your thumb; you'll figure out how to survive.
This was not the typical broken wrist cast where your thumb is mobile, the cast went around my thumb so I had no use of the dominant thumb on my right hand for like 2 months. Literally had to learn to do everything lefty including figuring out how to button a shirt with one functioning hand.
Just be grateful it's not your thumb; you'll figure out how to survive.
*thumb on my dominant right hand ( i do not have multiple thumbs on my right hand where one is dominant over the other :))
Went to the ER and got scans. Tore the ligament on the top and it was dropping. Had to splint it for months and keep completely straight. When the splint came off it was perfect but then needed to go to PT to learn stretches to get it to bend again. After a few weeks it started to droop again. Tried splinting again for a few weeks. No better.
Eventually the choice was surgery or deal with is slightly droopy. Just live with it and doesn't bother me anymore. Always debate going back for surgery but never seems like a priority.
What I was told was the issue was scar tissue not letting the ligament heal right. However it seems the splinting is usually successful.
What a strange, old man yelling at the clouds response.
Went to the ER and got scans. Tore the ligament on the top and it was dropping. Had to splint it for months and keep completely straight. When the splint came off it was perfect but then needed to go to PT to learn stretches to get it to bend again. After a few weeks it started to droop again. Tried splinting again for a few weeks. No better.
Eventually the choice was surgery or deal with is slightly droopy. Just live with it and doesn't bother me anymore. Always debate going back for surgery but never seems like a priority.
What I was told was the issue was scar tissue not letting the ligament heal right. However it seems the splinting is usually successful.
Jimmy - how did you find it to take off the splint and wash your finger? That is the most concerning part to me....
Thankfully I have full function of the finger today.
The length of time in the splint is important. I followed all of my doctor’s instructions and did everything I was asked. Still it didn’t heal 100%.
Surgery is basically the same concept but they put a pin in there for some time for it to reattach. But like I said I have too much scar tissue so it was reattaching to the scar tissue instead of whatever it was supposed to be attaching to. So I live with it slightly bent but otherwise functional. Prob only time I ever notice it is typing. Hitting that shift key can be tricky....
Whatever the time period it is it will be a blip in the grand scheme of things so just keep it on. Listen to the doctors and if it stays grimey for a while f it....
Good luck.