I'm not quite sure it's broken, because I can move those fingers to an extent. I can't like.. light a lighter, open a drink bottle, or move my pinky too much, but i can type if i hold it carefully a certain way.
Anyway I was rather losing it the other day and I decked a doorframe a few times with my right hand. It just hurt a lot (obviously) except for when I went back for a final punch and I heart a little bit of a crunch, and now on my ring finger and pinky knuckles something is out of place I think. I can feel the distinct bumps of all my other knuckls, until I get to the ring finger and it is completely sunken in, and then the pinky finger is just really swollen and gets hard a lot lower in my hand, I don't know what happened, if it moved, or if it just spread out...
Anyway I was just curious about other's experience with this and if you could advise anything at all.
I've been lucky in the past to not break anything, just heavy bruising. The best advice I can give is to just get it checked out, a quick x-ray can determine whether anything's broken or dislodged.
The only time you will find real light is when you're searching in the dark..
You NEED to get this looked at and the sooner the better. It needs to be somewhere with xray facilities so A&E/ ER or if you live in England then an MIU. It sounds like it may have fractured, possibly in several places, or have dislocated and these need to be looked at. If left there is a chance they could be affecting the nerve and/ or blood supply to the end of your finger as well as constantly pulling at the tendons/ ligaments. It's not something you can resolve by yourself.
But would you think that I would have less mobility of the hand if it was that serious? I can't really tell. I am able to type, it's just hard to ball my hand into a fist and I have to be ginger with it. Just rather swollen looking and a bit off-center on the side.
Not neccesarily. With fractures that's often a thought as being the test with people being told from a young age that if they can move there fingers it's fine. You can have fractures and be able to move your fingers. The fact that something is off centre and also that you heard a crunch is a big warning sign to me that there's likely to be something more going on with this and it needs to be checked out. Also, the fact that you can move it but not fully does also make me think that there's potential strain on some of your muscles or that something is stopping it moving fully and that could be due to a fracture/ dislocation. Yep, there is a chance that just swelling can do that but from what I've read I'd be suspicious that something more serious is going on than just a mild soft tissue injury such as bruising.
In the meantime I'd try not to move your hand much as that could make it worse and not just now but if there's damage to a joint and you keep moving the area then the chances are it will start to cause more problems in the future the more you do with it now as you'll be at a much higher risk of developing arthritis in that joint if it is damaged.
-sigh- health insurance just makes me cry. i'm going to show my therapist tomorrow and i know she's just my therapist, but maybe she can at least give me a visual opinon. it's just.. ughhh, i hate money i hate money i ****ing hate money, and i hate having to compromise my health because i can't afford something. :c /rant
Are there any free clinics near you? I'm guessing you're in the USA.
Do you qualify for medicare/medicaid?
I don't think you can have links in this forum unless they're approved, but if you Google your State and "free medical clinics" you might find something helpful.
Hope you're therapist helps tomorrow, and is able to give you advice on what to do.
Also, this reminded me:
Quote:
You can have fractures and be able to move your fingers.
When I was 10, I fractured the growth plate in my knee and my mum didn't take me to a doctor for 6 months because I "wasn't making a fuss", during which time it healed badly, and 10 years later, is still very problematic. Moral of the story, don't ignore your problems...
It doesn't matter where you come from; it matters where you go.
No-one gets remembered for the things they didn't do.
We won't all be here this time next year,
so while you can take a picture of us.
We're definitely going to hell,
but we'll have all the best stories to tell.
I fractured 4 bones in my hand and still continued Morris Dancing (like a pro)for a 3-day performance before I realised that it hurt a bit if I stopped moving it.
Deff get it checked out. ASAP. If you leave it, and it is serious then it'll cost you a **** load more down the line xx
As pointed out by several people, like I've said, you can still have fractures and be able to move areas normally and still carry on with the activities you usually do, they may just be harder or a more painful. Also, if you leave something that is potentially fractured it is likely to cause more problems and could also lead to increased risk of other bones fracturing (as it will pull the muscles/ tendons in a different direction and put more strain on them)/ damage the soft tissues/ disrupt the blood and/or nerve supply to the area which could be fine now but if the area is out of place or there's a jagged end to the bone or a piece that's chipped off then it could lead to damage.
A therapist is unlikely to do any more than a friend or a parent could do; they are not medically qualified. Yes, some may have first aid qualifications but they're unlikely to be high ones suitable to help with this and they're not likely to have anything above this. They also do not have the ability to refer you for an xray or know how to position your hand correctly to either place a plaster cast on it or to put a bone back in position (which is a specialised procedure). The longer you leave it the more risk you're putting to yourself, the more damage it could be doing and at the end of the day this will lead to you needing to pay more money. It NEEDS to be checked out to see what's going on and the sooner this is done the better; I don't think this is going to magically resolve by itself and there is nothing you can do at home to safely improve it. You need to know exactly what the problem is and get help for that and the only way that is going to occur is if you get help in person from qualified medical personnel. I'm sorry if that sounds harsh but if you continue to leave it you are just going to end up with more problems and it will likely become more difficult to fix and cause more long-term problems (again, leading to more expense for you in the long-term) so it's in your best interests to get it checked out and there is nothing else we can really advise other than that on this thread.
