Fact Checked
Overview Of A Broken Finger
- A broken finger is a standard injury often resulting from a fall, a sports related injury or another type of trauma sustained to the finger. It generally takes up to 6 weeks to heal.
- A crack in the bone is also referred to as a fracture.
Identifying Between A Broken And Injured Finger
- It can be tricky to see if a finger is broken, displaced or just sprained, as the signs tend to be the same – the finger will be inflamed, aching and hard.
- Look to see whether your finger appears distorted. If a portion of the finger is facing in a different direction, the bone is possibly broken or dislocated (with a dislocated finger, the bone has shifted out of its normal position, generally looks distorted).
- A dislocated or broken finger might also look discolored (this appears when the blood vessels have ruptured), and you will feel a piercing pain when you touch it.
- If you have split your fingertip there will be blood noticeable underneath the nail as well as a contusion on the padding of the finger.
Sprains And Strains
- With a sprained finger, it signifies you’ve sprained the tendons (clusters of tissue that keep the bones combined at the joint).
- The finger shouldn’t appear distorted or bruised and the pain and inflammation will eventually subside.
- If you believe it is a sprain, don’t use the finger and look to see if the pain and inflammation gets better.
Dealing With A Fracture
- If you think your finger is broken, you will have to get an X-ray to see whether it is fractured.
- If the finger is fractured, the bone must be shifted back to its original position – a process identified as reduction. A local anesthetic will be administered to numb the finger and doctors will be able to straighten the bone.
- The finger might then need to be reinforced in a splint, or might just need to be taped to the finger.