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

A crack in the bone is also referred to as a fracture

• 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.

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