Giving Myself The Middle Finger Treatment
January 15, 2011 5:25 AM Subscribe
I dropped a piece of wood on my middle finger and may have broken it (hurts to bend). What treatment other than an x-ray to confirm the break, might I receive from an emergency room/physician that I can't do myself? What should I keep in mind when treating this myself?
I'd definitely go to an ER. If it is in fact fractured, you're going to want someone with experience (as well as a local anesthetic) resetting it.
posted by kuanes at 5:37 AM on January 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by kuanes at 5:37 AM on January 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
What treatment other than an x-ray to confirm the break, might I receive from an emergency room/physician that I can't do myself?
The obvious: ease of mind (if that's a treatment). You can't give that to yourself.
posted by Namlit at 5:39 AM on January 15, 2011
The obvious: ease of mind (if that's a treatment). You can't give that to yourself.
posted by Namlit at 5:39 AM on January 15, 2011
I broke my pinkie finger years ago and did nothing about it. The result is that it's noticeably crooked nowadays. I don't give a shit because it's just a pinkie, and I couldn't even say whether I can still use it as well as I used to because, you know, what the hell do you use a pinkie for?
So if you're determined to treat this yourself with no doctor, you can probably just leave it alone and you'll end up with a permanently bent finger. But if it were me I'd go to a doctor for any non-pinkie.
posted by creasy boy at 5:46 AM on January 15, 2011
So if you're determined to treat this yourself with no doctor, you can probably just leave it alone and you'll end up with a permanently bent finger. But if it were me I'd go to a doctor for any non-pinkie.
posted by creasy boy at 5:46 AM on January 15, 2011
Unless it needs reset (and you would know if it does), then xray and proper wrapping is only benefit.
Otherwise, buy medical tape and two popsicle sticks..I've done it many times..the one time i needed to have my thumb reset, believe me, I knew it (Hurt bad and was abnormally swollen).
posted by Yunani at 5:48 AM on January 15, 2011
Otherwise, buy medical tape and two popsicle sticks..I've done it many times..the one time i needed to have my thumb reset, believe me, I knew it (Hurt bad and was abnormally swollen).
posted by Yunani at 5:48 AM on January 15, 2011
I'd definitely go to an ER. If it is in fact fractured, you're going to want someone with experience (as well as a local anesthetic) resetting it.
when i went to an emergency clinic with a spiral fracture on one of my fingers. they took an xray, taped it to an adjoining finger and told me if i had been a child they might have reported the case to child services because spiral fractures often occur as result of abuse.
The obvious: ease of mind (if that's a treatment). You can't give that to yourself.
Unfortunately if you are underinsured of uninsured, that ease of mind can be staggeringly expensive at ER.
I think what the doctor is looking for on an xray is damage to the finger joint. However, the cost to fix this might be more than it's worth, if you are paying out of pocket. The likely long-term consequence is loss of mobility. Isn't the world's best system of medical care great?
posted by ennui.bz at 5:50 AM on January 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
when i went to an emergency clinic with a spiral fracture on one of my fingers. they took an xray, taped it to an adjoining finger and told me if i had been a child they might have reported the case to child services because spiral fractures often occur as result of abuse.
The obvious: ease of mind (if that's a treatment). You can't give that to yourself.
Unfortunately if you are underinsured of uninsured, that ease of mind can be staggeringly expensive at ER.
I think what the doctor is looking for on an xray is damage to the finger joint. However, the cost to fix this might be more than it's worth, if you are paying out of pocket. The likely long-term consequence is loss of mobility. Isn't the world's best system of medical care great?
posted by ennui.bz at 5:50 AM on January 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
Try looking for a free clinic in your area or urgent care. It will be less expensive than an ER and you can inquire about cost. You may find that you can get it treated without trying to face it on your own and possibly lose some mobility.
posted by effluvia at 6:09 AM on January 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by effluvia at 6:09 AM on January 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
...because, you know, what the hell do you use a pinkie for?
Sex. Tea. Ear wax. Evil scheming.
Tape the damaged finger to an adjoining finger, straight out, or make a field splint with two pieces of something (I used chopsticks once) to keep it straight. Then amble over to some cheap/slow walk-in clinic rather than an expensive emergency room. Take a book.
(I'm assuming you're in the US on this and that therefore cost matters. If you're anywhere else in the world, somewhere with sane health care, stop overthinking this and just go an emergency room, already.)
posted by rokusan at 6:45 AM on January 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
Sex. Tea. Ear wax. Evil scheming.
Tape the damaged finger to an adjoining finger, straight out, or make a field splint with two pieces of something (I used chopsticks once) to keep it straight. Then amble over to some cheap/slow walk-in clinic rather than an expensive emergency room. Take a book.
(I'm assuming you're in the US on this and that therefore cost matters. If you're anywhere else in the world, somewhere with sane health care, stop overthinking this and just go an emergency room, already.)
posted by rokusan at 6:45 AM on January 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
I'd just go to CVS, get a finger splint and tape it up for 3-4 weeks. I've broken a finger, a wrist, and my foot(3 times). I've never once had a bone reset. I highly doubt they'll be resetting anything. Run your fingers over where you think the break is. If it feels smooth or just a smooth bump you're alright. If you feel anything jagged, I'd head in.
posted by no bueno at 6:57 AM on January 15, 2011
posted by no bueno at 6:57 AM on January 15, 2011
I dropped a piece of metal on my index finger some years ago and it did not break, though it did exhibit the bruising ennui.bz describes. (I was wearing a ring at the time and just barely got it off before my finger swelled too much.) There was a noticeable bump on the joint where the impact had occurred.
I went to the urgent care clinic, where they were able to do an x-ray (I got the vibe that it was overkill to ask for such). Basically, it was a sprain and the tendon was injured. My index finger was taped to my middle finger for several weeks.
As I'm a musician, I need full mobility in all of my fingers. I noticed it took over a year for me to completely be able to curl in the injured finger without any pain or difficulty. This freaked me out, as I was thinking I'd be good as new in a few months. Hopefully you'll have a better idea of how long you'll take to recover.
posted by Wossname at 7:38 AM on January 15, 2011
I went to the urgent care clinic, where they were able to do an x-ray (I got the vibe that it was overkill to ask for such). Basically, it was a sprain and the tendon was injured. My index finger was taped to my middle finger for several weeks.
As I'm a musician, I need full mobility in all of my fingers. I noticed it took over a year for me to completely be able to curl in the injured finger without any pain or difficulty. This freaked me out, as I was thinking I'd be good as new in a few months. Hopefully you'll have a better idea of how long you'll take to recover.
posted by Wossname at 7:38 AM on January 15, 2011
I'll also chime in and say that unless its a like bone poking out of the skin bad, or there's joint damage, you can probably get by with a $4 drugstore splint and some medical tape. Or duct tape and popsicle sticks. Which I have done.
posted by ducktape at 7:48 AM on January 15, 2011
posted by ducktape at 7:48 AM on January 15, 2011
If cost is a concern ... not all doctors will do an X-ray ... if the treatment is the same whether it's broken or not (taping it to its buddy or splinting it), many won't, or will agree not to if you don't want to pay for it. Just ask, "Will the treatment be any different based on what you see on the Xray?"
May be worth a phone call to your GP, if you have one, asking for advice. (And personally, I'd definitely take it to urgent care rather than the ER if I felt like I did need a doctor and my GP weren't available or I didn't have one. It's definitely the kind of thing they can handle at urgent care most of the time.)
(Personally, I'm a toe-breaker, and, yeah, I don't usually bother seeing the doctor about them, since unless there's bone sticking out or it's at a bizarre angle, the treatment is the same whether I jammed it or broke it and I can do that at home.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:58 AM on January 15, 2011
May be worth a phone call to your GP, if you have one, asking for advice. (And personally, I'd definitely take it to urgent care rather than the ER if I felt like I did need a doctor and my GP weren't available or I didn't have one. It's definitely the kind of thing they can handle at urgent care most of the time.)
(Personally, I'm a toe-breaker, and, yeah, I don't usually bother seeing the doctor about them, since unless there's bone sticking out or it's at a bizarre angle, the treatment is the same whether I jammed it or broke it and I can do that at home.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:58 AM on January 15, 2011
Other treatment you might get is a prescription for a painkiller stronger than something you can get over-the-counter. But this may not be a concern for you depending on how painful the finger is, or how high your pain threshold is.
You might feel it throbbing more at night, and you might wish for a strong painkiller then. Be careful to wrap it snugly (but not extremely tightly) at night, so if you accidentally roll over on your hand or bang it against the nightstand or something, you won't find yourself wishing for a quick death rather than slow torture by pinky break.
Veteran of self-treated broken pinkies and toes here...
posted by SuperSquirrel at 8:24 AM on January 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
You might feel it throbbing more at night, and you might wish for a strong painkiller then. Be careful to wrap it snugly (but not extremely tightly) at night, so if you accidentally roll over on your hand or bang it against the nightstand or something, you won't find yourself wishing for a quick death rather than slow torture by pinky break.
Veteran of self-treated broken pinkies and toes here...
posted by SuperSquirrel at 8:24 AM on January 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
Agreed- toes are left alone as long as they are still shaped like toes and pointing in the right direction.
I broke a thumb and stupidly did not get it looked at. Consequence? It is shaped funny (not so's you'd notice, but it is there) and lacks some flexibility. Every now and then, I go to do certain kinds of grasps and it feels like there is a stop in there.
The finger will heal on its own. That's pretty much guaranteed. Where the danger lies is that the bone might not be set correctly and heal wrong. That creates a potential for a loss of strength, loss of mobility, funny shaped fingers and eventually arthritis. Because the joint(s) wouldn't be flexing in the right spots.
Unless you are in unbearable pain, or it is swelling weirdly (clot), bleeding profusely, don't go to the emergency room. That's for life threatening injury. Splint it and go to a doctor on Monday.
If you are particularly mountain-man, do-it-yourself, you can set the bone yourself. Look in the various survival books for instructions. Plenty of people do this all the time, the odds are on your side that it won't fall off or burst into flames.
Note: you aren't paying the doctor to splint it or put on a cast. You are paying them to figure out whether it needs more attention than that. Some breaks need to be splinted straight, some need to be splinted in a curve so they heal right. For example.
posted by gjc at 8:31 AM on January 15, 2011
I broke a thumb and stupidly did not get it looked at. Consequence? It is shaped funny (not so's you'd notice, but it is there) and lacks some flexibility. Every now and then, I go to do certain kinds of grasps and it feels like there is a stop in there.
The finger will heal on its own. That's pretty much guaranteed. Where the danger lies is that the bone might not be set correctly and heal wrong. That creates a potential for a loss of strength, loss of mobility, funny shaped fingers and eventually arthritis. Because the joint(s) wouldn't be flexing in the right spots.
Unless you are in unbearable pain, or it is swelling weirdly (clot), bleeding profusely, don't go to the emergency room. That's for life threatening injury. Splint it and go to a doctor on Monday.
If you are particularly mountain-man, do-it-yourself, you can set the bone yourself. Look in the various survival books for instructions. Plenty of people do this all the time, the odds are on your side that it won't fall off or burst into flames.
Note: you aren't paying the doctor to splint it or put on a cast. You are paying them to figure out whether it needs more attention than that. Some breaks need to be splinted straight, some need to be splinted in a curve so they heal right. For example.
posted by gjc at 8:31 AM on January 15, 2011
When I damaged my thumb last year my doctor sent me for x-rays even though he was confident it wasn't broken in order to make sure it wasn't broken and so that there would be a recording of the injury in case of complication. If you can swing it I'd get it looked at but there isn't any need to visit an ER unless that is the only short notice medical care available to you.
posted by Mitheral at 9:08 AM on January 15, 2011
posted by Mitheral at 9:08 AM on January 15, 2011
Have a good look at your knuckles, too. I dislocated my left pinky at the middle joint a few years ago and mistook it for broken. If I had looked closely at it, I would have noticed the disfigured knuckle, but it never crossed my mind. If it's dislocated, see a doctor. That is NOT something you want to face without anesthetic. (I've broken lots of bones - last count was near 40 - and I'd rather break one than dislocate it any day.)
posted by workerant at 9:10 AM on January 15, 2011
posted by workerant at 9:10 AM on January 15, 2011
I had a toe broken and the on-call doc at my insurance phone response wouldn't authorize me to go to the ER, since "all they'll do is tape it to the next one, and you can do that at home." Turns out it was more than a fracture, it was actually crushed, and it needed a lot more than taping to the next toe. But by the time I worked out that there was something more wrong, it was 6 weeks later and too late to do anything about it. It took much, much longer to heal* (and to stop hurting) than it would have if it'd been handled properly.
I had another break where I thought the finger was fine, because I could use the finger and so on, and just wanted them to get on with stitching me up; they insisted on X-rays first. Turned out it was broken all the way through, and I had to wear an arm-and-hand cast for a couple of weeks (then tape to the next finger for another month) to make sure it healed properly.
I just don't mess around with breaks, anymore. If I think it might be broken, I want to be absolutely sure it's uncomplicated. YMMV, but potentially broken bones in the hand would be something I'd want to know about for certain.
* for interesting definitions of "heal," including "At least there's no loose bones any more" and also "Oh, there was supposed to be a joint left when I was done? Sorry!"
posted by galadriel at 1:38 PM on January 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
I had another break where I thought the finger was fine, because I could use the finger and so on, and just wanted them to get on with stitching me up; they insisted on X-rays first. Turned out it was broken all the way through, and I had to wear an arm-and-hand cast for a couple of weeks (then tape to the next finger for another month) to make sure it healed properly.
I just don't mess around with breaks, anymore. If I think it might be broken, I want to be absolutely sure it's uncomplicated. YMMV, but potentially broken bones in the hand would be something I'd want to know about for certain.
posted by galadriel at 1:38 PM on January 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
A simple splint is to tape the injured finger to an adjoining finger, not your index finger. Do yourself a favor and pick up some medical tape at a drug store. You can probably pick up manufactured splint too but on the break where I spoke to a doctor they thought that immobilzing the broken finger would decrease future mobility.
posted by ennui.bz at 5:36 AM on January 15, 2011