What is a Finger Fracture?

Medically, any fracture is defined as a crack or break of a bone. It might be just a small bend or splitting of a bone into pieces. Similarly, if the bones in your finger break into pieces or pierce out of the skin, it is defined as a finger fracture. Usually, finger fracture happens due to accidents, hitting strong objects, getting fingers crushed in the doors, or harshly falling on your fingers.

Know More About Malunion Finger Fracture

What Is a Sprain?

A sprain is said to be an injury that occurs when the ligaments or tendons in your fingers are torn or stretched. The ligaments or tendons are the bands of tissue that connect or join the joints of your fingers together.

Facts About Sprained Finger

Mostly, the symptoms of sprained fingers are associated with inflammation.

Mild finger sprains heal completely between 1 and 2 weeks with primary treatment.

In case of severe finger sprains, you should consult an orthopaedic doctor immediately.

Sprain injuries are prevalent and very painful.

What Are the Symptoms of Finger Sprain?

Inflammation of the damaged finger is the primary symptom of a sprain. The sprain might prevent the mobility of the injured finger. Some other common symptoms related to the sprained finger are:

• Intense pain
• Redness & swelling
• Pain increases when you try to move or use the injured finger
• Inability to straighten or bend the finger
• Bruising

Types Of Sprains?

Sprains are categorized into three different grades based on severity.

First-degree Sprain

It is the mildest sprain. The ligaments are stretched but not damaged.

Second-degree Sprain

The sprain here is considered moderate, where the ligament gets damaged. The tear of the ligament might be partial, and sometimes the joint capsule might also get damaged.

Third-degree Sprain

The sprain here is considered the most severe type of sprain. It involves severe tearing of the ligaments or tendons.

Causes of a Sprained Finger?

Sprained fingers mostly happen due to the high physical impact on your fingers. In most cases, sprains occur due to a blow to the finger end; the force reflects up to the joints, which result in hyperextension. This leads to stretching or tearing of your ligaments or tendons.

Sports injury is a very common reason for sprained fingers. People involved in playing sports like basketball, cricket, and volleyball are more prone to finger sprains. If the ball hit the tip of the fingers, the impact might sprain them. However, anyone can have a finger sprain if an object strikes the finger in a wrong way with a certain force.

Treatment For Finger Sprains

Mild sprains, where the ligaments are not torn, don’t require any medical attention. You can treat them at home using the RICE technique to reduce blood flow and inflammation.

Over-the-counter (OCT) medicines for pain and anti-inflammatory medicines can help overcome the symptoms for the first few days.

RICE is the first line of treatment, and it stands for

• R – Rest
• I – Ice
• C – Compression
• E – Elevation.

Home Care

You should rest your finger joint and apply ice packs frequently for every 20 minutes. You should apply ice only by wrapping it in a cloth or place the damaged finger in cold water. Ice can help you to reduce pain and swelling. Compress the injured finger by wrapping & keeping it elevated to reduce swelling. The elevation is especially important during nighttime.

If the finger sprain is severe, you should meet an orthopaedic specialist immediately. He might immobilize the injured finger with a brace or cast, or splint to heal correctly. Rarely, the ligament gets torn severely and might need to operate on to fix it. It allows the finger to heal correctly.

Meet Dr Vasudeva

If you don’t seek medical attention in case of severe finger sprains, it heals in the wrong ways leading to malunions and also creates many other complications. To know more information about finger fractures or if you are suffering from any fractures, consult Dr Vasudeva Juvvadi, one of the best orthopaedic surgeons in Hyderabad. He has more than 10 years of experience in treating various fractures.