Broken finger on my hand

So, about two weeks ago I went and snapped the wrist on my left hand—total klutz move, really—and then five days ago I finally got the cast off, only to be told I still have to take it easy for another three weeks...
I was wondering if anyone thinks it’s actually smart to use some kind of medicated cream or anything else on it? My finger is still pretty sore and I can't even make a full fist yet...
Look, I get it, I know I’m supposed to just sit here and rest, but maybe there's something out there that could speed up this whole recovery process...
What do you guys suggest?
thanks

So, this happened to me about three weeks ago—it’s all thickened up and I can’t even bend it anymore. Quick question:
Can you actually get it back to normal after a few years? Like, looking at this post from way back, are you able to bend it properly and just... do everything normally again??😕

Hey there.
Back on April 1st, I fractured the base of my left ring finger's middle phalanx near the PIP joint. I’ve been stuck in a splint ever since, which they finally took off yesterday during a follow-up. The doctor gave me some exercises to try, but honestly, I can't even get through them. Every time I attempt to bend the finger or make a fist, the pain is so intense I feel like I might snap the bone all over again...
I can only bend it halfway before the sharp pain kicks in.
Should I be worried about this, or should I just give it more time? My biggest fear is that I'll never regain a full grip because of this finger. Thanks in advance. If you want to see my X-rays or have questions, shoot me a DM since links aren't allowed here.

Betty Mendoza5 said:Hey there.
Back on April 1st, I fractured the base of my left ring finger's middle phalanx near the PIP joint. I’ve been stuck in a splint ever since, which they finally took off yesterday during a follow-up. The doctor gave me some exercises to try, but honestly, I can't even get through them. Every time I attempt to bend the finger or make a fist, the pain is so intense I feel like I might snap the bone all over again...
I can only bend it halfway before the sharp pain kicks in.
Should I be worried about this, or should I just give it more time? My biggest fear is that I'll never regain a full grip because of this finger. Thanks in advance. If you want to see my X-rays or have questions, shoot me a DM since links aren't allowed here.

Look, after a fracture and being stuck in a splint, dealing with stuff like this—the pain and the stiffness—is totally normal.
Those exercises your doctor suggested? You really need to be doing them multiple times a day, maybe a few dozen reps each time, but you have to go SLOWLY and only push it up to where the pain is still manageable.
At this stage, getting back to 100% is really all about how stubborn and patient you can be with the process.😉
If you stick to what your doctor told you, you should expect your range of motion to get better every single day while the pain starts to dial back.
That said, if things start feeling worse, or if you feel like your recovery is hitting a wall, it’s always a smart move to check back in with your doctor.

So, my mom broke the exact same finger about two and a half months ago and she’s still dealing with the pain. It swells up like crazy, especially in the morning. She was stuck in a cast for seven days, then had a splint on for another two weeks. After that, she went in for a follow-up and the doctor basically told her she was "75% recovered" and should just start doing home exercises—squeezing a tennis ball, swimming in the ocean, icing it, massaging it, all that jazz. Well, she did everything he said, but honestly? Zero improvement. The finger is still swollen, it throbs every time she moves it, and she can't even bend it right because it looks crooked. Now they’ve sent her to physical therapy, so she’s been going every single day for the last 15 days for massages, underwater therapy, and whatever else. And frankly, I don't see any progress at all.

Thanks again. It’s making some progress, but we aren't quite there yet—I probably can't get it to bend all the way because of the swelling...

So, two days ago on Saturday, I went and broke the ring finger on my right hand.
The X-rays show a fracture at the base of the proximal phalanx of the fourth finger, with some minor displacement of the bone fragments.

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Right now, I’m rocking a splint. I'm just resting up until Friday when I find out if I actually need surgery. Honestly? Probably not. But I'm wondering if I can just stick with the splint because a heavy-duty cast sounds like a total nightmare. It's not like I'm some kid who doesn't know how to be careful while things heal.

Basically, what should my move be here? 🙂

Once your trauma surgeon gets those follow-up X-rays back, they’ll sit you down and give you the verdict on whether we can just play it safe with conservative treatment or if you’re heading straight to surgery.
It really comes down to how the bone fragments are sitting, whether the healing process has actually kicked in the right way, and—honestly—just how things are feeling for you physically when you try to move.

It’s honestly a bit too early to call it right now, so we won't know what the game plan looks like for 🤔

You’re talking like we just bumped into each other in the ER waiting room, haha. That’s pretty much exactly what he told me too.

It’s true, we all speak the same language here (and honestly, we pretty much follow the exact same playbook most of the time) 🙂

Guess I'm just counting down the days until Friday then..

Got my cast on Friday. Fast forward ten days—just finished painting it—and now I'm back under the plaster again today. It’s like being stuck in a loop. One minute you're decorating your new accessory, the next you're right back at square one.

The doctors say everything looks fine... but I don't know. It feels like it’s just not healing at all. Honestly, even the way they're positioning me doesn't feel right. It's like trying to fix a cracked windshield by just taping it over—it might look okay for a second, but the structural integrity just isn't there.
So, they took the photo without the cast on, and then I ended up getting it back later... just a weird sequence of events, really. It’s like when you go to a mechanic to get a part checked, they take a quick snap for the insurance, and then you’re left sitting there waiting for the actual repair to happen. A bit disjointed.

I can't see the image you linked. It looks like the link might be broken or I just don't have access to that specific screenshot. If you want me to take a crack at rewriting something, go ahead and paste the actual text here. Once you do, I'll get to work turning it into something fresh.

Best of luck

Finally got this cast off today.
The doctor’s basically telling me there might be some lasting issues. He wants me to try moving my finger, but since it hasn't fully healed yet (it's been five weeks), it’s pretty rough. Every time I try to shift it, there's this sharp pain, and honestly, the connection is just gone. It’s like my brain sends the signal to squeeze, but the joint just ignores me entirely. Total disconnect. :/

If this physical therapy thing doesn't pan out, I might just have to call it quits and go for the amputation. I wouldn't do it myself, obviously, but I'm curious—what does the actual procedure look like? And what's the recovery timeline for a targeted finger amputation?

I’m 18. When I was about five or six, I broke my finger—and apparently, nobody noticed. No cast, no realignment, nothing. Now, my middle finger is healed all crooked—right where you grip a pen when you write. They told me writing more would straighten it out... which it did, sort of, but there’s still this two-centimeter protrusion on the side where I hold the pencil. It actually hurts when I have to write for long periods. I’m planning on going into dentistry—will this be an issue for that career? Is it even worth getting it fixed?

Hi there.
Here’s my situation: back on October 28th, I broke my left pinky—specifically a fracture of the middle phalanx. After wearing a splint for ten days, I went in for a follow-up on November 7th, where they diagnosed a mallet finger and gave me an orthotic brace, though nobody bothered to order new X-rays at that point. By November 17th, it seemed the brace wasn't actually doing much, and they started hinting at surgery, though they suggested sticking with the brace for another two weeks first. Well, I went in for another checkup today—after deciding to just go get my own X-ray beforehand—and things turned into a mess. The imaging showed the bone fragments have shifted, so instead of just a mallet finger, my finger is now visibly crooked. I have to meet with a surgical board this Monday to decide the next steps, but the doctor I saw today (it seems I see a different specialist every single time) isn't actually recommending surgery, as he thinks it might not even fix the issue. I guess I'm just wondering what to do. If they suggest surgery on Monday, does that even make sense?

The first photo was taken on October 28th, while the second is from today—this is how things look after a month