How do you know if a finger injury is serious?

After an injury, if swelling and pain still limit the use of your fingers, or your fingers become numb, then you will want to seek medical attention. If your injury includes crushed tissue, laceration, exposed bone, you must go to the emergency room or seek medical care immediately.

When should you go to the doctor for a finger injury?

Pain and swelling are severe or persistent. The injury is a puncture or open wound and you haven't had a tetanus shot in the last 10 years. The injury is from a human or animal bite. If the wound doesn't heal or shows signs of infection: redness, swelling, pain, or pus.

How do you tell if a finger is fractured or sprained?

Sprained fingers and broken fingers have many of the same symptoms. But broken fingers involve injuries to the bones, while sprained fingers involve soft tissue injuries. Broken fingers tend to cause more pain and need immediate medical treatment.

How do you know if you tore a ligament in your finger?

When a ligament supporting a finger joint is injured pain is felt in the finger. It is often made more painful if the joint is moved or if the finger is touched where the ligament is injured.
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Other symptoms may include:

reduced range of movement.
stiffness.
weakness.
deformity.
biomechanical problems.

How do you tell if you have damaged your finger?

What Are Some Common Symptoms of a Broken Finger?

Your affected finger is bent into a strange or unnatural position.
There's excessive swelling in one localized area.
There's significant tenderness and bruising in one localized area.
Your pain is exceptionally severe.
You're finding it difficult to move the affected finger.

45 related questions found

Is my finger broken or just swollen?

Whenever you injure your finger, you may feel pain, swelling or stiffness when trying to move the affected digit. However, there are a few particularly telltale signs that point to a fracture: The fracture site is very swollen. The affected finger appears unnatural or deformed.

What does a hairline fracture finger feel like?

A non-displaced fracture, is more commonly known as a hairline fracture. This consists of a thin crack in the bone that occurs with an injury. Typically, it is not as noticeable as other types of fractures, however, localized pain, tenderness, or soft tissue swelling are a few of the common symptoms.

How is a finger injury diagnosed?

Symptoms of finger injuries (below) can help you tell the difference between a jammed finger and broken finger.
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The most common symptoms of hand and finger injuries are:

Pain at the injury point or in your fingers.
Inability to move the finger.
Limited hand motion.
Deformity.
Swelling.
Bruising.
Weakness of the hand.

How long does a finger injury take to heal?

Breaks in the bones of the finger usually heal well in about 3 to 4 weeks. The pain and swelling from a broken finger can last for weeks. But it should steadily improve, starting a few days after you break it.

Do torn finger ligaments heal on their own?

There are many finger injuries that will heal on their own, especially with care, rest and treatment at home. But it is important to see a doctor quickly when it is more serious to ensure the quickest recovery — leaving a serious injury for too long can make it very difficult to heal and regain full function.

Can you have internal bleeding in your finger?

Paroxysmal finger hematoma, also known as Achenbach syndrome, is a benign, self-limiting condition that predominantly affects middle-aged women. It is characterized by recurrent spontaneous subcutaneous bleeding in the fingers, typically on the palmar surface, mainly around the proximal interphalangeal joint creases.

Can a broken finger go unnoticed?

What Are Symptoms of a Broken Finger? Broken fingers rarely go unnoticed. Frequently, you have immediate pain after trauma and sometimes a deformed finger either at a joint (commonly a dislocation) or through the bone as a fracture. If there is no deformity, a person will typically feel a sharp pain at the injury site.

What happens if you leave a fractured finger untreated?

What Happens If You Leave a Broken Finger Untreated? Failing to get medical treatment for a broken finger can result in several complications, including permanent stiffness, damage to capillaries, or hand deformity. Along with long-term complications, having a broken finger is debilitating.

What happens if a fracture is left untreated?

When a bone fracture is untreated, it can result in either a nonunion or a delayed union. In the former case, the bone doesn't heal at all, which means that it will remain broken. As a result, swelling, tenderness, and pain will continue to worsen over time.

How do I know if I'm hemorrhaging?

Bleeding for longer than a week. Passing blood clots larger than a quarter. Restricting daily activities due to heavy menstrual flow. Symptoms of anemia, such as tiredness, fatigue or shortness of breath.

Should you bend a sprained finger?

The finger should be splinted so that the injured joint and adjacent bones are immobilized. Aluminum splints can be custom cut to fit and bent to accommodate most finger injuries. Because there is more tissue damaged in a second-degree sprain, the finger will swell more and may have some discoloration.

What are the stages of hemorrhage?

These stages are described in ATLS as follows:

Class 1. Blood loss: up to 750 mL or 15% blood volume. Heart rate: <100/min. ...
Class 2. Blood loss: 750-1500 mL or 15-30% blood volume. Heart rate: 100-120/min. ...
Class 3. Blood loss: 1500-2000 mL or 30-40% blood volume. ...
Class 4. Blood loss: >2000 mL or >40% blood volume.

What are the symptoms for external bleeding?

External bleeding

a wound with, or without, an embedded foreign object.
pain from skin surface wounds.
bruising or discolouration of the skin.
loss of normal function in the injured area.
pale, cold, sweaty skin.

What causes metrorrhagia?

Common causes of metrorrhagia include pregnancy, use of certain contraceptives (especially Depo-Provera) and intrauterine devices, and STIs. Other causes include coagulation disorders, genital trauma, neoplasms, and infections such as tuberculosis.

How can you tell if you broke a knuckle?

Broken knuckle symptoms

pain, swelling, or numbness.
cut or pierced skin.
difficulty moving parts of the hand.
depressed knuckle.
misaligned or shortened fingers.
deformity.
bruising or discoloration.
popping or cracking sound.

Can I get sepsis from a broken bone?

Musculoskeletal sepsis is infection of bone, joints, muscles, and skin and often occurs after open fractures. Thus, the main objective in the treatment of open fractures in restoration of function and prevention of infection. It is important to consider all open fracture wounds as contaminated.