Did I just break my finger?
Some of us play organized, club sports. Some of us compete on state and national levels. And some of us are weekend warriors.I would consider myself one who plays organized sports. I play in a competetive, adult kickball league called the Denver Kickball Coalition (DKBC). We are very serious about our kickball. Last Tuesday at kickball practice, I was going for a grounder and hyperextended my finger. At first, I thought I jammed my finger, which I have done numerous times in previous seasons. By the end of practice, my finger was throbbing pretty badly. I asked some teammates what it feels like to break a bone as I never had before. They all thought I was overexaggerating my symptoms.
That night I realized that the pain and swelling was significant, so much so that I couldn’t sleep. I knew something was wrong. First thing that morning I went to get an xray of my finger. Sure enough, it was broken. This kind of fracture can progress to a full tenden rupture and thus I must bench myself for the next 4-6 weeks to avoid the possibility of surgery.
Moral of the story: even if your team thinks you are a pansy for a simple “jammed finger”. If you know that something is not right, get a professional opinion. I knew that throbbing in my finger was not something I had ever felt before. I just have to sit the bench for 4-6 weeks, where if I didn’t know it was fractured and went about my normal activites I could be having surgery to repair the tendon. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
I’m here to help.
Dr. Clark
Tweet