The most unexpected situation can lead to injury to a finger. A bruise of the little finger on the hand is especially common. This is due to its location. People in working professions know more about this injury than others, since their little fingers suffer constantly. Sometimes the treatment may be easy and short-lived, but sometimes even a simple blow to a hard surface can cause alarming symptoms.
Injury to the little finger
A bruised little finger on the hand is not a life-threatening type of injury. Of course, there are unfortunate exceptions when, for example, a person has a dislocated finger or a fracture. Fortunately, medicine has reached a high level, and doctors can easily diagnose and promptly treat all types of injuries.
Let's look at the characteristic signs pointing towards a bruised little finger:
For those who are not familiar with the rules for providing primary care for bruises, it is worth remembering that a universal technique is to apply ice to the affected area of the limb. This reduces swelling. The sooner a cold object is applied to the victim’s finger, the less pain he will suffer. In case of severe pain, which seems to pierce right through the finger, it is better not to endure it, but to take analgesics.
Immediately after cooling the limb and taking analgesics (as needed), the patient is given a bandage on the finger. The goal is to reduce hemorrhage and avoid hematoma growth. The injured arm should be limited from unnecessary stress. The finger should be in a state of complete rest.
Symptoms may overlap with those of a dislocation, so if the pain does not subside, it is better to take an x-ray and accurately determine the diagnosis. If none appear, then you can recover from the bruise with the help of alternative medicine. Lotions and ointments made from medicinal plants will quickly relieve the victim of hematoma and pain. Here are some recipes:
What to do if the described methods do not help? Be sure to consult a doctor! The body's lack of response to classical treatment may mean the appearance of complications. To understand this, you don’t have to wait 2 weeks – a few days will be enough.
Bone fractures usually occur in the first two toes. The bones of the phalanx of the thumb are much more massive, so most often a severe bruise occurs, rather than a fracture. As a rule, the fracture occurs in other bones of the foot - the tarsus and metatarsus. The mechanism of fracture is very simple - a fall of weight on the foot. Very often in winter this happens when removing snow and ice.
It is rare for an individual toe to be broken or bruised when slipping. The most common cause is an ankle sprain or Achilles tendon rupture. In milder cases, it becomes stretched.
In most cases, it is not difficult to distinguish a fracture from a bruise. A fracture is characterized by the following symptoms:
The symptoms described above indicate significant damage to the soft tissues of the finger and possible bone fracture. Despite the classic signs of a closed fracture, only urgent radiography gives a definitive result, so it is necessary to go to the emergency room as quickly as possible.
In addition to the symptoms discussed above, the following cases require a mandatory visit to the emergency room:
A bruise on the big toe can occur with a sudden forward movement, since the big toe takes on the entire axial load. Often a bruise occurs as a result of sports injuries: when playing volleyball or when practicing strength martial arts, mountaineering or rock climbing. Sometimes you can guess that a finger has been bruised only by the fact that the nail plate on it has turned blue (there is a subungual hemorrhage). The thumb is an important support area, so its full recovery may take a longer period of time compared to a bruised middle finger.
If you have bruised your little toe, you need to pay attention to its mechanism. Everyone is familiar with the unpleasant and painful sensation if you “touch” the door frame with your little finger. The little toe has a much greater chance of fracture, since it is located on the edge of the foot in a “subordinate position” and can get caught on furniture, a step or a snag. This causes severe but usually short-lived pain. But the ability of the little finger to be significantly displaced without rupturing ligaments and breaking bones allows one to largely compensate for the degree of traumatic injury.
How to treat a bruised toe? It doesn't matter whether you suspect a fracture or not, the pattern of action should be the same. The only difference is that if you suspect a fracture, you need to get to the emergency room faster.
The only condition is that these ointments should not have a warming effect. Otherwise, a sharp increase in pain and swelling is possible. The following products should not be used: Finalgon, Viprosal, Viprotox, Nayatox, Capsicam and many other heating ointments.
It is recommended to use Bom-Benge, Troxevasin, Efkamon. You can use cooling peppermint essential oil, which is gently applied to the skin of your finger. If there is no information about the ointment, it should be applied to the wrist area - if you feel a pleasant cooling sensation, and the ointment has the smell of camphor and menthol, then it can be used.
In the first hours after a bruise, you should not vigorously rub the ointment into your finger - this may cause increased swelling.
Many naively believe that a fracture of the little toe is a trifle that does not deserve attention. Only someone who has not had to experience this unpleasant and painful trauma can think so. For those who have experienced this, such a fracture no longer seems like a trivial problem. And there are many such people, since injuries to the little toe, as well as a fracture of the little finger on the hand, unfortunately, happen quite often. We will try to find out together with you what symptoms this injury has, what needs to be done in case of a fracture and how long the treatment lasts.
Despite its size, the small bone of the little finger can cause a person a lot of inconvenience and trouble. Her bruises and fractures occur for various reasons: a heavy object falling on her leg, careless movements in a doorway, a traffic accident, bone diseases, a sharp kick to the ball, etc.
It is quite simple to determine a fracture of a small finger; it is enough to know its signs:
These are not all the symptoms of a fracture. If the fracture is open, with displacement, then the following symptoms can be observed:
Such symptoms allow you to accurately diagnose and understand that you need a doctor.
Inconvenience, pain, stiffness and inability to move freely are the symptoms of a fractured little finger. An open fracture with displacement is also dangerous because the wound can become infected, which will aggravate the inflammatory process.
An important and one of the main symptoms is sharp pain, which intensifies when walking or touching the foot with any object. How long it lasts depends on the severity of the injury; the foot and fingers swell.
In order for the treatment to be effective and recovery to occur as soon as possible, you need to know what to do in such a situation.
Treatment, especially in the case of displacement, should be started as early as possible. Otherwise, complications may arise in the form of disruption of the tendons and motor nerve, which ultimately results in the loss of motor function in the little finger. And suppuration resulting from numerous hematomas can lead to amputation of the little finger. Therefore, it is important that treatment is started in a timely manner and that the plaster is applied efficiently. If a displaced fracture is not treated correctly, the healed bones may bend the toe, causing discomfort, discomfort, and pain when walking.
Only a doctor can prescribe the correct treatment, so he must be called immediately. Before his arrival, the victim can be given first aid. It consists of raising the leg, disinfecting the wound, if there is one, and applying a cold compress. The cold is kept on the finger for no more than fifteen minutes.
If the pain is very severe, the victim is given painkillers.
An x-ray is taken in the hospital, treatment depends on whether the fracture is closed or open, with or without displacement.
If the nail phalanx of the bone is damaged, plaster is not applied. Treatment consists of perforation, the little finger, tightly bandaged to the adjacent finger, heals in two weeks. There is no need to worry, in this case plaster is not necessary.
If the remaining bones of the finger are damaged, a cast is applied for forty to forty-five days. Sometimes plaster is replaced with adhesive tape; it is much easier and more pleasant to wear. It irritates the skin less than plaster, without causing itching, especially in the hot season. If the fracture is displaced, treatment begins with reposition. It is done under local anesthesia, after which a plaster cast is applied.
In case of an open fracture with displacement, the wound is treated surgically, the patient is prescribed antibiotics and drugs to prevent tetanus.
Until complete recovery occurs, you cannot stand on the injured leg; it must be kept in an elevated position to prevent swelling.
Whether there was a slight fracture or a displaced fracture, after the end of treatment a period of rehabilitation begins. At this time, the patient is recommended to take exercise therapy, vitamin therapy, and massage. By following the recommendations of doctors, you can avoid complications and have a properly fused little finger bone and a healthy finger within two months.
It often happens that people do not know how badly they have injured a limb and how to determine a leg fracture and distinguish it from a bruise or a regular sprain. Believing that it is a minor injury, people often do nothing before seeking medical attention. Often, a fracture of the little toe is mistaken for a bruise, considering the damage to be insignificant, and people do not consult a doctor at all. But if this is a bone fracture, it is necessary to apply a splint from any available material to limit movements, reduce pain and prevent pain shock.
A bone fracture is a violation of the structure of bone tissue, the types are as follows:
Often a closed injury without displacement is mistaken for a severe bruise. Surely only a doctor can recognize a fracture or bruise, but certain signs will help you suspect a violation of the integrity of the bone.
The first symptom is pain. It is often quite sharp and pronounced at the time of injury. Even a bruise is sometimes accompanied by unbearable pain; when a bone is broken, the painful syndrome does not subside even when the leg is at rest, and after a few hours the sensations remain the same.
Swelling and bruising (bruise, hematoma) - both of these features are characteristic of a bruise and a fracture, however, the rate of increase and severity of these symptoms may vary. With a bruise, the swelling is less pronounced and grows more slowly. If there is a violation of the integrity of the bone, the tissue often swells quite quickly. A bruise with a fracture may develop over several days, but with a bruise there may be no bruise at all.
Increased pain is observed when the injured limb moves. If a bone has been damaged, it is almost impossible to lean on the injured leg. If one of the adjacent bones is broken, then in some cases it is possible to stand on your leg.
Even a simple person can recognize the displacement of fragments. The limb is deformed in the place where the displacement is noted. Finitude happens:
When the axis is displaced, a “crooked” leg, unnaturally deformed, is visually visible.
A broken leg is characterized by a “stuck heel” sign. A person in a lying position is unable to lift his leg on his own. Even with great effort, it is impossible to tear your leg off the surface.
At the time of injury, some people feel an obvious crunching sound; when palpating the leg, friction of bone fragments is felt (bone crepitus). This sign is characteristic only in the absence of entrapment of soft tissues between fragments.
However, it is worth remembering that you cannot check symptoms yourself. Only a doctor can do this correctly.
With an open limb injury, it is not difficult to make a diagnosis yourself; you can see the bone protruding from the leg.
The pain during the injury is severe, but after some time at rest the pain subsides.
The swelling slowly increases, and to relieve it, sometimes it is enough to elevate the affected limb.
However, sometimes it is very difficult to understand that this is a bruise and not a fracture, since in the case of a closed injury without visible displacement of the fragments, the symptoms may be identical.
Separately, it is worth considering how to determine a broken toe.
You can break a finger even with a slight, but local impact on it. The most common fracture is the big toe, since it is the one that first “meets” an obstacle when inattentively running or walking quickly. There are probable and certain signs of broken toes. However, even these are not always enough to determine a fracture of the little toe, since this toe is quite small and rarely undergoes severe deformation.
A fracture and a bruise can easily be confused, since probable signs are inherent in both injuries.
A bruised toe can easily be confused with a broken bone without deformation, since all the likely features will be present with a bruise. It is easiest to identify a fracture of the big toe, since it has the extreme position and the largest magnitude. The characteristic appearance of a broken big toe with deformation will prevent it from being confused with a bruise.
The main task is to immobilize the injured limb. The first thing to do after an incident is to provide rest to the victim and apply ice through the fabric to the damaged area. If you suspect a bone fracture, it is worth applying a splint - a kind of fixation for the part of the body where the damage is noted, stretched between two adjacent joints - the overlying and underlying one. Then you need to go to the hospital as soon as possible.
A specialist will handle the treatment. The doctor will reposition the bones or, if necessary, perform surgery to fix the fragments, and then apply a cast. Depending on which bone in the leg was damaged, the time it takes to walk in a cast is determined. It is the broken bone that determines the term:
With timely treatment and proper treatment, the outcome is favorable, without consequences. In case of improper treatment and without treatment, a false joint is formed - scarring with soft connective tissue in the damaged area, while pathological mobility remains. Remember that self-medication is unacceptable, it leads to complications, in some cases to irreversible consequences, and the key to a quick recovery is a timely visit to a doctor!
In fact, sparks started flying from my eyes.
I put on my heels and went. On the way, the little finger turned blue and swollen. In short, I couldn’t step on my foot. I came and bought flip-flops. I did my business and went to the emergency room.
They took an x-ray and said it was a fracture. I taped two fingers very tightly with a plaster and that’s it.
You can sit at home with a fracture if the bent finger doesn’t bother you in the future. If you broke your arm, would you also be unable to find somewhere to place your child for 2 hours?
It is very difficult to tell the difference without an x-ray. There may even be a crack, which is just as similar in symptoms
If it's swollen, it's likely a fracture.
Go to the emergency room just in case.
You don’t have to run to the emergency room. Recently, my friend broke her little finger, I took her to the emergency room, but they didn’t even do an x-ray there, they said that they don’t put plaster on little fingers anyway, they told me to wrap it in a bandage and wait until it goes away on its own, the finger was also blue-violet (((
run to the emergency room of course, and good luck to you
A broken toe isn’t that bad, they don’t put a cast on your little toe, you’ll have to walk like this anyway and endure the pain... don’t think about it, brace yourself, keep your foot still, I wish you a speedy recovery!
I also had a broken one on my leg) only the nameless one) I was small, they didn’t give me pills either, I suffered so much, they didn’t put a plaster on either, I don’t remember, unfortunately, how long it took for it to heal
My husband once hit his finger. a bruise appeared and was slightly swollen, but it was not crooked in appearance. so they thought it was just a severe bruise. The next day I didn’t stop hurting, so I went to the doctor to take a picture. It turned out to be a crack in the bone. It took a very long time for your finger to heal... I hope you just had a bruise and nothing serious. but for your peace of mind, you can take a photo 😉
Oooh, Poor thing, I just imagined this picture, I already shuddered. I wish your finger a speedy recovery))) If there was a fracture, it would turn blue, you would immediately notice that something was wrong, it can wait until the morning... I didn’t break anything myself, ttt, I judge by my mother’s once broken finger?
X-ray will help you. I had a fracture, which was very painful, and I had a bruise, which was also very painful. I couldn’t step on or touch, there was a bruise on my entire finger. I did an x-ray.