[1] /BaseFont /Times-Roman Dont ignore a droopy finger. 2 Convenient locations: Calamvale & Greenslopes (see Contact Us for more details), P: (07) 3344 7942 /Name /F8 Talk with your health care provider before using these medicines if you have heart disease, high blood pressure, kidney disease, or have had stomach ulcers or internal bleeding in the past. An inability to straighten your fingertip. Apply the ice pack for 20 minutes, every hour you are awake for the first 2 days, then for 10 to 20 minutes, 3 times daily as needed to reduce pain and swelling. The doctor must carefully evaluate and treat this injury in children, so that the finger does not become stunted or deformed. Right? It is easy enough to get started with a splint your doctor gives you, or you might be tempted to use a splint that you found at the drugstore. In these cases, the doctor may decide to insert a temporary pin across the fingertip joint to hold it straight for 8 weeks. I have seen doctors and therapists miss this diagnosis. E: contact@handrecovery.com.au Rosemont, IL, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 2010. Same goes with moving too quickly at the end of 6 weeks. << The injury frequently affects a finger on the hand you use the most (your dominant hand). Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. If that is the case, your finger might not heal throughout the whole entire time that you are splinted. << /Length 5 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >> /Type /Page $.' M: PO Box 1022, Sunnybank Hills,4109. Injury to the extensor tendon at the DIP joint, also known as mallet finger ( Figure 2), is the most common closed tendon injury of the finger. Reproduced from Culver JE Jr: Office management of athletic injuries of the hand and wrist. 0000013834 00000 n Perhaps you did have a mallet finger, but it progressed into a swan neck deformity. After that, you will need to wear your splint for another 3 to 4 weeks, at night only. This is a common reason why mallet fingers are not healed. This means that it must be worn while bathing, then carefully changed after bathing. Youll then wear your splint day and night for a minimum of six weeks. Excellent article and its translation. Splints may include your entire finger or your joint specifically, such as with a ring splint. Swan Neck Deformity: Causes, Treatment, Recovery and More - Healthline After the pain of the initial injury you may experience: No. You should also ice your splinted finger for 10-20 minutes three to four times per day. The tendon itself is intact, but the bone it attaches to breaks off. This type of mallet finger injury doesnt show up on an x-ray. By clicking Accept, you agree to our use of cookies. endobj /Name /F1 Removing your splint even once, without support, can undo all that healing goodness. endobj Before we dive in, catch the video below to find out why your mallet finger may still be drooping. In some cases, a small piece of bone is pulled away along with the tendon. Mallet finger injury - Melbourne Hand Surgery The finger is usually painful, swollen, and bruised. 2022American Society for Surgery of the Hand. In a mallet finger, the fingertip droops: it cannot straighten on its own power. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. As the splint dries, you must keep your injured finger straight. If your young child has mallet finger and doesnt get treatment, their finger may not grow properly. Finger swelling can fluctuate causing the splint to slide around and sometimes fall off (g. wearing your mallet finger splint 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. American Society for Surgery of the Hand. But if your joint is misaligned, your finger is broken or there are bone fragments that result in an unstable joint, your injury is considered complex and may need surgery. Occasionally, blood collects beneath the nail. Your treating therapist will show you how to safely wash the finger and reapply the splint without bending the fingertip. The best way to protect that finger from bending is to use your thumb as shown here. 0000009563 00000 n 0000006537 00000 n All you need to know about Mallet Finger, Recovering from a Broken Wrist. /Encoding 16 0 R This is a figure-eight splint that you wear around the PIP joint all the time for several. 0000011139 00000 n This results in a permanent droop. Why Is My Mallet Finger Not Healed? : Mallet Finger