rmmc10
12-18-2006, 02:08 PM
About 3 months ago I suffered a mallet finger injury. Basically the tendon that runs along the top of my index finger on my right hand tore away from the bone where it attaches at the DIP joint (the little knuckle near the fingernail), breaking a piece of the bone off along with it. I went to the doctor, then to an orthopedic hand specialist. They splinted the finger for about 10 weeks and after x-raying it said that the bone healed correctly so they've been weaning me off the splint over the past 2 weeks.
The thing is that now I have very limited ability to bend the finger at the PIP joint (the big knuckle in the middle of the finger). That's not even the part of the finger where the injury was sustained. I can only bend it at the joint about 1/3 of how far it normally bends and then I feel a strong tension and tightness on the top of the knuckle and it feels like if I push it too far something will break or pop. That and the top of the knuckle turns purple when I reach that point. After I suffered the injury, but prior to going to the doctor and getting put in the splint, I was able to bend at this joint normally, so I'm guessing that something occurred during the healing process. With the way the splint was worn I didn't bend my finger at the PIP joint at all during those 10 weeks. I'm getting vague answers from my doctor so I need some suggestions on if this is normal or what's going on. I'm worried it won't get better. Thanks.
The thing is that now I have very limited ability to bend the finger at the PIP joint (the big knuckle in the middle of the finger). That's not even the part of the finger where the injury was sustained. I can only bend it at the joint about 1/3 of how far it normally bends and then I feel a strong tension and tightness on the top of the knuckle and it feels like if I push it too far something will break or pop. That and the top of the knuckle turns purple when I reach that point. After I suffered the injury, but prior to going to the doctor and getting put in the splint, I was able to bend at this joint normally, so I'm guessing that something occurred during the healing process. With the way the splint was worn I didn't bend my finger at the PIP joint at all during those 10 weeks. I'm getting vague answers from my doctor so I need some suggestions on if this is normal or what's going on. I'm worried it won't get better. Thanks.