Hand injuries are not uncommon, especially if a person leads an active lifestyle, is fond of sports or one of the martial arts. If the victim knocked out a finger, he must be provided with proper medical care, including a number of therapeutic measures.
Important to know
A broken finger on the hand should not be self-medicated. This is fraught with serious consequences, up to improper fusion and possible subsequent surgical intervention. Such injuries are often accompanied by torn ligaments, complex dislocations, or painful fractures. In such a situation, the patient must be given all the necessary first aid, and then immediately taken to the nearest medical facility.
Causes of injury
Hands are often injured. The main reasons are as follows:
- domestic injury - often occurs due to ordinary inattention, if a person knocked out a finger, unsuccessfully grabbing the door handle, falling on the wrong hand or any other active home activities;
- sports - it would be appropriate to mention any sports here, they are all very active, often leading tocollisions, possible dislocations and bruises;
- consequences of a past injury - people who have already once had a finger knocked out should take care of themselves doubly, such an injury increases the risk of a repetition of the situation in the future;
- bad habit of snapping fingers - sooner or later leads to displacement.
Dislocation of the finger is always a serious inconvenience that impedes normal daily activities and significantly reduces the usual comfortable standard of living.
Main symptoms
Index, thumb and ring fingers in this situation suffer most often. They take a particularly active part in human life and receive the most serious workload. If the victim complains that he has knocked out his finger, the symptoms of subluxation or dislocation should be determined by the following indicators:
- Pain - it can be of varying degrees of intensity, manifest itself when trying to move, when touched or in a complete state of rest. The intensity of pain sensations can also vary, often their pulsation is expressed quite sharply.
- Mobility - after the first minutes, when the state of shock is replaced by pain, it becomes difficult. Even a small movement leads to a range of unpleasant sensations that prevent it.
- Swelling - often swelling appears immediately, with injuries of varying degrees of complexity, it can develop gradually, eventually capturing not only the broken finger on the hand, but the entire palm.
- Deformation is a clear sign of dislocation,indicating the seriousness of the situation, this unnatural position causes acute pain and requires the immediate use of analgesics and contact with a trauma specialist.
Additionally, there may be a temporary decrease in sensitivity due to severe bruising of the soft tissues. The skin in this area becomes pale due to insufficient blood supply, and the pads of the fingers become numb.
First Aid
What should I do if my finger is knocked out? First of all, it is important not to harm yourself or the victim even more. Attempts to independently return the joint to its original position can end in failure. Such indiscretion can lead to a serious open fracture or painful torn ligaments. The correct sequence of first aid in such situations would be:
- Remove the rings, if any, from the injured finger and all adjacent to it.
- Immediately apply ice if there is none nearby, a regular plastic bag filled with water, food from the freezer, or a towel thoroughly dampened under the tap will do just fine.
- The hand should be held vertically upwards, if it is difficult for the victim to do this on their own, you can make a fixing bandage from improvised material (scarf, belt).
- Analgesics will help relieve pain, and you can eliminate finger mobility by applying a splint. The bandage is applied weakly, completely eliminating possible pressure on this area.
- After allof the above actions, the victim should be taken to a medical facility, where a specialist will conduct a qualitative examination and prescribe further treatment.
Aftercare
To determine how seriously the patient's finger has been knocked out, the doctor will definitely send it for x-rays. Depending on the degree of damage detected, a certain therapeutic course is prescribed. Treatment can be carried out both in hospital and at home, more often it does not take much time and leads to a quick recovery of the damaged joint.
- Continue to apply cold for the first few days until the swelling is gone.
- The following shows an ointment with a resolving and anti-inflammatory effect, if there is pronounced pain, a temporary analgesic is additionally prescribed.
The doctor will definitely recommend limiting movement in this area if possible, using a tight bandage and minimizing stress.
