Smashed fingers

Thanks for all the advice good people. Today my hand feels almost normal. Its definitely improving rapidly.

Inflammation in and around the ligaments can cause a crunching sensation, as the ligament can not run smoothly in their 'tracks' (I don't know the medical term) due to them being lumpy and/or the surrounding tissue being lumpy due to inflammation.

I mashed a ligament years ago in my thumb (that was a martial arts training accident too) and didn't seek treatment until a year later, and now my thumb still clicks because a section of the ligament is squashed flat. The difference between that injury and this one though is that that one actually locked my thumb solid for more than a week, and foolishly I forced it, ignoring the pain, to bend by gripping it with my good hand and literally forcing it over.That was the 1980s, when the stupid saying "no pain, no gain" was still prevalent. Before I developed the wisdom to change to "No pain, low likelihood of long term injury". The point is I know from experience to take these things seriously, which is why I'm keeping an eye on things and will go and see the doctor at the first hint that either recovery has slowed or it starts getting worse again.

A good thing I think.

 

A little update. Not very exciting I'm afraid, but here goes.

I went to the pharmacy today to ask about bandages that I might strap my fingers with, or creams I could use.

I got told off.

Having described what happened, and what it felt like when it happened, and what it feels like now, I was told I should have gone immediately to A&E because it sounds like I have crushed some nerves. I was told that there's no point going to A&E now because it will have already started to heal, possibly wrongly, and I must go to the doctor asap for a proper assessment.

I was also told something I'd never considered. Apparently you should never strap an injury unless it is either immediately recognised as essential, in which case it is a temporary fix until you can have it checked professionally, or if it has been checked properly and is deemed necessary. The reason being that if you strap an injury there is a chance you will hold it in the wrong position, so that it heals in the wrong position, causing long term damage.

I also hadn't realised myself how injured it is. I guess I'd subconsciously been taking all the load off it so that it didn't hurt as much. Today we had a few guests round, and in the revelry CL1.1 and I put on our fighting pads and demonstrated our sparring prowess. Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of CL1.1, but he is only 5 years old. 5 year old kids can not deliver significant force. 5 year old kids wearing foot pads kicking a grown man should be like a fly landing on you. A grown man wearing sparring mits) like boxing gloves but slightly less padded, but still padded, who uses a clenched fist inside a padded glove to block a kick from the padded foot of a 5 year old should inflict the same kind of pain as a grain of dust landing in your hair. Yet every time he did it it felt like a massive electric shock in my hand.

So I guess I'll be going to the doc's as soon as I can, and I guess when our martial class resumes in the new year, I suspect I'll be on limited activities for the first few weeks.

 

hate to say " i told you so" but i did say go to A+E , hope you can get it sorted xx

 

You did. And if I'd had more sense I'd have taken your advice. But I'm a buffoon. I might make it a new years resolution to not be so daft, but I suspect its a resolution I'll struggle to keep.

 

lol just hope you have no lasting damage! no use to anyone being a Martyr

 

Just go to A&E tomorrow. A broken bone at this stage can be easily broken there and then and set correctly.
If you need referring to a specialist they will do it for you which saves waiting for your GP to do it. Your fingers are your livelihood.

 

The pharmacist said there'd be no point, as A&E at this late stage would not do anything without a doctor's referral. Besides which, I must admit I'm sort of reluctant purely because I hate our local hospital. I've seen more of it than I'd like this year, and it is really stressful. Besides, I'm also aware that my case is not life threatening. An hour spent looking at my largely self inflicted minor injury is an hour not spent with someone who might have had a nasty fall and split their head open, or someone who's kid has been struck down with some very nasty lurgy making it difficult for them to breath. I've left it 9 days already. Another 2 days will make little difference I suspect. The bones aren't broken because my fingers still move in all the normal ways and the fingers on the injured side look almost the same as their counterparts on my good hand. There is a nasty inflamed bright red lump right on the joint closest to my finger tip on the worst finger, and a bit of discolouration around the two main knuckles of my middle two fingers on that hand.

 

Your call.
I take my splint off for showers and it looks the same as the other hand now as well. I also have good movement already.
I broke two metacarpals without realising and I now have to "pay the price". If you punch the wall it's a fresh injury?
A&E is there for everyone. All A&E departments are capable of basic triage so you will not be causing anyone in a life threatening state to wait.

 

Basically, if you go to A&E today they will X-ray it and if needs be forward the X-ray on to the appropriate specialist. If you go to your GP in a couple of days they will send you for an X-ray at some point in the (near) future.
Remember that A&E stands for "accident and emergency" and not "emergency only"!

 

Clueless, with respect, you asked for and ignored members opinions once.....wrongly. Are you going to listen a second time? Sorry, but you really should get your hand checked out asap and not wait for the delays through your GP. Those delays could also cost you your sport if the injury is not straight forward.

Any emergency at A&E will take precedence over you anyway, so you won't be delaying others treatment.

 

I'm going to the local little hospital tomorrow. They don't have a full A&E facility, but they have doctors and nurses and an X-ray machine. If they decide I need anything more than they have on site then they'll refer me to the big hospital. In that respect its the same as going to A&E anyway because as I saw when I needed an endoscopy when I was actually admitted to hospital earlier this year, or when they decided I need a exercise stress test to see how my heart behaves under load (which I still haven't had yet), they send you home to wait for the letter anyway.

As an aside, I remember years ago when I was 15 and used to train in kung fu. I sustained an injury then too. I crunched my big toe with sufficient force to make a snapping sound loud enough for the instructor to immediately tell the whole class to stop immediately while he dealt with the situation. I was on the floor by this time in intense pain. Two instructors ran to me while the top man, a genuine grand master visiting from China, ran off to grab a little unlabelled bottle. He returned with this bottle, and immediately massaged some slimy stuff into my foot. Apparently some mix of oils and herbs. I was then carried to a car and taken home, unable to walk. A week later I was back in class. Other than oils and herbs, I know no details about what was in that blend. I wish I had some now.

 

Good! We will be waiting to see how you get on. Any injury like this needs to be checked out, who knows what damage has been done and if you leave it - it's likely to give you more trouble as you get older.

A lot of oils and herbs have healing qualities but it depends on what sort of injury they are being used on, they won't mend a broken bone for instance.

I hope all goes well tomorrow.

 

I pulled a muscle a few weeks ago. Less than a week later I was taking part in a training session with several visiting senior instructors when one, astute as these people are, picked me out of the large crowd (the crowd is not usually large, its just that it was a special event), walked right up to me, and told me that I have a muscle injury in my leg and asked what I was treating it with. He seemed surprised that I'd shunned Deep Heat and Ibruprofen in favour of rosemary oil. My thigh muscle held out for the entire session, including an unexpected sparring match that I volunteered to have, because a bloke who was doing his test after the group session didn't have someone his own size to have a match with during his test. In the excitement of 'combat' I forgot about the injury myself, and even delivered several high round house kicks from my poorly leg without incident. How ironic then that it was that very match that got me my first of two accidentally wallops on my fingers. The second being the nasty one that mashed my fingers the other week. But anyway, the rosemary oil kept my leg working when I know deep heat and/or anti-inflammatory gels would not have. Like you say though, oils will treat some injury types but will do nothing for others.

 

My doctor (not my usual one though) told me to put deep heat on my bruised thigh. The pharmacist looked at the bruise and said 'he is having a laugh, it will put you through the roof'.
If my doctor 'was' having a laugh, its not really very professional in my opinion. If I could show you my leg, I think you would agree.