Is there a doctor in the house?

porlyworly

Think I've broken my ring finger at footy last night, got all of the related symptoms on the internet so my self diagnosis must be correct. Not going to bother with A&E as it takes hours to get seen to and they usually just tape it up to the adjacent finger anyway (can do this myself). Anyone ridden with a broken finger? MTFU and get on with it?

Kieran_Burns

You need to strap it up to at least two other fingers.... however you need an x-ray to make sure that there are no complications and that the bone is setting straight.

davis

It's actually fairly difficult to differentiate between broken/dislocated/sub-lux. I probably wouldn't bother however, or at least wait until a "quiet" time for A&E.

Coach H

In 30 years of cricket I have gained plenty of experience in injured digits (fingers and toes).

My rule of thumb (get it?), as long as nothing is at a funny angle or obviously dislocated (if it is a finger that is dislocated give it a vigorous shake and it will normally pop back in), is this. Strap the injured digit to its neighbour (or to your foot in the case of little toes) and if it hurts for less than a week it was just bruised. If it hurts for more than a week it was broken. If it hurts for more than three weeks it was actually at a funny angle originally and you didn't notice but will either stop hurting in 2 months (but may be always at a funny angle) or it will periodically give you pain for the rest of your life unless you go all Ranulph Finnes with a set of tin snips in the shed.

veronese68

Depends on how badly you have broken it and what else is damaged. When I broke my middle finger I couldn't ride for a couple of months as I couldn't hold on or brake. But it was a bad break with the bone completely snapped and had to be pinned.
Took quite a bit of physio to get movement back and it's still not right months later. Mind you it never will be although I'm told it should improve up to two years.

porlyworly

Decided to give it another 24 hours see if the swelling goes down, if not will go to A&E tomorrow night nice and late when the queue's die down. Hoping it doesn't swell up any more or may have to have the wedding ring cut off as it's pretty tight!

Going to ride to work tomorrow see how it feels

itboffin

Coach H wrote:

In 30 years of cricket I have gained plenty of experience in injured digits (fingers and toes).

My rule of thumb (get it?), as long as nothing is at a funny angle or obviously dislocated (if it is a finger that is dislocated give it a vigorous shake and it will normally pop back in), is this. Strap the injured digit to its neighbour (or to your foot in the case of little toes) and if it hurts for less than a week it was just bruised. If it hurts for more than a week it was broken. If it hurts for more than three weeks it was actually at a funny angle originally and you didn't notice but will either stop hurting in 2 months (but may be always at a funny angle) or it will periodically give you pain for the rest of your life unless you go all Ranulph Fiennes with a set of tin snips in the shed.

Yep good advice here ^ (FTFY tsk!!!)

use your forefinger and thumb on the other hand (obviously) and run it down the sides of the injured finger, if anything feels angular then its a trip to A&E otherwise tape (gaffer pref.) it up and stop being such a big girl ...you big girl

t4tomo

find a "minor injuries unit" nearby - normally much less waiting than A&E

rubertoe

Buy a new bike. It is what Veronese did.

Coach H

PorlyWorly wrote:

Decided to give it another 24 hours see if the swelling goes down, if not will go to A&E tomorrow night nice and late when the queue's die down. Hoping it doesn't swell up any more or may have to have the wedding ring cut off as it's pretty tight!

Going to ride to work tomorrow see how it feels

Remember though that if you go to A&E late the queue's may have gone but so will the radiographers and they will not call them out for your sore finger. This means that you will be waiting in an empty A&E for hours until there is another reason for the Radiographer to be called back. Then, unless it is at a funny angle (see above), they will strap it to the finger next to it and send you home. The only difference to the above is you will know whether it is broken without having to wait the periods of time stated earlier. Been there done that; got to A&E at 9.30pm (midweek 20 over game) X-Rayed at 3.20am, after car accident came in, then strapped up and sent home.

veronese68

rubertoe wrote:

Buy a new bike. It is what Veronese did.

I had to do it because I'd never ever be able to pull on cantilever brakes hard enough ever again. EVER!!!!
FACT

and nobody tell Mrs V68 otherwise