Injury of the finger
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
A bruised finger is such a common trauma that many people sometimes do not pay attention to it. However, the fingers are the concentration of many nerve endings. Virtually everything that is in the human body is permeated with blood vessels and a nervous tissue. Part of the nerve endings are responsible for sensory receptivity, through which a person is able to feel not only the cold or heat, but also pain, pleasure. There are nerve endings that are responsible for the motility, they carry out an impulse along the muscle tissue and provoke them to relax or contract. Both these groups work synchronously, smoothly.
Example - a prick with a needle or pin. The pain from the microtrauma is instantaneously transmitted through the nerve endings responsible for the sensory, to the spinal cord, to the motor nerve endings. From there a signal comes to the muscles, causing them to contract, the hand reflexively moves away from the needle. The whole process takes a few seconds. Especially sensitive in this sense are the tips of the fingers and toes, so the bruise of the finger is far from as simple and safe as it might seem at first glance. Even small finger injuries can significantly reduce the quality of physical activity and affect its overall condition.
A bruised toe is rightfully the leader among all other injuries of the hands and feet, dislocations and fractures of the fingers in surgical practice are much less common. A bruise is a trauma without damage to the skin, thus soft tissue and subcutaneous tissue is damaged. Since there are very few soft tissues in the fingers, the injury traumatizes the subcutaneous tissue, nerve endings and often the bones of the fingers.
[How does the bruise of the finger manifest?
A bruise, which can be considered easy, manifests itself with pain, swelling of the finger and often a hematoma. The bruise can develop both on the entire tip of the finger, and under the fingernail. Especially unpleasant is the bruise of the toe, because of severe pain and swelling obstructed movement. If the bruise of the finger has fallen on the distal or nail phalanx, there may be a hemorrhage into the joint cavity. Differentiate the bruise from the fracture by the pain symptom is impossible, the pain is equally intense. However, with injury, motor activity is preserved, although it causes pain. With a fracture, puffiness is much more intense, and the movement of the fingers is almost impossible. In addition, the bruise of the finger is not accompanied by their unusual position, eversion or atypical tilt, as is the case with fractures or dislocations. Also, with fractures, a characteristic sound is heard - crepitation, which produces injured bones.
What if there is a bruised finger?
The first aid is standard for all types of injury - it is immobilization, cold for 10-12 hours and a tight bandage. Just need to do and in cases of a bruise of fingers. As a cold, ice, a cold compress, a bottle or a closed container with ice water will do. On the finger it is necessary to apply a compressive, tight bandage to limit the spread of hemorrhage under the skin and to stop puffiness. It is necessary to watch, that the bandage does not stop the general blood supply of the finger, that is, it should not be tightened too tightly.
How to treat a bruised finger?
If the bruise is diagnosed or determined independently as very strong, other than cold and bandages, you can take an anesthetic drug, preferably from the group of NSAIDs - non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. It can be diclofenac, ibuprofen or orthophene. It relieves pain for several hours of ketans or ketoral. After 10-12 hours, when cold compresses are no longer relevant, the bruise of the finger can be treated with special ointments or gels, among which are diclofenac gel, diclac gel, doloben, indomethacin ointment. These external drugs will help to remove internal inflammation, activate blood flow in the capillaries of subcutaneous tissue, reducing swelling. As a rule, the bruise of the finger passes independently after 7-10 days and finally it can be forgotten about two weeks later.
It should be noted that a bruised hand can be eliminated faster than a trauma to the toes. If the finger of the lower limb is bruised, it should be the same as in all situations with bruises, apply a cold compress, apply a tight bandage, and lift the leg slightly. It is more convenient to do this while in a horizontal position. The raised leg does not allow puffiness to spread and helps the outflow of blood from the finger.
The use of alternative means
A good anti-edematous effect gives a simple compress of boiled potatoes in the skin. Potatoes must be cooked, then kneaded with a fork, cool a little, so as not to be too hot. Turn the mass into gauze and attach it to the bruised area. Compress should be kept for at least four hours, then it can be changed to a more recent one. As a rule, to neutralize the puffiness, three potatoes are taken. If the nail is injured and a hematoma develops under it, the potato is not superimposed on it. The nail plate should be covered with an iodine net, applied with a stick or match.
In addition to potatoes or iodine, which can be applied in the form of a grid to the entire surface of the bruise, it removes inflammation and swelling of the calendula extract. It is moistened with a compress and applied for two to three hours. On top of the bandage can be covered with a film. It should be noted that all the warming procedures, including potato, and calendula compress.
They only help on the second day after the trauma. The first day should be dedicated to the cold, which must be changed every hour and a half, so that cold compresses do not turn into warming.
A bruise of the finger, which worries for more than a week and is accompanied by persistent swelling, should be shown to the trauma doctor. It is possible that, in addition to a bruise, there is also a fracture or dislocation, and hemarthrosis is also dangerous - the accumulation of blood in the joint cavity. In such situations it is better to spend time and consult a doctor than after to treat the joint of the finger for a long time.