Do I really need to take DS to A&E for this?

[Hullabaloo9]

At a sport club yesterday my son fell on his little finger. He says it went crunch. It swelled a little but he could move it. He is not a whinger with injuries so just got on with it.

This morning he says it hurts more. It's definitely more swollen and he can't bend it. He's fine though, not fussing.

Do I really need to take him to A&E with this? If it is broken is there anything they can actually do for a pinky finger?

My DS broke his finger a couple of months ago, I wasn’t sure what to do as he wasn’t bothered too much but it was badly swollen and the whole finger looked bruised. I called 111 who referred me to the out of hours urgent care centre. A nurse phoned back about half an hour later and said it needed an x-ray, gave us an appointment for later that afternoon (Saturday). We went, got the x-ray, got splinted and home in under an hour. And an appointment was made to see a hand specialist. I was quite glad I’d called 111 as I didn’t know the urgent care place existed and we would’ve been hours in A&E

No one wants to spend hours in A&E for something that seems trivial but fingers can actually be complex and they are an important part of the body!

Ring 111 for advice. I did similar and was told to ice and keep it moving but went to get it x-ray at minor injuries to double check. I was given a tubigrip splint and told to keep it moving as much as possible. Has taken a couple of weeks to mend. I suspect given lack of pain it isn't but see what 101 say and if it was my DS I would probably want an extra anyway

The police are unlikely to help.

Meantime you can splint it to finger beside it with tape.

@MotherJessAndKittens they tell you not to splint at home now, just ice it and get seen asap.

Try and go to a walk in clinic/minor injuries unit if you can.

You will be waiting hours to be seen in A&E.

As a slight aside... how does minor injuries work for others?

Where I live you can't just rock up to the MIU - you go to A&E and at triage they either push you to minors or stay at A&E.

My minor injuries unit is just a walk in one.

You can look online at how many people are waiting to be seen too.

You just walk in, tell the receptionist the issue and the sit and wait to be seen.

The only issue is that you sometimes have to go on to hospital but I still think it’s quicker than A&E.

Similar happened to me as a kid. It hurt a lot for months, then once they realised it had been broken and the tendon damaged, it hurt a lot for another two years as they tried to stretch the tendon to give me some movement back and give me the use of that side of my hand, as the contraction meant it was taking my ring and middle finger function with it as I grew.

The consultant said if I'd been seen at the time of the break, they'd have been able to sort it, but where the bones had fused weirdly meant nothing else could be done short of amputation (which was apparently planned if the tendon stretching hadn't worked).

ETA: Forty years on, it's just a useless digit that only hurts every day and I have some use of my ring finger, thanks to the stretching saving some of its function.

It's definitely an x-ray job and very possibly a hand surgeon referral.

The police are on 101. NHS is on 111, as the PP said. Best to get it right if you’re only posting to snark.

Not every area works the same, our only option is to turn up at A&E, they then triage you to the proper place, minors, majors, ortho, children's, GP etc.

DS1 needed surgery when his hand looked like that.

Yes definitely, it could affect his grip later as it heals. He might need referring for specific physio.

Do you have an urgent care centre near you? When I fractured my elbow, I went to my local one. I rang 111 and they arranged an appointment for me later in the evening; I'd enough time to book a taxi and organise myself to go out. Urgent care at our local hospital is located close to A&E and both are near the x-ray suite, so it isn't always easy to tell them apart. But going through 111 means you can avoid long waits surrounded by people being triaged for various emergencies and A&E staff don't have their time taken up with non-emergencies.

My injury wasn't serious, but hospitals prefer to x-ray if they can; you can't always tell how severe something is by how much it hurts and how much the patient complains. You say your DS is a stoic, so it would probably do no harm for him to have his hand properly looked at.

@Hullabaloo9 i would say broken as thats what mine looked like. I left it for a month and it was knitting together in the wrong place. Take him to a+e. It doesn't always hurt as much as you think a break would

I would definitely get it looked at. I fell and thought I’d sprained my foot, but a trip to minor injuries revealed a small break.

I was at A&E last night. I had a fall and it was thought I might have broken my wrist. I was triaged, x-rayed and sent to the minor unit after which I came home with a sling. It took 4 hours all told but at least it was checked out.

Yes. Similar in our family - they needed a very small pin to mend the bone.

@Hullabaloo9 Did you get sorted? Hope quick recovery for him

Of course he should go to A&E or at least call 111 who might sign post you to minor injuries.

I broke my finger and although there was nothing they could do, the A&E Dr insisted I take a week long course of antibiotics. Can't remember what they were called but they were the size of horse suppositories 😱.

It may be infected and need antibiotics

Seriously? Baffling. Take him.

It's his hand. They'll take it seriously as it could affect his dexterity for the rest of his life.

Yeah you really need to take him, he’s broken his finger by the sound of it. Minor injuries might be able to help if you have one near you but either way he needs medical attention.

DS broke his finger playing rugby. He had an x-ray to confirm the break and A&E splinted it and referred him to a specialist hand clinic. His break was very close to a growth plate which can be an issue in growing kids. He had a specialist splint made at the hand clinic and given exercises and follow up appointments every 2 weeks. They took it really seriously despite it ‘just being a finger’. They were absolutely brilliant and it’s healed perfectly.

I broke my ring finger recently, went to A&E had the x-ray. The consultant said he had no idea why I came to A&E for a broken finger like I was a time waster. Said he could put a splint on “if I wanted him to”. I felt a right idiot. I must admit I thought there would be some sort of treatment or follow up but nothing.
This Consultant was obviously having a bad day because the guy before me had broken his foot and he was really rude to him too.

Yes, granddaughter needed a cast for the same thing and they did debate operating, thankfully it healed ok without.