Advice needed for finger injury

[MrsAlwaysRight]

DD10 hurt her little finger playing football on Friday night (it got kicked). No better next morning.

She was complaining of pain, didn't look bruised and maybe very very slightly swollen between middle and proximal phalange. It was sticking out away from ring finger and she said she couldn't move it close enough to ring finger for them to touch.

Called 111 on Saturday morning and paramedic called back and said she thought it sounded potentially like a fracture. Went to minor injuries and nurse looked at it for a couple of minutes and said it wasn't swollen or deformed and nurse could move it so it wouldn't be x-rayed. Advised to continue with regular pain relief and ice.

Today pain level is the same and hasn't reduced at all with medicine. Joint does look a bit more swollen than yesterday. Is it worth getting it checked again or just leave and assume nurse is correct?

Nurse implied that DD may have a low pain threshold and made me feel like a time waster but I know DD doesn't ever make a fuss unless something is extremely painful. She plays a lot of sport so it's not her first injury but she says it's the most painful.

Sorry for essay! Thanks in advance for replies

There's no harm in getting it checked again, o

take her to a&e.
it needs to be x-rayed.

I would go, perhaps somewhere different...

Little fingers can be weird. DS broke his playing football but didn't think to mention it until it went black 3 days later. It wasn't extremely painful and he could still move it, but x-ray was clear.

The question that you need to ask is what difference would x/ray formal diganosis make?

It’s her little finger. Is it her dominant hand? Is it a joint?

Even if it is broken if it’s straightforward the treatment won’t be any different. Rest, pain relief, maybe buddy taping. So an xray won’t help or make a difference.

One of mine hurt a finger and I was dithering about a&e - but it was her middle finger, dominant hand, and the injury was to her joint (hyperextension). So I was surprised when they took it very seriously, she was under the hand clinic for 12 weeks as apparently because it was a joint on the dominant hand any fracture through the end of the bone can affect mobility and use if the hand. She also saw the nurse rather than a dr.

Did they take a full history? A kick is more likely to be mid bone which should heal on it’s own.

I disagree blue
a misplaced joint or misaligned break can lead to loss if dexterity.

Thanks for replies. I've just requested a call back again from 111 to see if they think it's worth getting looked at again.

The nurse didn't ask many questions at all. I think we were in there for maybe 4 minutes max. Helpfully DD didn't say to nurse that it was really painful when nurse was manipulating it. She only said after we left 🙄

It's her dominant hand and it appears to be the joint that's affected. Definitely more swollen today. She thinks it got bent sideways (towards and over ring finger and then backwards).

a misplaced joint or misaligned break can lead to loss if dexterity

That’s what I said? Apologies if it wasn’t clear.

A simple, non displaced fracture not near a joint should heal with no intervention. Assuming the nurse took a good history on the mechanism of injury, plus a thorough clinical examination should give a reasonable idea of where the break is, if there is one.

Like I said, with my dd it was hyperextension of the joint and clear joint involvement, which is why she was under the hand clinic for so long.

111 Dr who called me back has made her another appointment at minor injuries this afternoon.

Update - saw a different nurse who spent ages thoroughly examining her hand and fingers. She thought it should be x-rayed due to swelling and level of pain. X-ray came back clear so they think she's damaged her tendon and possibly ligaments. She's been referred for physio as it's her dominant hand and she plays a lot of sport.

Thanks for the advice. Much appreciated 🙂