Broken finger-worth seeing a Dr?

[Lookwhoitisnae]

About 4/5 weeks ago I was walking my dog when she spotted a deer and bolted. The lead was in my left hand and my ring finger got caught in it.
Felt like I'd disloacted or broken it. The knuckle joint swelled up badly and was very painful. I'm unable to straighten my finger but I can close it slightly.
Spoke to a friend who's a nurse who advised me Dr dont bother with fingers/toes so I just strapped it to the adjoining finger for two weeks for support.
Its still swollen and painful and not able to straighten it. Any advice-I think I need to get it seen to. Is there any point? Thanks.

You need to go for an x Ray. It won't heal properly if it's crooked, it needs to be set. The longer it's left, the worse it will be to have it reset. Is it a healthy colour? If not you need to go to A&E immediately.

When I broke my finger I had a splint made and had to attend hand therapy (physio)

I think you should have it looked at

I’m not the best person to advise, but I’d strap it up to the next finger and hope it settled down.
I’d had a mishap and hurt my hand but did nothing about it for a fortnight, but it was still hurting. Went to A&E after discussing it at work. However it was too late to fix it, although they originally gave me a fantastic crocodile cast, however the consultant said too late ….

what sort of nurse is your friend?… could she confidently exclude it being dislocated? Dislocated joints need reducing. Broken fingers are sometimes more complex than just needing buddy strapping (particularly if it’s on the dominant hand). I’d probably show it to someone with some orthopaedic experience and see what they suggest.

4 or 5 weeks later may mean surgery is required to set it if it's out of kilter.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/broken-finger/

Doctors do indeed bother about fingers, for good reason - it's very incapacitating not to be able to use your hands properly. I had an operation on mine last year when I fell and broke my little finger. Then I had intensive therapy on it at the Hand Clinic at St Thomas's. Busy place.

I (a nurse) disagree with your nurse friend. Toes, okay often not if it's not the big one, they tend to just heal on their own and rarely cause complications. Fingers however, because of the risk of loss of range of motion if it doesn't heal well, should at least be assessed and you given advice and exercises to manage it even if no actual treatment is needed.

Ah, I should have dealt with it sooner then. A & E is so busy and being self employed I didnt have 4/5 hours to spare.
I'll do an econsult with GP tomorrow but it will be weeks to get an appointment.
I caught it again today and its very painful again.

Go to the GP, I had a fall on holiday in July, I didn't think I'd broken it, could move it, couldn't feel any breaks, it became very swollen overnight, treated with pain killers tried to keep it raised but because I was on holiday didn't seek medical treatment - thought it would be a faff and it would be OK.
Nearly 3months later it still isn't OK, had an xray but it doesn't show any fracture, knuckle and finger still swollen and misshapen, looks crooked can't bend finger properly or fully straighten it. GP thinks possibly tendon damage so have appointment with MSK next week.
Take it seriously don't ignore it like I did!

Do you have a minor injuries unit near you? That's where we went when DH broke his finger - it wasn't a long wait like A and E would have been.

@Dutchhouse14 I kinda already have left it! I thought it'd be a faff too, took painkillers etc but its not getting better. Your finger sounds like mine. Squiffy and swollen. Bloody thing!
@Itabsolutelyispossible no its A & E or GP round here. Theres an NHS desk in health centre but thats appointments only now.

Thanks for advice, did Econsult, got an appt today and saw Dr. Been referred for an xray. Bloody thing!!