Is it possible to break your finger and not know?

I know, I really should listen to my self here, but a couple of days ago I dropped a chair on my middle finger between the first and second knuckle.


It hurt a lot, it swole up some (but not a whole lot) and started to bruise fairly soon afterwards. It's not dislocated, mis-shapen nor was the skin broken.





I could not use it for any kind of weight/load bearing task. I can type, but it gets really soar very soon afterwards.


I can bend it (but not fully) and use it, but only for very light tasks. I cannot touch the side where the chair fell nor the opposite side of the bone without deep sickening pain. I don't really have any real loss of sensation, but it constantly throbs...and it's been three days now.


Is it possible it might be broken?





Please don't just say "see your doctor" I plan on it tomarrow, but I just want someone's oppinion that MIGHT ACTUALLY know something here.

Is it possible to break your finger and not know?
Yes it's possible. But damage other than fracture can be just as painful and is more likely. Try to keep the finger immobile as much as possible. This may be possible only be refraining from using that entire hand.





To the one who said "I think it's cracked, not broken". A fracture is a fracture is a fracture. How wonderful it must be to have X-ray vision.
Reply:brain dead. Report It

Reply:anything is possible......
Reply:If you havent broken it before or have problems on it ........it should hurt


ALOT
Reply:I don't actually claim to know anything, but it sounds like a fracture to me.
Reply:you could have just made it really sore, stubbed/stowed it, I've done this before, I'm not sure if it was as bad as yours, but It wasn't broken, I think you'll be ok, just take it easy.
Reply:Nope. One thing I can say I know for sure is, when you break a bone, you KNOW it. When I was 13 I only fractured my wrist. I knew it was "broken" the instant it happened.
Reply:I think it cracked, not broken. If it's broken, you wouldn't be able to type and the pain would be a lot worse than now. It still requires same treatment as broken finger though, wasn't really big area to treat anyway
Reply:If you ruptured a vein or a capillary it can feel worse then breaking it. Or maybe you could have bruised the bone. The doc is just gonna take x rays so hopefully you have insurance or your gonna pay out the ***.
Reply:Bruising and point tenderness are signs of "potential fracture". Of course you can have a broken finger without knowing. If the finger is not deformed, it would not be possible to see the break without an xray. It could also be a crack or an avulsion injury.





Please do not use your finger...umm...duh. Keep it in a neutral position, the sort of position you would be in if you were holding a can of soda. You can get a finger splint until you can get an xray. At the drug store, the bendy kind, loosely affix it with an ace wrap. Even if the xray is negative, you should splint the finger for 1-2 weeks to facilitate healing.





You are lucky that the injury is not over a joint. The mid-bone fractures and contusions heal much more readily and you probably didn't cause any long term problem by moving it around. Joints are trickier, and if they are crushed or cracked you can have nasty stiffness later on.
Reply:I broke my finger when I was younger and even though it wasn't a serious break (just a crack, really) my finger swelled up like a summer sausage and turned purple. I couldn't move my hand without it throbbing like the devil, and couldn't use it at all or move the finger. I was sent to school anyway because it didn't seem "that bad". Once home that afternoon, my mother took one look at it and rushed me to the clinic. Was in a splint for a few weeks.





You've definitely hurt yourself, that's for sure. You may have chipped a bone, rather than broken it. If that's the case you may not have to have such a long recovery time.
Reply:Yeah it happens. I was playing rugby last year and someone fell on my hand. Same thing happened, there was minimal swelling, hurt but looked fine. I, unlike you, never went to see someone about it. Once I did it was reset in the wrong place and it still hurts sometimes.





Then again, I wouldn't go to a doctor anyway. Usually they'll just throw it in a splint or buddy tape it. If you do either of those, it will probably be fine about a week or two.
Reply:yes - it is possible to break your finger without knowing it. i have been a nurse for 4 years in a traume hospital and am also a flight nurse. my experience, especially with ankles, has been if it looks bad, it usually isn't broke. however, if it doesn't look so bad, it probably is broke. there are such conditions called "clinical fractures", which means it feels just like it is broken, but has no radiologic proof of a fracture. best thing is to get an x-ray, because if you let it go and it is broke, you could have some permanent damage or disability.. the way you are describing your symptoms sounds like a deep bruising, but again you may want to get it checked out for an official diagnosis. hope this helps
Reply:yes its 99% that is broken, it may be not complete fracture but there is one, may be just and on the side of the joint, they are not as painful as complete fracture but they hurt for sure, make sure that request for x-ray will have 3 views not just 2, two is only PA and LAT. with digits in that situation you should have oblique view also , that could be LAT fracture which is visible only on oblique view,, good luck
Reply:I dropped a weight on my right big toe. It was somewhat as you describe. There was severe tingling at times as well. Eventually had it checked and the xray showed a hairline fracture.


I do hope that your finger is not in the same state.


Rose P.