Damn injuries-jammed a finger in August and it still hurts

[gsxrken]

Tubing behind a boat and somewhere along the way my ring finger got sprained or something. It's almost December and it still is nagging me and the knuckle is still slightly bigger than the others. Maybe I'm getting old...
Have you guys noticed how long it takes to heal as the years go by?

[Brian 162]

The middle knuckle on my right hand feels like its throbbing when I clench it or if I have work gloves on. It's been like that for a month and I haven't got a clue what I did originally to aggravate it.
I've had a sharp pain in my left palm and thumb for a few years now. BTW I'm right handed.
I've been on the tools too long.
It sucks getting old.

[ckelly78z]

My son and I were riding our dirtbikes when the dog crossed in front of me, so I swerved to prevent running clean over him. Needless to say I came off the side of the bike about 4 feet in the air, and hit on the hard ground with my right rib cage and face. No damage to my face, but 6 weeks later, I am still having trouble sleeping on my right side or back due to the aching in my fractured ribs. I'm 49 and don't remember it taking so long to heal before.

BTW, I stopped tubing or knee boarding a few years back when I still hurt on Monday mornings after wiping out a few times.

[Bill Douglas]

Yup, welcome to getting old.

[M.D. Holloway]

lucky it wasn't a hip, ol men been known to die from that

[regency]

Took the day off for my birthday ( mid August ), the plan was: Go running, drive the 911 to the range to shoot & come home and take a bike ride with the wife. While "jogging" i tripped over a cottonwood root and fell on my right side. In the effort to not fall, I strained my left hip I Hamstring. I'm still having trouble and pain trying to jog today.

1973 911 T MFI Coupe, Aubergine

Steve

[Noah930]

Hard to tell what you've got without pics or an exam, but it sounds like you may have sprained a joint. BTW, which joint is it? The one by the fingernail? The one where your finger joins the hand? Or the one in between those two?

Finger joint sprains are notoriously slow to heal in adulthood. As in, it may ache and feel tight for a year after the injury. A joint sprain is a partial tearing of the ligaments holding that joint together. The torn portions heal by scarring back together, which is good and bad. It's good because that's how it heals. It's bad because the body lays down more scar tissue than is needed, thereby contributing to the stiffness/tightness you feel. That's also why the joint still looks swollen, months later--because of the peri articular fibrosis. The scar tissue (peri articular fibrosis) will remodel with time (takes a full year) and the swelling will improve, but that joint may always be a bit bigger than it was before. If you wore a ring on that finger, for example, you might always be half a ring size bigger.

[oldE]

I think I had a similar thing happen about thirty years ago. I had managed to catch a finger (ring finger, right hand) and push it sideways toward the pinkie. Seemed like a sprain. Iced it, heat, etc. Sore for a few months, but no loss of function.
Then one day five months later, I'm brushing something off with my hand and I caught the injured finger and heard a "pop". The soreness went away after that.
The only thing I could think of was I had 'dislocated' the joint and that it snapped back in to place.

Get it checked out.
Best
Les

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by oldE

Then one day five months later, I'm brushing something off with my hand and I caught the injured finger and heard a "pop". The soreness went away after that.
The only thing I could think of was I had 'dislocated' the joint and that it snapped back in to place.

It's pretty unlikely that the finger was dislocated for several months, and that the pop you experienced was it reducing. More likely is that you built up scar tissue (periarticular fibrosis) that ruptured with the pop. Then, with no hindering scar tissue, the joint felt better afterwards.

Either way, you felt better afterwards, which is the most important thing.

[gsxrken]

Thanks Noah, I'm sure you nailed it. It's the middle joint, BTW. It does feel tight but I do have a full range of motion. It just seems to be stalled at this phase.

Originally Posted by Noah930

Hard to tell what you've got without pics or an exam, but it sounds like you may have sprained a joint. BTW, which joint is it? The one by the fingernail? The one where your finger joins the hand? Or the one in between those two?

Finger joint sprains are notoriously slow to heal in adulthood. As in, it may ache and feel tight for a year after the injury. A joint sprain is a partial tearing of the ligaments holding that joint together. The torn portions heal by scarring back together, which is good and bad. It's good because that's how it heals. It's bad because the body lays down more scar tissue than is needed, thereby contributing to the stiffness/tightness you feel. That's also why the joint still looks swollen, months later--because of the peri articular fibrosis. The scar tissue (peri articular fibrosis) will remodel with time (takes a full year) and the swelling will improve, but that joint may always be a bit bigger than it was before. If you wore a ring on that finger, for example, you might always be half a ring size bigger.

[oldE]

Originally Posted by Noah930

It's pretty unlikely that the finger was dislocated for several months, and that the pop you experienced was it reducing. More likely is that you built up scar tissue (periarticular fibrosis) that ruptured with the pop. Then, with no hindering scar tissue, the joint felt better afterwards.

Either way, you felt better afterwards, which is the most important thing.

I've always said I'd rather be lucky than good.

Best
Les

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by gsxrken

It does feel tight but I do have a full range of motion. It just seems to be stalled at this phase.

It's going to be like that for months. Easily can be like that for the first year. That PIP joint is the most likely for something like that to happen. Unfortunately, there's not much you or anyone else can do to make it better faster. Just time.