Traumatic Causes of Finger Pain

 

Injuries that affect the hands, and especially the tips of the fingers, are fairly common. Trauma to the fingers can occur in a wide variety of settings, including: work environments where heavy machinery is operated, home while doing yardwork or using hand tools or knives, or while playing sports. These injuries to the hands can also be sustained when a person gets into a physical fight or from falling accidentally. Several different types of finger injuries that cause pain can occur in these traumatic situations. Injuries can range from mild bruising, scrapes, sprains or swelling to finger fractures and amputated fingers.

Some types of traumatic finger injuries can be treated at home with simple first aid measures. If the finger is not broken, crushed or amputated, it is likely that the injury will heal on its own without medical intervention. Open cuts and scrapes should be disinfected and dressed with a bandage. If the bleeding is profuse and the laceration (cut) is deep, stitches may be necessary. Wounds that are too deep to close require stitches because they are more likely to get infected if they remain open. Another consideration is that if you have a deep wound and your tetanus immunization is not up-to-date, a doctor may recommend that you get a tetanus shot. Infections of a wound may require antibiotics so the infection doesn’t spread. Swelling of the affected fingers due to sprain, strain or other trauma can be treated by applying ice to the injury for about fifteen minutes every few hours, for the first 2 days or so.

A finger that is obviously broken, crushed or amputated requires immediate medical attention. For simple fractures, surgery will probably not be necessary but the finger may have to be immobilized. Complex fractures and crush injuries may require more medical intervention to properly set and heal the injury. Amputated fingertips or fingers may be able to be surgically reattached in some cases, depending on the condition of the injured finger and whether reattachment of the digit will benefit overall hand function, but reattachment is not always an option. An amputated digit should be wrapped in a clean, moist paper towel, placed in a plastic zip-top bag and placed in ice to increase the chances that it can be reattached. The quicker that someone seeks medical attention, the greater the chances of successful reattachment of an amputated digit.

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