Any one have any physical therapy advice? Dislocated my ring finger on my right hand back in the middle of september. My finger, at the middle knuckle went towards my pinky. I popped it back in right away. Now not only is my finger still swollen, I still have a lot of pain, and my finger seems to be losing its full range of motion. I can no longer straiten my finger like normal. How long untill the pain goes away? What can I do to get the full use of my finger back? Any advice will help. Thanks, HELLDOG
not sure about physical therapy, but i taped the finger to another and continued to ride. a few aleve's before the ride help out a lot as well. Clinky (calepic) told me to keep my finger moving and to try and make a fist so the finger has some range of motion... Its been about two months and i still cannot make a fist or straighten two of my fingers out, but i can still ride. i did pull a bonehead move yesterday that basically jammed my finger between the frame and crank arm that caused an insane amount of pain...
You could always cut it off above the dislocation, but that creates another problem. That's true pirate medicine. If you didn't splint it right away or buddy wrap it, you're stuck with a trophy. And the splint needs to be there several weeks. I did a pinky finger biking a couple years ago, got full range back, but the funky bend didn't go away. Same thing catching a football last year, full range is back, but the bend is still there. Unless you're a hand model, no worries. Oh yeah, it'll hurt like heck for a while.
I asked my doc about the buddy taping method and he said it was not necassary. "Two months" wow we have a long way to go. Wonder if the pain will ever go away. I am still ridin as well and yes I two frequently bump or jam my finger. I know what that feels like. OUCH
not sure what kind of bike you ride, but the biggest problem for me was fireroads and all the stutter bumps.. i had to ride with one hand a lot when i was cruising fireroads
I've dislocated the end of my left pinky 3 times. After the first time its just been crooked and never went back. It still doesnt work right.. haha and took a LONG time to stop hurting. The swelling will be there for a while... from what I understand its the cartilage between the joint that swells up, and that heals very slowly. Just take it easy- because if you flex it too much it can swell more due to excess pressure. Or maybe I dont know what I'm talking about. :-k just give it time so the swelling can go away.
I have heard that when you dislocate it once it can happen again. I wonder if some surgery would help
I injured same fingers. I kept thinking the swelling would go down and my fingers would get better by itself. It took me a month before I went in and saw a doctor. But by then it was too late. My doctor explained the situation like this... You rip your ligaments apart when you dislocate your finger. You need to work with a therapist to set your finger straight again so that the ligaments can re-attach inline with your straight finger. If you just wait for the swelling to go down (like I did) the ligaments will still re-attach and repair themselves but if your finger is still slightly crooked you will get crooked ligaments. In my case the ligament under the knuckle grew back too short and now I can't straighten it out. After about six months the swelling improved and the pain went away. Thats what happened to me. You should see a doctor right away. Keep your fingers crossed (lol) you might have a better result than me.
Heard? haha I just said I've dislocated mines 3 times. I wouldnt think surgery is necessary, just see the DR. I never did and my pinky is still pretty crooked. Its like twisting your ankle, after the first time for some reason it becomes easier to damage again. For me at least. good advice. :beer:
Grasshopper, welcome to the club: The DFC (Dislocated Finger Club) The good news is: it will heal and the pain will go away... the bad news is: it will probably be aways crooked. Grasshopper Kelly was right when he said that the liagments reattached themselves in a usually shorter way... thus crooked. The really good news is that this doesn't affect the way you can handle a bike... Oh well, it's just all part of this wonderful sport we do....
Did mine in January. I still have swelling and do not have full range of motion. Dr told me it usually takes a year for the swelling and full range of motion but it's important to exercise the joint once it heals to stretch the ligaments. He suggested squeezing a rubber ball. I have to say though that I did jam the same finger a few months after the initial dislocation. Let's just say some expletives were flying. That hurt much worse than when it happened the first time. I'm sure it slowed down the healing process too. C
seems like a very common injury. how soon did you start squeezing the ball? Is the "DFC" an official club? Or, did we just start one?
Broke my r.index at Fontana DH #2 this year. Just don't push it, don't over use it. It will likely heal to a certain point, and that's as good as it's going to get. Ask your Dr. for a PT referral.
I don't exactly recall. I believe it was soon after taking it out of a splint. Maybe 10 days? I wasn't very good at taking that advice though. I think I only did it for a day or two before I lost the ball If you're still having pain it may be a good idea to get it x-rayed. You could have bone fragments floating around in there. C
I keep hoping the same thing "some day" I did have it x-rayed and it came back with no fragments. Little discouraged because doc gave me know therapy advice. I think I am going to try the ball exercise
did this to my middle finger on a SJT night ride years ago. set it (had to- about 7 switchbacks left on the way back down) and iced it that night (well, wrapped it around several icy beers) 1- go to the doctor! make sure there's no tendon damage- this injury is common with basketballers, so don't be surprised that they've seen it before. 2- get a referral to a SPORTS physical therapist. trust me. SPORTS is the key word here. 3- don't skip appointments- make them all. it's gonna hurt like hell, but i've gotten my finger back to full strength, full movement, and the swelling is not even present- this due to the SPORTS PT. (sorry- the type of PT is wicked important)
I've dislocated two fingers.... the first while working whitewater rafting, and the second was my thumb a year ago in a mtb crash. I now have two enlarged joints, but thankfully, no pain. It takes time, and the path to recovery is more difficult than a broken bone, IMO. Keep it immobilized for as long as they recommend, but then start with range of motion exercises. They're gonna hurt. I couldn't push the sram levers with my thumb for a month, and probably three months before I could do it pain free, but I never stopped riding except for the first few days after the crash.... it did put a damper on climbing though. Good luck with it and keep us posted!
