i've hurt my hand again, updated and angry!

suzster
suzster Member Posts: 1,328
edited 3. Dec 2008, 07:50 in Living with Arthritis archive
hi, yesterday i was moving my little ones cot, it's not heavy but i managed to pull my middle 3 fingers on my right hand back, which brought tears to my eys but soon settled down, apart from my ring finger (next to little finger!) it doesn't hurt but it won't move! when i put my hand into a fist that finger just stays straight! i can use my other hand to physically bend it and it still doesn't hurt, no sweling or bruising. it just isn't responding to me trying to bend it or anything!
when i put my hand in my pocket for example it won't go in, it just stays stuck strainght!
it feels like it is moving, when i grip something it feels like the finger is acting normally but whe i look there it is all straight!!!
should i be worried?
it is i assume not broken as it is not bruised swollen, hot or cold just normal, and i can bend it if i use my other hand to do it. it just won't respond to my brain telling it to move, if this makes sense?
any advice would be much appreciated, but to get it looked at will be hard as i can't get a gp appointment for love nor money and i don't drive and local a and e is a £20 txi fare or 2 buse journeys away and not sure i could manage that with a bad finger and trying to push a pushchair on and off the bus ect!!
cheers
sue

Comments

  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 29,332
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Sue
    OMG!
    That sounds odd!
    Can you ring rheumy clinic or GPs? Just for a bit of advice over the 'phone?
    I hope so! :(
    Good luck
    Toni x
  • suzster
    suzster Member Posts: 1,328
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    i rang nhs direct and told me to go to casualty, not easy at all especially as i have to get ellie at 3.15pm and i have no easy way of getting us all there!!
    my dr's is closed for lunch, convenient, not! so i'll try ringing them at 2pm, i bet they can only offer me 1 appointment time and it will be 3pm, thats normally what they do. it's daft that i can't speak to a gp now without ringing the emergency dr, i'm not really sure it's an emergency as such!! my finger is still attached after all!
  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 29,332
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Not sure that nhs direct know all that much about arthur really. When I first got it I got a lump(then one each side)on my calf and they had no idea what it was, but at least that it wasn't a dvt. the rheumy knew straight away!
    Gosh - what to do? It's so unfair isn't it when you have little ones dependant on you :(
    Let me know what you do in the end
    Take care
    Toni x
  • j0nn13
    j0nn13 Member Posts: 26
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    It could be that your tendon has been injured, i dropped a computer on my finger once and cos i have RA, my tendon ruptured a little while later.

    I don't think you will have ruptured yours as it makes your finger go all droopy, but you may have caused it to become swollen or stuck or something? Probably best looked at by the A&E Docs tho!

    Hope its ok :D
  • suzster
    suzster Member Posts: 1,328
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    just got back from dr and he thinks i've ruptured my tendon, well spotted john!!!
    what did they do for it? he has sent a fax to hospital to try to get me seen asap, but he didn't explain anything to me, just told me i had to get it fixed or my finger would stay droopy forever, cheers dr!!!
  • jenzie06
    jenzie06 Member Posts: 708
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Sorry to hear that!
    I've got a couple of ruptured ligaments in my left hand waiting for surgery, I had my right thumb repaired a couple of years ago.

    I spent 11hrs in A&E a couple of weeks ago as they thought I'd snapped my tendon in my repaired thumb. I was yelling at it but it would not move at all, it was a funny shape, swollen and painful. Turned out I'd sprained it badly - apparently wheeling myself around in my wheelchair was a bad move. Now I have to wear a very sexy splint.
    The worry I have for you is that it if you've ruptured a tendon it needs to be fixed fairly swiftly. I would brave a&e if I were you, at least it gets you in the system - ask for a plastic surgeon, (sounds scary but better to be safe then sorry).
    Hope it gets better soon!
    Take care
  • suzster
    suzster Member Posts: 1,328
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    the ortho clinic have just rung and given me an appointment for tommorrow morning, if it's urgent you'd of thought my gp would of told me to go straight there, but he was a bit moody.
    ortho lady told me i had to be seen as soon as possible but tomorrow is the next clinic day.
    i wish i had just gone to A and E now. it is really hurting today!
  • suzster
    suzster Member Posts: 1,328
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    just to update, i have to go to ortho clinic tomorrow. so it's there at 10am, then nurse at same hospital for an hour at 11am to learn injections.
    i'm very nervous about what they are going to say / do to my finger, as it has been really sore today.
  • suzster
    suzster Member Posts: 1,328
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    went to fracture clinic, had x ray and scan and was told to go home as the dr was not able to look at the results straight away. they said they'd ring me when the dr had seen the scan.
    anyway got home and they had already rung, about 10 mins after i'd left, they have told me to go back to see the orthopedic (spelling?) consultant next tuesday, so thats a week after i actually hurt my hand.
    they have already said the x ray was clear, so no broken bones! i guess something has come up on the scan, but surely waiting another 5 days to actually see the consultant is wrong? they haven't strapped it up or anything, so my finger is still straight, but because i can't move it i keep knocking by accident.
    i just feel a bit like i'm in limbo, not knowing if i will need any surgery or not, but if it is the tendon then shouldn't it be dealt with quickly?
    sorry to moan i'm just feeling abit angry, as i still don't know whats wrong with my poor finger!
  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 29,332
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Suzster
    What about strapping it to another finger to protect it in the meantime?
    Would that help - you really don'y want to make anything worse!
    At least they will do something next tues.
    Do let us know what it turms out to be :)
    Take care
    Toni x
  • suzster
    suzster Member Posts: 1,328
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    i'm going to see nurse at my dr surgery to get them to splint it, it really hurts today, alot more than yesterday and considering i take morphine daily it must really hurt, or else the pain would be covered by meds.
    i'm worried if it is tendon damage then leaving it until tuesday might cause more problems, that will be a week since i hurt it, so i spoke to orthopedic outpatients nurse today and all she said was the hand specialist isn't in until next tuesday so i can't be seen before that, but surely they must have other specialists there? i really wish i'd just gone to a and e on tuesday now.
    i will try and talk to nurse about it when i go down in a bit, after all my gp told me i had to be seen asap by hospital as any delay might cause permanent damage, i don't want to end up with a permanent pointy finger.
    i'm going to be worrying until tuesday at this rate.
  • j0nn13
    j0nn13 Member Posts: 26
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    suzster wrote:
    i'm going to see nurse at my dr surgery to get them to splint it, it really hurts today, alot more than yesterday and considering i take morphine daily it must really hurt, or else the pain would be covered by meds.
    i'm worried if it is tendon damage then leaving it until tuesday might cause more problems, that will be a week since i hurt it, so i spoke to orthopedic outpatients nurse today and all she said was the hand specialist isn't in until next tuesday so i can't be seen before that, but surely they must have other specialists there? i really wish i'd just gone to a and e on tuesday now.
    i will try and talk to nurse about it when i go down in a bit, after all my gp told me i had to be seen asap by hospital as any delay might cause permanent damage, i don't want to end up with a permanent pointy finger.
    i'm going to be worrying until tuesday at this rate.

    I'm lucky in that I work in a Hospital and just nipped down to A&E when i injured my finger. I had it xrayed and then it was splinted. I had to wear the splint for 6 weeks, which was mildly irritating and after the splint came off, it did at first seem ok. Unfortunately after a few months, the tendon went again and because of other arthritic damage, all i could get to help was some physio and it didn't really help too much. So i have a droopy middle finger now.

    Hope yours works out better!
  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 29,332
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Good luck at the surgery Suzster.
    I hope you feel reassured by them or get treated preferably.
    Otherwise you will worry all weekend and GPs are vlosed aren't they?! :roll:
    Take care of 'peter pointer'
    Toni x :)
  • suzster
    suzster Member Posts: 1,328
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    well, nurse stuck some micropore round my fingers, thats all she'd do as she didn't know what was wrong with it, dr said i'd have to wait until tuesday, so heres to me worrying all weekend.
    joy!
  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 29,332
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Oh Dear
    Try not to worry Suz - at least if it's strapped up now YOU won't do any more harm :(
    I know - you'd better sit down and take it easy while everyone else does all the work for you!!
    Take care and let us know what they do tues
    Toni xx
  • suzster
    suzster Member Posts: 1,328
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    oddly, the little finger next to my 'peter pointy' ring finger seem's to be developing the same problem, last night hubby asked how my finger looked and felt, then when i went to show him i noticed my little finger won't move either, wierd!! i just hope all my other fingers don't stop moving as well, it's hard enough to change my little one's nappy now, i keep getting my fingers stuck to the tape!!!
    on a serious note, i really am worried now, roll on tuesday. :(
  • slummymummy
    slummymummy Member Posts: 69
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I have done something similar to my ring fingers on both hands lots of times. Usually it's after pulling something heavy (like a cot too). My fingers stay straight for a few days, or a week, then eventually start working again. It's a real nuicance. I presumed it was a sprain, as it always went back to normal again. Oh the joys of living with RA. Hope all goes well today for the scan results.

    Slummy
  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 29,332
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Yes Suz - roll on tuesday!!
    I hope nothing else happens before then - please take care :shock:
    Toni x
  • suzster
    suzster Member Posts: 1,328
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    it nothing, or should i say hand specialist doesn't know what it is! he told me to keep trying to move them and come back in 6 weeks, helpful!!!
    i'm tempted to strap all my fingers together so if i bend one they all bend.
    otherwise i just hope it gets better i suppose.
    sorry i'm fed up :roll:
  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 29,332
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Well that's not much help is it? :(
    Ya Boo :shock:
    Some specialist eh?!
    Poor you.
    6 weeks is a long time to wait so I wish you good luck
    Toni xx
  • suzster
    suzster Member Posts: 1,328
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    my hubby is angry, as he aid the fingers won't move so how do i evercise them?!!
    i nearly cut my fingers off yesterday, i was cutting some bread and didn't realise my 2 pointy fingers were sticking out right in front of the knife, could of been nasty.
    still i've got micropore tape so i'll strap them together now.
  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 29,332
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Suz
    I would do that if I were you - really it's not worth the risk.
    My hubby would be livid too :x
    You'll have to get him to go with you and be your advocate when you go back
    Look after those pinkies!
    Toni xx
  • suzster
    suzster Member Posts: 1,328
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    scottish that sounds just the same as mine. i thought if i strapped it to the next finger then every time i bend my good finger the pointy one will move to, after all specialist (yer right!) said i should try to keep moving it.
    i concerned though as my little finger next to it has now stuck straight to, is it going to spread more i ask?!!!