A sprained finger is also commonly referred to as a jammed finger. This layman term comes from sports injuries where sprains are common due to the tip of a finger being jammed by a thrown ball or the finger being jammed into an opponent during play. However, fingers can be sprained during everyday activities just as easily. Fingers are the most frequently injured area of the hand. While the severity of these finger injuries are often underestimated and not given as much medical importance as other injuries, they can actually be very painful and be a gateway to other injuries and chronic ailments.
Finger - Sprained / Jammed
Anatomy As It Relates To A Jammed Finger
A hand has a thumb and four fingers. The fingers and thumbs do not have muscles; movement is powered by the pull of the forearm muscles that are attached to finger tendons. Every finger is constructed of ligaments that connect bone to bone, tendons that connect muscle to bone, three bone segments (phalanges), and three joints (knuckles). The thumb is alike, but only has two bone segments and two joints. The top knuckle is the upper finger joint or DIP joint and is closest to the fingernail. It’s followed by the middle knuckle or PIP joint in the fingers and thumb. Lastly, there’s the base knuckle connecting fingers and the thumb to the hand. Each joint rests in volar plates (collateral ligaments attached to dense fibrous connective tissue).
Sprained Or Jammed Finger
A sprained or jammed finger is the result of an injury to the ligaments of a finger or thumb joint. The proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint is the most often injured finger joint. Two common injuries associated with jamming a finger are:
* Skier’s or gamekeeper’s thumb - a torn ulnar collateral ligament
* Swan neck deformity - a torn volar ligament
Causes Of A Sprained Or Jammed Finger
This injury is most often caused when ligaments are torn or stretched due to a sudden traumatic stretching, jamming, or twisting injury. These types of incidences are common among sports that involve ball handling and contact sports, as it’s easy for a ball to hit the fingers of a player or a finger to be hyperextended during contact with the ball or other players. This type of trauma not only affects ligaments, but can also result in injury to nearby joints and bones. Jammed fingers are also common in car accidents, as a finger may be jammed into a steering wheel or dash from the force of the impact. Work-related accidents are also common causes of a jammed finger.
Symptoms Of Sprained Finger
* Pain of the injured finger, especially near the affected joint
* Affected joint stiffness
* Affected joint swelling
* Tenderness when the sides of the affected joint are touched
* The affected joint may feel loose.
* If the side ligament is torn, the joint will hurt on either side and be loose
* If the volar plate is involved, there’s usually looseness and pain on the underside of the joint
Strengthening Exercises
These Finger Exercises are ideal to build strength and flexibility.
Massage Treatment
Depress your finger into the soft tissue around the joint and make small circular motions around the sore areas of the joint.
ACUTE STAGE SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT
This stage is characterized by swelling, redness, pain, and possibly a local sensation of heat, indicating inflammation. If coolness makes your pain feel better, then the Acute Stage Treatment is recommended.
ACUTE STAGE SYMPTOMS:
The acute stage starts the moment an injury occurs and lasts until the swelling and inflammation are gone. The swelling is the result of the blockage of blood, tissue fluids and circulation in the finger because their normal movement has been disrupted by the force of the injury. Just like cars back up behind a traffic jam, causing congestion, exhaust and overheating; blood and fluids back up behind the injured finger, causing pain, inflammation, lumps and swelling.
The sensation of heat is due to the warming action of the blood and fluids overheating in the injured finger as they back up and accumulate. Stiffness and decreased mobility are due to spasms in tendons and ligaments that have contracted reflexively beyond their normal range from the impact of the injury.
As ligaments and tendons stretch and tear, blood from ruptured blood vessels becomes trapped in the local tissues. As the trapped blood clots up, it sticks the tissues together creating adhesions. Adhesions cause pain, inflammation and restricted movement because the layers of tissue that used to slide smoothly across one another now adhere and snap which interferes with normal functioning. It is essential to break up clotted blood as quickly as possible to prevent adhesions and scar tissue from forming.
During the acute stage it is very important to restore normal circulation to the finger, break up clotted blood and stagnant fluids, reduce swelling, and reduce the redness and heat associated with inflammation. By restoring the flow of blood, fluids, and circulation in the finger, then pain is relieved, damaged tissues can regenerate with healthy functional tissue, and the finger can strengthen and regain it's mobility.
ACUTE STAGE TREATMENT:
1. Apply the Sinew Herbal Ice on your finger to reduce redness, swelling, and inflammation while dispersing accumulated blood and fluids to help restore normal circulation to the finger. This first-aid treatment is used in place of ice to significantly speed up the healing process. It reduces the swelling and inflammation more effectively than ice, allowing you to more quickly regain range of motion. Acute Sinew Liniment can be used in-between applications.
Ice is not recommended because it does not help repair damaged tissues and keeps everything in the injured area frozen, causing the stagnation of blood and fluids and the contraction of muscles, tendons and ligaments. In Chinese sports medicine ice is not used and is considered a culprit in injuries that don’t heal well.
2. Massage your finger with Acute Sinew Liniment to relieve pain, reduce swelling and inflammation, break up clotted blood and stagnant fluids, and stimulate circulation of blood and fluids to help cells quickly repair damaged tissues. Sinew Herbal Ice can be used in-between applications.
3. The Sinew Sports Massage Oil is recommended for use before and after exercise, sports and strenuous activity. It warms and stimulates your muscles, increases circulation and relieves tightness, hence improving your performance and helping to prevent injury.
CHRONIC STAGE SYMPTOMS AND TREATMENT
This stage begins once the swelling and inflammation are gone, but you still feel pain, stiffness, weakness, and/or sensitivity in cold and damp weather. If heat makes your pain feel better, then the Chronic Stage Treatment is recommended.
CHRONIC STAGE SYMPTOMS:
The chronic stage begins once the swelling and inflammation are gone, but you still feel aching pain and stiffness. This is because there are still accumulations of stagnant blood and fluids in your finger that are blocking circulation and blood supply to damaged tissues, creating residual pain, stiffness and weakness. You may actually feel hard nodules like sand in the tissue, indicating accumulation, calcification, and adhesions, which all cause pain, stiffness, and joint instability.
Your finger may feel more sensitive to the cold and ache in cold and damp weather due to impaired circulation. When you move your finger you may hear a clicking or popping sound from the tendons and ligaments slipping very slightly in and out of their natural alignment indicating weakness and joint instability, causing chronic pain and a cycle of reinjury. These symptoms are often the result of failure to treat the injury properly from the outset and overicing.
Increasing circulation and blood supply to the damaged tissues is very important in treating chronic injuries because tendons and ligaments do not have an extensive direct supply of blood. That is why chronic injuries can be slow to heal. Increasing local circulation also prevents cold and dampness from penetrating the injured area, preventing pain and stiffness.
During the chronic stage it is very important to break up remaining accumulations of blood and fluids, and increase circulation and blood supply to the damaged tissues. By increasing circulation and blood flow in the finger, then pain and stiffness is relieved, and the tendons and ligaments can strengthen to restore stability.
CHRONIC STAGE TREATMENT:
1. Massage your finger with Chronic Sinew Liniment to relieve pain and stiffness, strongly stimulate circulation and blood flow to damaged tissues, and promote the healing of overstretched tendons and ligaments. The Sinew Relaxing Soak can be used in-between applications.
2. Soak your finger with the Sinew Relaxing Soak to relax muscles and tendons that are in spasm, ease joint pain and stiffness, and improve range of motion. The Sinew Relaxing Soak is particularly useful if you feel restricted mobility in your finger. Chronic Sinew Liniment can be used in-between applications.
3. The Sinew Sports Massage Oil is recommended for use before and after exercise, sports and strenuous activity. It warms and stimulates your muscles, increases circulation and relieves tightness, hence improving your performance and helping to prevent injury.
