Potential Broken Bone? Don’t Wait To Get It Checked Out
Recently I broke two fingers, one on each hand. How it happened isn't that important and no I didn't punch a wall. One finger was much worse than the other, and I decided to not go to the hospital, at least initially.
I've had a broken finger before and all they did was x-ray it, splint it, and charge the company I work for a lot of money. I figured I could just splint them myself and go on with life until they healed up.
The one hand seemed to be okay on it's own but the other was not healing well, and I could tell. While I had some mobility with it, the pain was pretty bad, and it was still bruised and purple after several days. That finger also had a joint clearly not totally in place, though we tried to pop it back the night it got mucked up.
After 8 days, I asked my wife if I should go in, to which she replied something along the lines of "I said that 8 days ago". St. Luke's Urgent Care did a great job at getting me in quickly and getting x-rays to really see where the issues were.
I'm glad I went in, because the doctor wanted the worse off finger in a different and more angled splint than I had purchased. My lesson learned is if I suspect it's broken, just go in and get it checked. I'm sure it will heal up fine, but I'd be eight days ahead of the game if I just went in initially.