The most common ways you might fracture your finger include:

• Slamming fingers in a door.
• Jamming your fingers while trying to catch a ball.
• Hitting your fingers hard on the ground while trying to break a fall.
• Punching a hard object. Called a boxer’s fracture, this causes about one-third of all broken fingers.
• Having an accident while using power or other tools.

You may know right away if you’ve broken your finger. If it’s bent in an unnatural way, that’s often a good indication.

Other symptoms include:

• Pain and swelling
• Bruising
• Inability to move your finger (or fingers)

Your fingers contain many bones, including phalanges, which can break anywhere, even at the connection to your palm. An X-ray can confirm if it’s broken. Injuries may also include the tendon or ligament.

We offer non-surgical options to realign your bones. If the break is severe, it may require surgery.

Other injuries we often see at Carilion include: 

• Arthritis: Damage to the cartilage in the joints of your fingers. ​Rheumatoid arthritis often attacks the small joints of your hands. Through “wear and tear,” arthritis can also cause pain.
• Hand sprains and strains: A sprain is a ligament injury, and a strain is a tendon or muscle injury. Minor sprains and strains can heal on their own, but if you have severe pain, see a doctor.
• Trigger finger: This tendon condition can affect your ring finger and thumb. Your finger can get stuck in a bent position, and straightening it can cause a feeling of snapping or catching.
• Mallet finger: When the tendon that helps keep the tip of your finger straight tears, it makes your finger droop.
• Nerve conditions: Can cause numbness or tingling in hands and fingers. For example, carpal tunnel is a nerve condition where one of your main nerves is compressed at your wrist.
• Tendon lacerations: You can injure the flexor tendons by cutting the palm side of your fingers or hand. These tendons allow you to bend and grasp. You can also injure your flexor tendons with a sudden and forceful pull.

Traumatic hand injuries include serious fractures (bones sticking through the skin) or severed fingers. Severe tendon injuries typically require surgery as well. Our fellowship-trained hand surgeons meet with each patient to determine the best course of action. Our goal is to help you maintain or regain mobility in your hand and fingers.

However, non-emergency hand conditions and broken fingers respond well to non-surgical treatments.

This can include:

• Lifestyle changes: We can talk to you about habits or activities that might worsen your finger or hand condition. For example, resting your finger can help with trigger finger.
• Medicine: We may have you take over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medicine. In some cases, we’ll prescribe stronger medicine.
• Pain injections: For some conditions, steroid injections directly into the hand, finger joint or tendon can relieve pain. The pain relief can last as long as 3 months.
• Physical therapy: Your doctor may refer you to work with a physical therapist, who will design a specific program to treat your hand injury.
• Casting and splinting: Most broken fingers need a cast or splint to hold the finger straight while it heals.

For people who need ​hand and arm surgery, we offer the latest, minimally invasive options.