broken knuckle - hospital or not?

[muppetdave]

Following a slight altercation last night, I am pretty convinced I have broken one possible two knuckles. self diagnosis via Google and an inkling it's what I'd done anyway. From what I see the likely treatment is strapping the fingers together - is it worth sitting in hospital for this or just take some brufen and crack on (my gut instinct).

[davepoth]

It'll be about 4 hours of your time. Annoying if it's just bad bruising or a simple break, but if it is something nasty, there's a chance the knuckles might stop working at some point down the line from early arthritis.

I'd go in.

[muppetdave]

Cheers. Might be a silly question, but the wife is going for an operation Tuesday - will it be the end of the world if I hung on til then whilst she's in?

[NiceCupOfTea]

Go in. Do you have a minor injuries clinic nearby?

I did when I thought I'd bruised my toe - turned out to be a break. Did the same for my wife when she slipped over - turned out it was really bad bruising but was worth it for the peace of mind.

[Babu 01]

Minor injuries unit for sure.

If you go there before Tuesday phone ahead & check they actually have access to an x-ray machine at weekends/bank holidays. If not then get set for the joy that is 4 hours in A&E.

Taping them to the next uninjured finger in the meantime would be a smart move:

http://www.surgerywise.com/Hot-topics/broken-knuck...

I have (stupidly) left a broken knuckle 5 days before getting checked in the past and had a bking from the hospital staff for doing that. Probably best to get there sooner rather than later.

Bear in mind too that when punching someone in the face you'll more often than not have your skin broken by their teeth. And that can be a bad thing:

http://www.merckmanuals.com/home/sec24/ch298/ch298...

[Antonia]

Yes, you need to go and have it checked, you need to be sure about if it is broken and if so where. Some hand fractures need to be repaired with an operation and you can't tell this without imaging.

You will have a long wait and you shouldn't really wait until Monday in case it is very displaced. Often between 7 and 9am is a less busy time.

[anonymous-user]

NeMiSiS said:

Get ready for a grilling.

I have broken the same bone in my hand three times, it is known as a 'boxers break' and it always happens in the same area, see photo, they strap you up in a fist for 6 weeks.

did the same, went out on the motocross bike the next day riding about - and generally tried avoiding going to the hospital. Had to go in the end and its done me more harm leaving it

[DownUnder.]

Done the same, also 3 times... 2 from boxing, one from a mishap with a wall. Smarts doesn't it my wrists were bad with it as well IIRC

[the_lone_wolf]

If it is the boxer's fracture, unless it's rotated the general treatment is to strap it to the next finger and just take it easy

I broke mine gut-punching a roadsign during a m/c smash, didn't work as well as I'd hoped at the time but I'm now healed and the roadsign is still bent...

If it's rotated they may wire it to stop it healing crooked, mine was right on the borderline between the two options, I opted to have the surgery and after 6 weeks in plaster, and a few more regaining movement, it's almost new, definitely happy I chose to have it pinned

The difficulty is working out what you've actually done to it, and for that reason it's worth getting it checked out by someone with a bit of knowledge...