Injured Hand

This morning I became very angry and punched a door.... not very hard....but hard enough, I guess. I had a cut across my first two knuckles, so in an attempt to NOT injure my hand and reopen the cuts, I aimed at it with my ring finger and pinkie (maybe I should have not punched a door in the first place, hmm? ).

The pinkie knuckle took the most damage. At first there was no more than the expected pain in the knuckle. However, within minutes my wrist and hand started to tighten up. My hand is now very swollen in the fleshy area of the palm right underneath the pinkie and there is a developing bruise there. The front side of my hand, underneath the pinkie , is also extremely swollen.

I have pain in my wrist and in the area I described. I cannot bend my hand back without feeling pain or tightness. I tried using a knife to cut a piece of bread and I was not able to because of the pain. Hell, I couldn't even tear a piece of seran wrap using my thumb and forefinger. If I put any pressure on my hand as to, let's say, get up from a chair it's excruciating.

Wtf did I do to myself? The only part of my hand that connected with the door were my knuckles. (ringfinger and pinkie) My wrist did not bend at all when I hit it and like I said, I did not hit it very hard.

I have an appointment with the doc tomorrow, but I'm just curious to see what you all can come up with. I don't think I broke anything... or atleast I hope not. Maybe I injured a tendon, or nerve?

Nope - sounds like you broke it. A friend of mine broke his 6 mos ago in a car accident, and it's still not back to normal. Probably not a clean break, but a fracture of some sort of your last metacarpal bone in your hand (the one that connects the base of your little finger to your wrist).

Here's some more info on your real issue problem:
www.mvp.com...
www.apa.org...
www.services.unimelb.edu.au...

Sounds like a boxers fracture. Ive had a few of then, usually happen when you punch something an you connect with most of the pressure on your pinkie knuckle. Usually you will wind up with a half or "gutter" cast on your hand for 6 weeks.

It sounds like you might have a hairline fracture with some bruising of the tendon(s).

I'm no expert but I did something similar once and that was the eventual diagnoses. I was horsing around with a friend and clipped my pinkie knuckle on a door.

Try to keep it iced down as much as you can and immobilized until you see the doctor. Take care.

Dear God,

Are you going to let us know tomorrow what it was when you're back from the doctor?

It's me,

Margaret

Originally posted by RedBalloon
Dear God,

Are you going to let us know tomorrow what it was when you're back from the doctor?

It's me,

Margaret

Nice Judy Blume reference there!

Be very careful when punching anything. I was a boxer for 15 years of my life, some of the injuries that you can incur may last a lifetime. I was punching a heavy bag without any wrist support. I hyper extended or hyper flexed my right wrist and have had to live with on and off pain for the last 20 years. It�s not every day but when I�m doing curls or applying a lot of force with my wrist it hurts. I still workout on the heavy bag at least 4 times a week but I wrap up tight and need to be sure I hit the bag square to avoid serious pain. I recommend you ice it down until it�s numb for the next couple days and visit a doctor. I also injured my thumb from boxing but that�s a different story although it still gives me grief.

[edit on 21-9-2004 by kinglizard]

Originally posted by Weller
It sounds like you might have a hairline fracture with some bruising of the tendon(s).
Try to keep it iced down as much as you can and immobilized until you see the doctor. Take care.

Great. I've been trying not to baby it and use it....*slaps self* That was when it first happened, though. Once I noticed the bruising in the palm I became quite concerned.

Originally posted by RedBalloon
Here's some more info on your real issue problem:

Gee... I don't think I have anger problems. It's been a frustrating couple of weeks. It wasn't a 'i'm gonna put my fist through this door' kinda thing. It was just an act of stupidity and frustration.... I did not hit it hard...i did not wind up..etc.

Thanks for the input everyone. I hope to God (the real one hehe) that there is no fracture... but it looks like I may have done some damage. I hurt my dominant hand too. Been using my left hand pretty much all day...it's not so bad. *groans*

*Edit* I'll let you all know what the doc had to say, tomorrow.

[edit on 21-9-2004 by God]