# Dislocated finger, ghastly but no pain



## freemoth (Sep 3, 2007)

Hello all,
I do a fair amount of mountain biking and commute 10k to work each and never had a 'serious' injury. But a few days ago I was out with my wife doing some recreational riding in one of our local city parks. I was riding down a small single track walking path and didn't see a small log obscured by some bushes. I did an endo and came down pretty hard on my right forearm and dislocated my left middle finger. 

It was so surreal to see my finger in such a gross position. There was no pain but the finger was clearly dislocated. I'm a musician and was a bit freaked. After disentangling myself from my bike and getting back on my feet I knew what I had to do. I had to put the finger back! There was still no pain and I thought if I was going to do this it had to be right then rather than leave it until I got to see a doctor. So I gently grabbed the finger pulled it slightly away from the joint put it back in place: again, no pain. 

My right arm was starting to swell up pretty good at this point and we had some riding to do to get back home. There was some pain in the right arm but it wasn't excruciating so I was pretty sure nothing had been broken. I was suffering some shock and we decided to sit for a while before heading back.

I iced the finger when I got home but decided not to go in to emergency because it still didn't hurt much (just when trying to straighten it fully) so pretty sure it isn't broken. The swelling has gone down a bit and I can move the finger further each day and still not a lot of pain. Certainly no throbbing or anything. I think I will go see my doctor and get an x-ray to make sure that it's OK and in the right place, but it seems like it's going to be OK.

Not sure exactly why I'm sharing this with you all. It was a weird experience especially the no pain part and the instinctual feeling that I had to put the finger back immediately. It was probably dislocated for less than a minute in all. I know it's going to take a while before it's back to 'normal' and hopefully I'll be playing guitar and keyboards again soon.  

Anyone have a similar experience?
Free Moth


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## carrot_top (Aug 22, 2007)

i havent had a similar experience...but its strange how there was no pain...ive only partially dislocated a joint before and it hurt like hell...and i know that when you completely dislocate a join, the pain should be excruciating....

however, i have heard stories about people getting an injury that hurt so much that (im no expert with things like this, so ill try to explain it as best as i can) something happened with the nerves in the damaged area that caused them to go numb, so there was no or very little pain...


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## freemoth (Sep 3, 2007)

My finger continues to recover very well: the swelling is down and mobility is returning and pain is still only slight. I think you're right carrot_top about the area going numb. As I remember it was like there was a cold field around the area. I was amazed and glad I took advantage of the situation to put the finger back in place. I went in for an x-ray today and it looks OK. Prognosis is 4-8 weeks. Looking forward to playing guitar again.


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## dewthedru (Nov 8, 2004)

i did the exact same thing. endo'd on a log pile and got up with my middle finger hanging sideways. however, i was in extreme pain for several weeks.

i got PT to get the blood flowing again and speed up the healing. years later it's still bigger than the same finger on my left hand.


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## xcguy (Apr 18, 2004)

*I've dislocated a few fingers*

and I do agree it's most bizarre seeing it at such a surreal bend. You try to wiggle it but...nothing. My first instinct is to pull it back into correct position (sort of out and over). I'm told one's body goes into shock at the moment of injury (maybe some kind of primordial body reaction that allows a person to do something, anything to maybe get out of the situation or get out of harm's way or...pull a dislocated finger back). My fingers always hurt like a sumb!tch for weeks if not months after, though. Currently they don't hurt but the rest of my body does. Oh, well. Different injuries.


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## pm55 (Sep 30, 2005)

I was riding some technical singletrack yesterday when I came up on a series of tight turns through some trees and saplings. Well I leaned in to close and clipped a sapling with my left handlebar...Ended up pulling my pinkie out of its socket....Pulled it back into place and finished the ride with only moderate swelling and pain.

5 hours later it was swelled way up and I could no longer move it even the smallest bit. Today I've had it on ice and went out and bought a splint. Now thats its all straightened out it feels much better. Just hoping it will heal quickly so I can get back out and grip my handlebars for a ride.


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