Wednesday, January 21, 2009

What Will They Think of Next?

Did you know that your fingers have a little bone called a volar plate? Well they do. It's there to prevent your finger from bending backwards or "hyper-extending" as the doctor would say. Wanna know how I know that? 'Cause I broke mine. Yeah, I'm a dope.

About a week and a half ago I was outside with my son and as I swung my arm, the tip of my finger hit the car and bent my finger back further than it's meant to go. Then I saw the prettiest stars. Anyway, I finally went to the doctor this past Monday and xrays confirmed the minor break. I actually chipped a piece of the bone off. You can see it in the xray - which I got to keep.

Now what's cool is this neat finger splint that was made for me; I think they called it a ring splint. Well I just think they come up with the most clever stuff. The orthopedic doc wanted to buddy tape my two fingers together but because I do a lot of typing on my job he suggested this nifty little thing. I have to wear it for a month but I have nearly full range of motion (or at least as much as the broken bone will allow until it heals) and the splint prevents further hyperextension.

I wish I had asked if it came in colors. Pink would have been nice.

4 comments:

LynnSC said...

Oh Melanie... I am so sorry about your finger. I know how much it can hurt.

Last year while my daughter had her fanny up in the air... I reached over to pop it. I broke my finger too. It was crazy. I didn't even pop her hard... I was only teasing with her. All is better now... but it did take a while.

Blessings,
Lynn

Anonymous said...

Just take the finger off, you have four others.

calista said...

How cool. What will they come up with next? Sorry about your finger though!

About Nancy said...

I am a nurse and never heard of a volar plate. Makes sense though. Cracked me up to read about your swinging your arm and then seeing the "prettiest" stars. Honestly sounds like something I'd do.

Hope you are on the mend and fully recover soon!
Thanks for the laugh.