Sports And Finger Injuries
Even after using protective gear and shielding pads, sportspersons sustain injuries now and then and it is a regular aspect of a sportsperson’s lite. Some injuries may even be career threatening. We have seen several athletes lade away due to injuries after making a promising start in their careers. Take for example, Ashish Nehra and Lakshmi Balaji. These two athletes burst into the Indian cricket scene in the early 2000s but their careers were cut short due to injuries. Others athletes like Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan and Sania Mirza had to change their playing styles, to overcome devastating injuries.
While injuries can happen to any part of the body, finger injuries are among the most common. often acquired due to the impact of a ball. And most injuries to the finger involve a blow that may damage the bone muscle or tendon and may affect the finger’s normal range of motion. Pain and inflammation are the fist signs of a finger injury and it you are experiencing these symptoms. you must immediately stop playing. rest the affected hand and seek medical he. Neglecting the injury may aggravate it to irreversible levels and may increase the time of recovery.
Common Finger Injuries
Mallet Finger
Also known as baseball finger.t in common parlance, this is an injury to the tendon that helps straighten the end joint of a finger. This injury usually happens due to the impact of a heavy or forceful object on the tip of the finger or thumb like a ball coming through at a huge speed which may force the finger to bend much beyond its normal limit. This impact injures the tendons on the finger that connect muscles to the bones.
The result of this injury is that your fingertip cannot be straightened because the tendon connecting the finger’s guiding muscle to the bone has been broken. Recovery requires a lot of rest to the finger to allow the tendon to heal. In most cases, splints are used to hold the linger in a straight position until it heats and in some cases, when the injury is too extreme, a surgery to repair the broken tendon may also be needed.
Dislocated Finger
As the name suggests, finger dislocation happens when the bone moves out of its normal position. This is the most common form of finger injury sportspersons suffer and may happen due to a heavy impact like a baseball or a bat hitting the finger or a fall in which the finger bears the brunt of the body weight. The injury causes immediate pain and swelling and this should be considered a medical emergency whereby the injured person must be rushed to a hospital immediately.
Skier’s Thumb
Skier’s thumb is the common term used to describe the acute injury of the ulnar collateral ligament of the thumb. Such an injury occurs when the thumb is stretched too far from the impact of a blow or Injury. The term skier’s thumb is derived from the condition when a skier suffers a fall with his hand caught in a ski pole: this causes the thumb to be stretched too far away from the hand causing a tear in the ligament. However, such an injury can occur in many other sports other than skiing and is also sometimes referred to as the gamekeepers thumb.
This is a critical injury and majorly impairs the functioning of the hand. Most skiers thumb injuries can be treated by resting the thumb completely through a splint to allow the tom ligament to heal. However, in some cases when the tears are extreme they may require surgical repair.
Sprains And Strains
These injuries are relatively minor, compared to the other injuries earlier mentioned. Ligaments are the bands of tissues that hold the bones of joints together. When a ligament Is stretched beyond its capacity, it may cause a sprain causing swelling and pain In the affected linger. This may happen due to a sudden impact or due to overuse and repetitive stress. For example, people who spend long hours typing or texting can suffer repetitive stress injury to their finger ligaments. In most cases, such a sprain may heal with sufficient rest.