I was touching up a stain job on my friend's patio roof on Sunday July 11th, and, when moving a ladder unsafely, the ladder snapped closed on my right hand index finger. It was so painful, I began laughing from shock. There was no bruise and the finger did not swell, but it feels numb on one side from the fingertip to the middle knuckle.
Note, the ladder did not close in on this area, but actually between the middle knuckle and bottom knuckle. My fingertip feels as if I have a string wrapped around my finger preventing the proper amount of blood flow, but it looks fine!
So it has been a few days now, and there has been little change. I now feel a pull when I straighten my index finger, but I cannot tell if that is my body fixing itself or it is getting worse. I do not usually bother people about this sort of thing, but I hate the thought of veins being broken. What do you guys think I should do: keep waiting it out, go to a doctor or something else?

Oh, and we are talking 'dentist-numb' if I could describe the level of numb.

Picture now included:


Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Jul 15 2010, 11:16 pm by RIVE.

You cut a nerve. The same thing happened to me in, oddly enough, only one small section of my thumb, running down the side. Go to a doctor to confirm my shitty diagnosis.

Quote from BiOAtK

You cut a nerve. The same thing happened to me in, oddly enough, only one small section of my thumb, running down the side. Go to a doctor to confirm my shitty diagnosis.

I was thinking nerve damage too, as there is no swelling and complete numbness. I don't think it was a cut nerve, but like BiO I'm no doc. However, if it was a broken vein or something more serious, it would've become obvious that day.

EDIT: if you could provide a picture of said hand, and use paint or something to show the area the ladder closed on, and the area the numbness starts, that'd be nice too.

I bash your mom, now she's numb. Whoever reported before, learn to take a joke, I'm sure RIVE sees the humor in this statement. If RIVE takes offense to this, then okay remove it.

Go to doctor or post on a real medical website.

I just googled cut nerve. That really sucks for you.

http://healthcareask.com/injuries/injuries-6753.html

Post has been edited 3 time(s), last time on Jul 16 2010, 2:49 am by Demented Shaman.

I'm not a doctor but I play one in real life.

Pump a fist a few times then hold it tight. With your fist closed squeeze both sides of the first bone on that finger and relax the fist. When you release the squeeze on the sides of the bone of that finger it should flush back to pink within 2 seconds. If it doesn't you've trashed an artery. But that's probably not it. If it was you would have noticed it almost instantly. Your finger would swell, turn some cool colors and I doubt it'd go numb.

Nerves tests are a little harder, especially on yourself. You claim you can't feel it so I'd test that. Poke with a needle on the affected and the symmetrical counterpart. (That's the same finger on your other hand. ) See if your sensory nerves are gone. This is a good possibility. I'd check that you can control the finger. It's really not necessary because the muscles that flex and extend fingers are way the fuck up by your elbow.

Wanna know if you've broken any bones? Try to move a joint that doesn't exist. Grab both ends of the bone and push 'em in opposite directions. If you feel grinding or any movement it's likely broken.

What I'd do is ice the finger for about 15 minutes every hour, take some Ibuprofen or Aleve or any of these for about a week and make sure you bend it so it doesn't go stiff. See if anything happens. If it's not better after that go ahead and talk to your family doc.

If it's been three days with no great improvement, you should see a doctor. I assume you have medical insurance of some sort, so that this is not an undue financial burden.

I'd be less concerned with your finger and more concerned with why your thumb looks so messed up.

Seriously, that joint is not supposed to stick out that far.

Nuclearrabbit, your avatar is right. +1

It look normal ... It's because his hands are really thin or something and the angle ...

It looks like you severed a nerve that links the numb area with the rest of the body.

You really shouldn't be asking SEN for medical advice.

Thanks, guys. The background information and exercises should prove useful, but I will not be trying any drugs until some sort of doctor's notice.

Also, my hand looks the way it does because I have long, bony fingers, and I am extremely double-jointed.

?_? NSAIDs are probably some of the safest medications there are. That's one of the reasons they're sold OTC.

Oh, thanks for the reassurance. I will have to look into that more heavily now.
I hope it will not throw any exception my way because I am sort of jinxed when it comes to medication.

Quote from rayNimagi

You really shouldn't be asking SEN for medical advice.

Shhhh, we know what we're doing.

Any updates? Have you seen a doctor yet?

Yeah, actually. (Late to respond)
Thanks to nuclearrabbit my finger has practically made a full recovery.
Sure, it still feels a tad funky, but it is much better. I expect it to be back to 100% by the end of July.

Thanks everybody. You guys saved me a trip to the doctor.
-But, I do believe the issue can be referred to as a 'pinched nerve' instead of a cut one. Far less serious, but equally annoying.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Jul 22 2010, 4:18 am by RIVE. Reason: dshjiwubhertgjndfkbmnaksdfgafdjgbnaejjrg

Quote from RIVE

But, I do believe the issue can be referred to as a 'pitched nerve' instead of a cut one.

*Pinched nerve*