Owie

Maybe this will be a boring post, but it'll be therapeutic for me to write.

On Easter I managed to bang up a finger pretty badly. It was really swollen, bruised, had an unpleasant cut, and it was painful to close it completely. In retrospect, I should have gone to the doctor the next day. But no, I figured it was just a banged up finger and that it would heal by itself. After all, I've had them before. But not this bad.

The swelling went down after a few days, and the cut took a while to heal up. It's still painful if I make a point of exercising it though (and I figure that it does need exercise) so I finally went to the doctor in the last week.

The doctor, along with my mom and boyfriend, think that I should have gone to her from the start. It turns out that a person won't always know if a finger is broken, so I should have gotten it checked out just for that. Luckily, X-rays revealed that my finger isn't broken, just very hurt. Though I'm not sure how that changes the treatment.

Makeshift "taping" job

What is the prescribed treatment? Tape my finger at night, and (try to) keep it elevated as I sleep. The doctor knows that keeping it elevated isn't really realistic, but she figured I can at least start out the night with my hand on a pillow.

I have provided a photo of my taping job. It's actually a bit of something that I think is meant for wrapping around sprained ankles, with two Disney fairy band aids holding it in place. It looks ridiculous, but it works.

And...um...after a few nights, I decided to abandon taping it.

As soon as I started taping the finger at night, it became stiffer and more painful during the day. Last night was the first night that I abandoned the taping, and it feels better already. My theory is that I'm moving it and keeping it limber at night, and that this is a good thing. I guess taping can help in most cases, and I'd even be willing to try it another time. But it isn't working for this finger.

By the way, about the cut...it finally healed up after mom suggested I use A&D ointment on it overnight. The funny thing? Mom was getting mixed up and had meant to suggest Neosporin. Which I had been using before, and while I'm sure it did some good it didn't seem to help the cut close up. So I'm not sure if A&D ointment is meant to be used on cuts, but if I have a stubborn one again I'll remember it.