Baseball Finger
Baseball Finger is often the result of damage caused to the tendons that assist in straightening out the finger - usually when the fingertip is forcefully jammed or bent downward.
Also known as Mallet Finger, symptoms may include swelling and tenderness around the fingertip.
Risk Factors
Athletes involved in not only baseball, but football and basketball as well, are at risk for such an injury as a result of the force involved in these sports
and the rapid motion and awkward positions in which their hands and fingers are often placed.
Diagnosis and Treatment
Understanding the action resulting in the injury often helps determine diagnosis. In confirming Baseball Finger, the last knuckle and extension of the finger
are physically examined. An X-ray may also be indicated in order to determine if the finger bone was damaged during the force.
Not considered a serious injury, Baseball Finger generally only requires a splint that maintains the finger in a straight position. Occasionally surgery is
required, if the bone sustained serious damage. |
