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Mon 14 Jun, 2010 09:07 am
On Thursday, I busted up my hand pretty good. I hit the back of it (the second metacarpal) super hard. It instantly bruised. Within 15 minutes, it was swollen up. By Saturday, I couldn't wear my ring on my middle finger and it fit on my ring finger. Ow. Needless to say, it hurts. I went to the hospital on Saturday afternoon to get an x-ray. The nurse who took my vitals asked if we wanted to take a bet on whether it was fractured, because it looked so to her. After the x-ray, the doctor (still in the hallway) started telling me it wasn't broken and then asked me if I wanted it splinted or wrapped. I sort of stuttered and asked him what I should do. I mean, I am paying him, right? He said it would help to immobilize it and then walked out. 40 minutes (yes, FORTY) later, I was fed up waiting for a damn splint and ace bandage so my husband went to the nurses station and told them if I needed to wrap it, we'd just stop and get a bandage just give me my discharge papers. The nurse said she'd be in the room to do it in a minute. The nurse came in a few minutes later and announced that the doctor now didn't think I needed the splint or bandage anymore. Huh?
What I don't get is why would he bother in the first place and make me wait 40 minutes for something he didn't think I needed and that I didn't ask for? He barely looked at my hand, barely spoke to me. I have zero confidence in him and wonder if he even looked at my x-ray. Jeeze.
Today, my hand is still swollen, there is a different coloration to it (it's darker) , it's still sore and I can't bend my finger. I can't grip a pen. I am typing like an idiot. I am not convinced it isn't broken. How in the hell can a bruise be so brutal that it causes such swelling nearly 4 days later?
This is why I have such little faith in the health care system.
There. I just had to vent. Now that my hand is nice and sore....
@Bella Dea,
Ouch.
I can tell by your face how sore it is.
You have every right to be angry.
@Bella Dea,
Any chance of a second opinion?
Well I called the hospital where I had the xray to ask if the radiologist had looked at it yet and he hadn't. I haven't heard back so I am assuming that he didn't find anything either. I was up North at my parents when this happened so it wasn't my regular doctor.
It's incredibly painful to do anything with my hand. Not very convenient.
I suppose I could see my regular doctor. That may be the answer.
Yea... I can't help it. My experience with most healthcare places has been such that I couldn't count on them making a correct diagnosis at all (except perhaps in the case of a severed arm, and then only if I beat them over the head with it). My wife is permanently disabled because they got "Constipation" and "Endometriosis" mixed up, I lost a nerve in my foot because some professional said, "Yes, you need to get back to duty now".
So yea, I'm with ya. I just don't go any more - gonna let nature take its course
My swelling has finally gone down some. Still hurts and my hand is turning a nice shade of green.
The swelling is localized most over the place it hurts worst and maybe a little on my first finger. It's hard to tell but the skin feels tight over that finger. It's still painful to make a fist. But I think I'll make it. LOL
I've had excellent luck with doctors for most of my experience, in part because I worked in my earlier life at a major teaching hospital and knew the buzz on the best, and then followed their referrals over the years.. so the doctor choice crap shoot was easier for me. I did have a major screwup eye surgery more recently, though that wasn't a misdiagnosis.
The only thing I can remember as a sloppy mistake is a visit to a cancer clinic to get checked and have a mammogram, and the doctor I saw told me I never had real cancer. I have the surgeon's notes to me with it as invasive stage two breast ca. I made him reread the notes sent by the surgeon, and never went back.
Bella, I'd missed that you did have an x-ray - I'm glad for that.
I may still be heading to my doctor for a second opinion. I don't think it should still be swollen. Although, I can make a fist now (with pain) so the internal swelling has gone down.
I just don't know. I hate wasting my time. LOL
Did you use any ice/cold compress to help reduce the swelling? I didn't see you mention it anywhere and i only quickly glanced over replies and didn't see anyone else mention it. Cold is great at reducing swelling because the body has a natural tendency to withdraw fluids from areas that are chilled. If you use ice though don't put it on the same spot for longer than 15 minutes because then you'll just end up doing additional damage to the tissue directly near the ice. This is a problem that many people neglect and end up causing other problems that are totally unnecessary. Best thing to do is to alternate some cold and remove it for ten minutes and then reapply it for ten minutes and repeat.
For a broken bone in the hand, usually there's not much to do anyway, besides let it heal up. And use ice for the swelling, OTC pain relievers for the pain if necessary. Regardless of whether or not it's broken, you just need to rest and ice it.
@Krumple,
Yes, I did and it didn't do much. I also tried Epsom salt and that didn't seem to do much.
The concern is/has been that the pain is not located where the cut is- which is where I assume I hit it directly, since that's where the skin was peeled back and there is no other way to do that than to have dragged it across the car mirror. (long story short, I was running up to the house, hit my hand on my brothers car mirror, which was broken at the tip and had a sharp corner.) The large cut is just to the left of my first knuckle. There is a smaller cut right on the very right side of my first knuckle. The pain is between the small cut and my second knuckle.
@Pangloss,
I'd love to, but I work at a computer and have to type all day. I can do it, but it makes my whole hand ache.
Well, it's almost a week later and I still have some swelling. It still hurts to bend my hand into a fist. The point between my two knuckles is still extremely tender to the touch. My bruising is now a brownish green so that at least is good. But I've decided to see my doctor just to re-evaluate. It's my hand and Id hate to not be treating it properly (broken or not).
Will update.
@Bella Dea,
Bella Dea wrote:
On Thursday, I busted up my hand pretty good. I hit the back of it (the second metacarpal) super hard. It instantly bruised. Within 15 minutes, it was swollen up. By Saturday, I couldn't wear my ring on my middle finger and it fit on my ring finger. Ow. Needless to say, it hurts. I went to the hospital on Saturday afternoon to get an x-ray. The nurse who took my vitals asked if we wanted to take a bet on whether it was fractured, because it looked so to her. After the x-ray, the doctor (still in the hallway) started telling me it wasn't broken and then asked me if I wanted it splinted or wrapped. I sort of stuttered and asked him what I should do. I mean, I am paying him, right? He said it would help to immobilize it and then walked out. 40 minutes (yes, FORTY) later, I was fed up waiting for a damn splint and ace bandage so my husband went to the nurses station and told them if I needed to wrap it, we'd just stop and get a bandage just give me my discharge papers. The nurse said she'd be in the room to do it in a minute. The nurse came in a few minutes later and announced that the doctor now didn't think I needed the splint or bandage anymore. Huh?
What I don't get is why would he bother in the first place and make me wait 40 minutes for something he didn't think I needed and that I didn't ask for? He barely looked at my hand, barely spoke to me. I have zero confidence in him and wonder if he even looked at my x-ray. Jeeze.
Today, my hand is still swollen, there is a different coloration to it (it's darker) , it's still sore and I can't bend my finger. I can't grip a pen. I am typing like an idiot. I am not convinced it isn't broken. How in the hell can a bruise be so brutal that it causes such swelling nearly 4 days later?
This is why I have such little faith in the health care system.
There. I just had to vent. Now that my hand is nice and sore....
The ER is usually a very busy place on the weekends. If you don't have a big time emergency, I'd postpone my visit to the ER until a weekday.
Not in a small town. There wasn't anyone even waiting when we got there.
@Bella Dea,
Means nothing, as the patients could have been in examination rooms or elsewhere out of sight.
Well, I'm paying just as much as everyone else there and regardless, I deserve the courtesy of at least them telling me that they have more important patients that must be attended to. The doctor was unprofessional and rude.
@Bella Dea,
Bella Dea wrote:
Well, I'm paying just as much as everyone else there ...
You were not a critical care patient.
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