The tip of your finger usually droops down. It’s a much more common injury to the same extensor tendon, but it occurs at the top joint instead of the middle joint. Carlson says she also treats a lot of patients with mallet fingers. “It’s always easier to treat it right away than weeks down the line.”Īnd if you never seek help? You risk permanent deformity, and your finger could be rendered useless, she says.ĭr. If that happens, you may need surgery, she says. Your doctor will also X-ray your hand to make sure there isn’t a fracture to the middle joint, too (which is what happened to me).īut if you wait too long to seek help, your central slip can tear all the way, sliding down toward the palm side of your hand. If you see a doctor right away, you can treat a boutonniere deformity with a splint most of the time, according to Dr. “But just being able to move your finger doesn’t mean you don’t have a fracture or a tendon injury.” You may even be able to move it a bit,” she says. This tendon is responsible for extending your finger, which is why you can’t keep it straight once it tears.Īnd since the injury usually happens during sports, it initially can be difficult for the average person to tell the difference between a boutonniere deformity and a jammed finger, which is a sprain to the covering of the knuckle, says Dr. Think of your torn tendon as the “hole,” and your joint as the “button” that slides through.

(Want to keep other body parts safe while working out? Here are 3 Ways to Avoid Common Sports Injuries.)Īnother way to envision it: Boutonniere means “buttonhole” in French. Michelle Carlson, M.D., a hand surgeon who specializes in sports-related injuries at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, New York. The tendon that runs along the top of your finger-called the central slip-tears, and the joint’s middle knuckle pops through, explains Dr. It was an “acute boutonniere deformity.” The injury occurs when there is a forceful blow-like a fast-flying football, a hard chest pass during a basketball game, or a slide into first base-to the tip of your finger while it’s straight. I quickly made an appointment with an orthopaedic specialist. Related: RIPTENSITY: The New Training System From Men’s Health That Can Flatten Your Belly and Strengthen Your Body and Mindįive days later, though, my finger had turned bright green and purple, and wouldn’t straighten on its own. I was a little concerned, but blew it off, figuring that it was just a bad jam. The day after I jammed my middle finger catching a football, it remained bent and had swollen to twice its size.

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