Help! My boyfriend dislocated his pinky!?
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Answers:
RICE:
R = Rest = Rest his hand; tell him not to use it for a while.
I = Ice - Have him use an ice bag on it, 15-20 minutes on, 15-20 minutes off, repeat.
C = Compression - Have him tape his pinky finger to the ring finger, using the ring finger as a splint to support the pinky. Then, wrap his hand in an Ace bandage for a bit of compression, but not too much!
E = Elevation - Have him prop his hand up above the level of his heart. For example, if he is resting in a recliner watching TV, prop the hand up on a pillow to elevate it. This allows the swelling to go down by draining the extra fluids that build up in the injured finger.
He should take an anti-inflammatory/pain reliever like Advil, Aleve, or Tylenol as per the directions, unless he has an allergy. Three to five days of this, and the finger will be on the way to healing well!
Good luck!
It's really his call. If it's back in place great, I would splint it by getting a finger splint or even just taping it to the finger next to it. It's going to hurt until it's able to completely heal. It's a good idea to get an x-ray to make sure it's not broken or out of place, but I wouldn't consider it an emergency.
I don't think they would operate it in that case, unless it seems really unstable. If he does it again definitely go, otherwise, splint it and put ice on it in the evenings a couple days.
He doesn't really need an ER visit for this. It would be a good idea to go see his regular doctor when the office is open for an X-Ray just to be sure it's not broken badly enough to need surgery. Which is highly unlikely.
In the meantime, just get some sports tape and tape it to the finger next to it. That's all a doctor is going to do for it, even if it is broken. (You can't really put a cast on a finger, after all.)
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