According to the CDC, in 2015, 15 million adults reported pain in their fingers. The fingers are designed to perform many types of movements; they allow you to make the delicate strokes required to write your name, but these structures also allow you to open doors and lift heavy objects. If you’re feeling pain when bending your fingers, it can make doing all these tasks much harder, but you might not necessarily notice swelling in your finger. Let’s delve into two possible issues you may be experiencing.
Fracture
Something flies into your outstretched finger and jams it. A door closes on your finger. Your finger gets squished by a heavy box. Any of these actions can lead to a finger fracture, and most people have likely had at least one of them happen to them. A finger fracture could also be why it hurts to bend your finger, but you might not notice any swelling at first. This could be because the injury just happened, and it can take some time for it to swell. Also, the fracture could be so small that the swelling just isn’t noticeable to you.
Osteoarthritis
Another issue that can lead to finger pain when bending but not immediate swelling is osteoarthritis. This type of arthritis occurs naturally as your body ages. Movement of the finger joints causes the cartilage in these joints to wear out over time; once the cartilage is worn to a certain point, your bones might start to rub together. This can produce the pain you feel when your fingers bend. At first, the rubbing of the bones may be minor, which means swelling might not be visible to the naked eye.
3 more reasons it hurts to bend a finger but doesn’t cause it to get swollen
When your finger hurts to bend without becoming swollen, an injury is one of the most common reasons. This pain can happen in any number of ways, including:
- Repetitive movements as part of your job, such as typing on a keyboard, can lead to pain
- You are jamming your finger accidentally while doing a daily task or playing a sport.
- Trauma from hitting a finger against something hard can cause pain when bending your finger.
Are you suffering from finger pain? Panther PT can help
Finger pain sufferers don’t have to go far to find an effective treatment for when your finger hurts to bend, even if it does not get swollen. Panther Physical Therapy has clinics that can help with these issues. Our free screenings can help you get your treatment started, and they can also help pinpoint the root cause of your symptoms. Once we’ve gathered this information, our team can build you a treatment plan personalized to your specific needs. These personalized plans gain their effectiveness from the multiple therapy techniques they include, and a few of the therapy methods we might use in your treatment plan are:
Please take the next step to begin your physical therapy with our team. Contact us today for more information or to schedule an appointment.