Anyone swim with a finger fracture?

Ugh! Sounds awful! The interesting thing they told me is not to splint it, except at night, because that would ultimately decrease my range of motion. Buddy Tape, a splint at night, and that's it for now, until the OT starts in a little over a week. Luckily, they said I don't have rotation issues. Just a straight up fracture--so far. Thanks for the feedback. I certainly don't want years of trouble!

Last night, I got hit in practice REALLY hard, during a sprint set. The woman who hit me said she was sure she hit the lane line because it was such a smack. Fun! Anyway, after much swelling, ice, and pain, it turns out I have a Volar Plate Avulsion fracture of my right ring finger. (Fun when you are both right-handed AND drive a stick shift.) The doc. said 6 weeks no swimming, but clearly, that's too long for me. I start IT next week. Anyone dealt with this? Did you go to practice and just kick? How long out of the water? Who thought swimming was a contact sport?!?! Yes, in high school I shattered the middle knuckle of my right ring finger. After being taken to urgent care, it was diagnosed as such. The (idiot) MD on duty told me it would be OK to swim and play polo with it, as long as I wore a splint on it. Long story short, the water pressure against my hand led to the fracture setting in a twisted position, and almost zero range of motion, after a few months. Result: back to another MD, who re-broke the knuckle and inserted a pin in it. Now, nearly 30 years later, I have consistent pain, limited ROM, etc. Moral of the story: do what the doc says. Keep it out of the water. Just kick for a while. Do your PT exercises. Let it heal properly. YMMV.

Anyone dealt with this? Did you go to practice and just kick? How long out of the water? I broke/fractured my right pinky finger several years ago when I messed up catching a football. I iced the heck out of it for a day. I thought it was just badly jammed so I didn't see a doctor right away. Several weeks later and it hadn't healed properly. By the time I saw a doctor there was just a hairline fracture on the xray, but there wasn't anything to do. It's still a little crooked to this day, but I don't have any pain and it doesn't affect how I swim. I skipped only a day or two of practice, but wish I had seen the doc sooner.

The doctor said that people often do that and then come in three weeks later when it's too late. I tried simulating some swim motions and ouch! It's going to be a bit. Kick sets-here I come.

I jammed my middle finger pretty good (my knuckle swelled) on my finish of the 100 back at Nationals in May....bugged me for weeks. Then I dislocated (I didn't go to doc, but I'm fairly certain) my thumb adjusting my tech jammer (tight!) of all things. It is STILL bugging my 6 months later. Sucks to get old as I have a lot of little nagging things bugging me.....but lucky I've never had a major injury. ICE and Advil are always good to me.

Yikes! I am being careful, and it sounds like I should be! Three days out, i notice the stiffness is becoming an issue so I'm looking forward to starting the OT, even though I anticipate it being painful. Now, when I try to bend it, it's the unbending that hurts the most and is the hardest. The OT is with a hand specialist who is part of the best orthopedic practice around so I'm optimistic about that. And thank goodness for Advil! I've been running--thank goodness. And thinking long term helps, a tiny bit. I'm thinking kick sets soon, but not for a bit since I definitely could not hold a board, and the water pressure would hurt. I did kick sets for two weeks when I had oral surgery last year and I can't say I was faster after that, but I didn't feel as out of shape as I might have otherwise. As always, half if it's the mental piece, isn't it?

I broke my hand once on a backstroke finish. What impressed me amidst all the doctor's explanations is just how sensitive the functioning of your fingers are to the positioning of the bones as they heal. As you yourself mention, you need dexterous fingers for a lot of things. Nothing wrong with seeking a second opinion, or talking to a PT or OT (who are sometimes better informed about these things). Realize that hands are a specialty area in PT/OT so I would see a specialist to ask. But if they telling you to take it easy, do it. And even the ones who say you can be more aggressive...if they are wrong, guess who pays the price? You should err on the side of caution. You're in this for the long haul, 6 weeks is nothing and there are plenty of things you can do to keep in shape for that time. Use it as an opportunity to develop and work on exercises for legs and core. Do some kicking too; I've heard many stories of people with injuries who did lots of kicking and, after they healed, were faster than ever.

yeah fingers are no joke. Just be sure you don't get adhesion formation during immobilization. I don't think your break will cause an adhesion but I'd talk with the doc about it. I had a bad break, which required a cast and pins, and my tendons adhered and it took me a good month of PT before I could move my finger again. Its ROM is still not that great.