A mallet finger injury means you have torn the tendon which straightens the end joint of your finger. Occasionally there will also be a small break in the bone. Your finger tip will drop, and you will not be able to straighten it.
To enable the finger to heal you will need to keep the finger straight for six weeks. We have fitted a splint to keep your finger straight. This should be worn at all times. Even with splinting there is a chance that your finger will not be as straight as before but keeping it in the splint gives it the best chance possible.
| Do’s | Don’ts |
| Keep your hand up as much as possible. | Do not bend the end joint of your finger at all. |
| Exercise the joints that are not in the splint. | Do not wear any jewellery on the injured hand. |
| Try to avoid getting your splint wet. |
Care of finger and splint
If you need to wash your finger or the splint gets wet you can take it off, but your finger must be kept straight at all times. This can be done by resting the finger on the edge of the table or sink. You will need someone to help you do this. The nurse will have demonstrated how to do this when they fitted the splint.
It is likely that as the swelling starts to settle, over the next week or two, you may need to go down a splint size; to this end we will supply you with two sizes of splint today. If your splint still becomes too loose then please contact us.
Please monitor for any skin changes from excess moisture. This can result in the skin becoming white and soft and in time can result in skin breakdown. If you notice moisture damage then try to dry this out with splint free periods if possible, ensuring that you keep your finger against a hard flat surface at all times you are not wearing the splint.
After the six weeks we recommend that you continue to wear the splint for a further three weeks, overnight and for high risk activities e.g., sports, gardening, manual work etc. At this point you can start to gently bend the end of your finger to increase the range of movement at the joint. DO NOT manually force the joint to bend further as this can re-damage the tendon. It may take several months to regain full function. Redness, swelling and tenderness of the skin around the end of the finger are common for three or four months after injury, but usually settle eventually.
It is also common after the splint is removed for a slight bend to recur; this rarely affects function. However, if after the 6 weeks you notice that you still have a significant bend, or a significant bend develops then please reapply the splint for a further 3 weeks continuously and contact the Emergency Department secretaries at Queen Elizabeth Hospital for further advice. A significant bend is a drop of greater than 30 degrees.
Contact details
For advice or review appointments, call the Emergency Department secretaries on 0191 445 2946 (Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 17:00). For urgent advice out of hours call 111.