My daughter smashed her finger in the screen door last night and her finger is super purple. The whole nail and part of her finger. It looks really dark purple close to black. Her clinic is closed today so I can't take her in. I know it has to hurt just by the way it looks but she also tells me it hurts. I feel so bad for her...Does anyone know what I can put on it or give her to make her feel better? Thanks so much!
I finally talked to a doctor Monday morning and the doc says that she will be okay and just put ice on it if swollen and give tylenol for the pain. Then today, a kid from her class stepped on her whole hand and yes it's the hand with the very purple finger. My poor baby...:(
I'd put a little make shift splint on it in case she broke it. Use a Popsicle stick and tape or something like it. At least it will keep her from accidentally moving it around until you can get to her doctor.
She will be OK.......
If she's old enough, tylenol. Ice the finger to help with swelling.
It's probably throbbing from all the blood built up in the area.
A common practice is to poke a hole through the nail.
Here's the prob...if you wait too long to take her in, they can't poke a hole through the nail because there's really no point. After a certain length of time the throbbing starts to decrease and the blood starts to disburse itself inside your body. There's not set time period, so it just depends on the finger and amount of swelling etc. I can tell you everytime you do poke a hole through a smashed finger it's way less painful when you don't.
I accidentally slammed the bedroom door on my daughters finger a few months ago. It was fractured and swollen. They took a hot needle and poked it through her nail. She was fine (just a little disoriented, lol) by the time we got home. Since she's so young though we had to strap her down to do the hot needle, which is why I couldn't do it at home. Also the Dr. recommended childrens advil for the swelling.
If you have an advice nurse I would give them a ring to see what they recommend.
Good Luck.
I shut my index finger in a door when I was 10, not a screen door though. So hers might not be broken. But I had shattered the growth plate on my first knuckle right above my nail and needed surgery to fix it. I would still take her in on Monday.
If at all possible, gently poke a hole through her finger nail to relieve the pressure that's built up. It will require keeping her still and calm, so depending on her age, that could be impossible. I've done it to myself, and it worked really well.
Make sure to take her in ASAP. It can get infected.
It's too late now...but if you had lavender essential oil that works really well right when it happens. Last week my cherry head conure (parrot) bit my finger and it was going to bleed and bruise. We put lavender on it right away and it started feeling better and the next morning you couldn't even tell he bit me. It's good to keep on hand as it takes care of so many childhood ailments.
Poor baby..hope she's better...try ice and tylenol or motrin I've also remember my parents putting raw potato on our bruises when we were kids. Check out the oils for future reference... they are great to have on hand for times when you can't or don't want to go to the Dr's.
www.mydoterra.com/oilsbyrae/
I'd call the Advice Nurse and hear what they have to say. My daughter's finger got smashed on a wooden door - hard enough that her entire nail flew off. I didn't think much of it because my daughter has a high pain threshold and she'd stopped crying after 10 min, but after checking in with the Advice Nurse we took her to Urgent Care to get an x-ray on the finger. Turns out she had a fracture at the tip of her finger, and we've had weekly appointments with the orthopedic surgeon for a month to monitor the finger and keep it dry and straight. It never hurts to call and check with the hospital.
Have her soak it in epsom salts. My husband dropped a 50 lb dumbbell on his toe in the garage a few years ago, and it was extremely painful. Couldn't wear a shoe, etc.... After soaking in epsom salts it helped. I don't know how or why... but it seemed to draw the swelling out somehow.
If it is black/blue under the nail, that is blood and that causes very painful pressure. Somehow the epsom salts helped with that.
ETA: The 'poke a hole in it to relieve the pressure' idea is an old one and used to be a good one. (Did it when a huge railroad tie fell onto my big toe when I was a child). But today there are mixed opinions about the hole also creating an opening for infection to set in. Much like a cut is less likely to get infected than a puncture wound. It CAN make it FEEL better in the short term, but actually poking the hole is painful in itself, and the long term increase in the potential for infection is something to consider also.
I don't know if it is too late to still be helpful, but ice at the time of injury will keep down the swelling. I'd apply some today too. And tylenol.
When I was a kid... I smashed my pinkie in our car door. This was one of those big huge metal older sedans with super heavy doors.
My finger was just like your daughter's.
It healed fine.
But was very painful/swollen/purple etc.
It was not broken though. My Dad looked at it.
I just kept a band aid on it.
I didn't tell my parents right away, I was too scared.
And yes, with kids, you need to see if their growth plates, are affected.
http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00040
So yes, take your daughter to the Urgent Care or something so they can x-ray it.
The homeopathic remedy Arnica helps a lot with bruising and swelling. Also, a topical cream called Traumel contains arnica and other homeopathic remedies -- good for bruises, swelling, muscle strains.
