The Proximal Phalanx

Yesterday i fractured the 'Proximal Phalanx' of the little finger on my right hand while playing football.

Before you ask- Yes, there *are* such bones in our body with ultra cool names like 'Proximal Phalanx'. Yes, you *can* fracture your finger while playing football (a game primarily involving use of feet and head).. by falling on it. And yes, the arrow in my diagram is facing the wrong direction, because its there to show the direction my finger was bent in, not to point out the fracture itself.

There's something exceedingly beautiful about sliding into a tackle for the ball, clearing the danger, but getting up to find your finger bent 60 degrees at the joint in a direction its not supposed to. Okay, that last part isn't beautiful at all, but (in hindsight quite surprising and very confidence-inspiring) in the moments that followed, i calmly grabbed the awkwardly-positioned finger with my other hand and bent it back into a straight line. 

If you're interested, and have exceedingly good eyesight, the third bone from the fingertip is chipped just a little at the very top on the outside, caused by scraping the bone above it whilst the latter was being forced into the direction indicated by the arrow (this was explained to me by the good doctors at the hospital, apparently my eyesight isn't 'exceedingly good') Enough gruesome details for one day. Surprisingly, there was very little pain after i put it back in place. No blood, only swelling around the joint and mild discoloration. Definitely not enough to justify the humongous plaster stretching right up to my wrist.

Anyways, since last night, apart from being the butt of several 'where-did-you-put-your-finger' jokes, i have been struggling to master daily activities with my left hand. Eating, drinking, brushing, gargling, typing (one handed) are just some of the things you should practice doing with your other hand, to be prepared for eventualities such as this one. Or, you could just avoid getting into slide tackles. But, what is life without risk. Cheers!