Jersey finger is the deep flexor tendon torn off the bone at your fingertip, so the tip won’t bend on its own. It needs surgery, ideally within 7 to 10 days. The finger still working is why people wait, and why they lose the repair.
Dupuytren’s contracture is a thickening under the palm skin that slowly pulls a finger into a bend. You don’t treat the lump; you treat the bend, when the hand fails the table-top test, the knuckle reaches about 30 degrees, or the middle joint starts to bend.
Finger osteoarthritis can’t be cured, but the painful phase usually settles over a few years; the Heberden’s and Bouchard’s nodes stay. Heat, daily movement, small splints and smarter grips do the real work.
Back to full use, gym included, in 6 to 8 weeks. A hand therapist’s week-by-week trigger finger surgery recovery: the tender palm, morning stiffness, work and driving, and what changes if the finger was locked before surgery.
A true jammed finger stops hurting in 1 to 2 weeks and should move fully by 3 to 4, though the swelling can last months. Don’t pull it. Five self-check questions, which injury it really is, buddy taping, exercises and when to get an X-ray.
Mallet finger is treated with a splint holding the fingertip straight 24/7 for 6 to 8 weeks, then at night for about 2 to 4 more. One bend restarts the clock. How to wear and change it, exercises, when surgery comes in, and what if it’s old.
Trigger finger is a tendon catching on a thickened pulley at the base of your finger. Caught at the click stage, most settle with a night splint and less gripping in 6 to 10 weeks; a finger that locks daily narrows the options toward injection or a short release surgery.