What to Do with a Dislocated Toe or Finger

Dislocating any limb can be extremely painful depending on who you are. It, unfortunately, is also a fairly common injury to get particularly for athletes. It doesn’t take much to dislocate a finger or toe and knowing the proper first aid techniques to fix it can help relieve the pain of it quickly. Make sure that anyone reducing or relocating a finger or toe is either a qualified first aid graduate or a doctor.

The first step is calming the injured person down. Often this kind of injury can be painful and we don’t want them making the appendage any worse by swinging it around. This is also necessary for the next step, asking for their approval to reduce the injury. You’re going to need their agreement and cooperation before you can perform any aid on the injury.

With these things accomplished, we can proceed to relocating the finger or toe. Step in directly in front of the victim first. Now take the injured finger or toe in your hands, with one hand gripped firmly at the base of the dislocated joint and the other at the tip of the finger or toe. Keep the appendage slightly bent while positioning yourself.

Now pull with the hand at the tip of the finger or toe as if you where straightening it. With the other hand push the joint back into place. Finally, wrap the injury with tape, gauze and a splint. If pain isn’t immediately reduced go to a hospital to get it properly set. Also, if the joint doesn’t go directly in or if pain is increased attempting to reset the joint, then don’t force it and just go to the emergency room. You may need to visit a doctor anyway to check if the joint is realigned properly anyway with an x-ray.