Mallet Finger: What That Drooping Fingertip Is Telling You

It happens in an instant. A ball hits the end of your finger. You jam it catching a door. You pull back the fitted sheet. And suddenly, your fingertip won't straighten — it just hangs there, drooping, no matter how hard you will it to move.

That's mallet finger. And in my experience as a hand therapist, it's one of the most underestimated injuries I see.

People walk in days — sometimes weeks — after the initial injury, having convinced themselves it was "just a jam." By the time they arrive, the window for the smoothest possible recovery is already narrowing. So let me tell you what I wish every patient knew from day one.