Boutonniere FingerWhen I was younger, I lived to play basketball. I played every second I had. I played during lunch, breakfast, of course during gym and even during the 7 minute break between classes. Over the course of thousands of basketball games, I have broken most of my fingers over and over again.

My right hand pinky finger was broken so many times that I think I developed what is called Boutonniere deformity of the finger. It is basically where you cannot lay your finger on a flat surface and have your finger remain flat on that surface. My finger has been like that since some time in high-school. I forget exactly what year it happened.

Why am I bringing this up now? Well, I still play basketball a couple times per week. I have not really broken or 'jammed' a finger in a while, probably over two years now. Last night, during a game, I think I broke my left hand pinky finger. I thought to myself, wow - it has been a while since I did that. In any event, it is now all blue, purple and puffy. No, I did not seek medical attention (it is just a finger), nor did I put ice on it. It will get better by itself.

Oh, I must of had like 10 steals during the game, prior to the finger incident. Not bad for a large man.

Anyway, for more info on boutonniere finger, see eORTHOPOD or WebMD. There are also some serious picture of what this looks like on real hands on Google Images. Mine is not that bad, i.e. the deformity is very minor.