Mallet Finger – Diagnosis, Treatment, and Rehabilitation

How to take care of and recover from a common but sometimes vexing finger injury.[1]

By Mark D, Harris

Mallet finger usually results from forced flexion of the distal (most distant) part of the finger (distal phalanx – DP) during active extension of the DP. The condition is caused by a rupture of the extensor tendon (on the back of the finger) that crosses the distal interphalangeal joint (DIPJ) from the proximal phalanx (PP) to the DP. Part of the bone may also be avulsed (pulled away). Mallet finger is the most common closed tendon injury in athletes.[2] Often, patients explain that a ball hit their partially flexed fingertip. Patients complain of pain, swelling, and an inability to fully extend their DP.

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Do We Hate Our Bodies?

Our Lord loves us and He gave us our bodies, however they may be, for our enjoyment and His glory. Christians do not hate the material world… we love it. 

The other day I read an article written by a hospice chaplain from South Carolina entitled “What the dying really regret.” The author interviewed an elderly woman who was dying of cancer, who said:

“I know I’m supposed to hate my body…Everyone told me — my family, my school, my church. When I got older, magazines and salesgirls and boyfriends (told me), even if they didn’t say so out loud. The world’s been telling me for 75 years that my body is bad. First for being female, then for being fat and then for being sick…But the one thing I never did understand is, why does everyone else want me to hate my body? What does it matter to them?” Kerry Egan, CNN, 17 Oct 2014

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The Year in Adventure, Leisure, Sports and Travel History

14 Jan – Swiss guide Matthias Zurbriggen on a British expedition under Edward Fitzgerald made the first recorded ascent of Aconcagua, at 22,837 ft the highest mountain in South America, the Western Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere (1897).

18 Jan – American pilot Eugene B. Ely landed his Curtiss Pusher on the deck of the armored cruiser USS Pennsylania in San Francisco Bay, the first time that an aircraft landed on a ship (1911).

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Rehabilitation – Bringing Injured Bodies Back to Health

Everyone wants to be physically better than they are, but for most of us, getting back to a good baseline of health is the goal. In our increasingly out of shape and older population, rehabilitation is the best thing to do. 

Recently I introduced the three different general goals of fitness; rehabilitation, basic fitness and performance.  Today we will discuss the first of these goals…rehabilitation.  How many of us have been injured in the past?  Probably everyone over the age of five can remember a significant injury.   What do we normally do after the injury?  Most people wait until the pain and swelling resolve, assume it has healed, and go on about their normal activities, never thinking about the injured part of their body until it is hurt again.  Whether we are competitive or part time athletes, or just people who’ve had injuries and is not quite back to normal, everyone needs to know some basics about rehabilitation.

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How to Pick Your Fitness Goals

Few of us are athletes, and even fewer of us are Olympians, but we should all have fitness goals. How to make them, and how do you keep them?

For the past two weeks many Americans have enjoyed the Olympic Games.  Watching the fastest runners and swimmers, the finest gymnasts, and the best teams in the world is both an inspiration and a thrill.  It stirs the heart to see the athletic prowess that these young stars can reach.  So moved, many people commit to improve their own physical fitness and set goals to achieve that end.

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