Finger Injuries

Tedd Girouard MS, LAT, ATC
Head Athletic Trainer FC Las Vegas

While goal keeping, it is very common to sustain an injury to your fingers; there are several different ways that this may happen. The most common is by having a ball strike your fingers bending them a direction they were not intended to go. Secondly, having your fingers stepped on may also cause injury. And lastly, hitting your fingers on the goal posts or cross bar might also cause injuries to this area. Soccer injuries to the fingers can be very debilitating to a goalkeeper. This is because you need to have full function of these body parts in order to successfully play this position.

The injuries that can happen vary from bruises to fractures. The best way to distinguish the severity of an injury is to go to your family physician and have them evaluate and diagnose your finger(s).

First Aid, Finger Injuries

First aid for fingers is similar to that of any other body part. You want to ice the area as quick as possible, to do this most effectively you should use a cup of ice water and submerge your finger for 10 minutes every hour until you see a doctor. When you are not icing you should immobilize your finger in what is a comfortable position. Wrapping a tongue depressor or some other stiff object to the injured finger should do this. You may also try taping the injured finger to the next finger (buddy taping) which is also an acceptable means of immobilization. If your finger is deformed it may either be either fractured or dislocated try to splint the finger as you found it and get to a physician as soon as possible. Do not try to put your finger back in place, this is because if there is a fracture in the area you might cause further damage, let a trained professional take care of these injuries for you.

Finger Fractures / Dislocation / Sprains Therapy

If you have fractured your finger you will probably be out for 4 - 6 weeks depending on how bad the fracture is. Where as, if you sprained your finger you may be out for a couple of days to a couple of weeks. Your physician will let you know just how long you should be out for. Once your bone or ligament has had a chance to heal you should begin some therapy by using household items to strengthen the muscles and ligaments in the area. Start by gripping a tennis ball with a hole in it. Perform this several times a day until fatigue. You can also use rubber bands to strengthen your fingers further. Once you have strengthened your fingers and you are going to return to play you may want to tape two of your fingers together. You can do this on top of you glove (See Diagram), although your fingers will be somewhat limited this will add stability to the injured finger. If your injury is quite significant your physician may want to put you into hand therapy, if this is the case you should look for a therapist with some soccer experience.