Another Mallet Finger Question

I sustained a mallet finger injury just over a week ago by trying to grab the dog's collar and in doing so must have bent the middle finger on my left hand too far. I wasn't particularly painful or swollen but I decided a trip to A + E was in order.

The finger was eventually looked at and an x-ray taken. There was no fracture but a diagnosis of mallet finger. I was surprised when they said the treatment was to splint the finger for up to 12 weeks, the first 8 full time!

The plastic splint they put on was too big but they could not get the smaller one on my finger so they added a tubular gauze finger strip under the splint.

Instructions were to keep the end joint of the finger straight at all times and to wash the finger and splint once a day.

This is where the "fun" started..... I found it virtually impossible to keep the joint straight whilst removing and reapplying the splint and particularly the finger gauze. The finger could also move inside the oversized splint and there was a tendency for the splint to work its way down my finger particularly if the tape holding it on began loosing its stick especially if it got at all wet.

Had a hospital one week review yesterday and got a smaller splint without the gauze. Still having difficulty in keeping the joint straight when washing.

Is this a problem even if the finger bends a little once a day when being cleaned or will the tendon never heal unless the joint is kept straight 100% of the time?

Any advice or comments would be appreciated

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