Can you cut fingers off a glove?

Member_of_the_Club · May 2013

First off, hello there! I've been gone from breastcancer.org for a while now, but I am back with a question. Several weeks ago I tripped while running, fell hard and broke my little finger. Yes, on my affected hand. My LE is primarily in my hand and I wear a glove that goes to the nail beds and a lighter sleeve when I run and fly and otherwise feel the need. This has been very effective and I rarely have any swelling anymore.

Anyway, I broke my pinky and because the fracture was at the base, near the hand, the orthopedist put me in a ginormous hand splint that restricts all my fingers except my index finger -- where I've had the most swelling -- and my thumb. I am unable to wear my compression garments over this thing. (And on a side note, I feel ridiculous telling people I broke my pinky when it looks like something far more dramatic happened). I have continued to rum because I just really have to and the only thing I can wear is a finger sleeve over my index finger. Remarkably, I've had no swelling even when I ran a half marathon on a hot, humid day. Perhaps the splint has some compression effect, perhaps the finger sleeve is helpful, or perhaps the fact that I periodically raise up my splinted hand and run like the Statue of Liberty, squeezing the one finger I can, has made a difference.

Tomorrow the orthpedist is switching me to tape, which will be far less restrictive. I suspect the pinky and ring fingers will be taped together, so I won't be able to get the glove over that, but I'm wondering if I should cut those two fingers out of the glove. Will that run, and ruin the rest of the glove? I would hate to do that, given how much my gloves cost. Also, would wearing it over a taped hand be a problem?

Not sure what to do here. Its hot out there and I feel I've been on borrowed time.

Binney4 · May 2013

MOTC, welcome home!

What a rotten problem--hope you're not in too much pain. But how wonderful that you're not having a lot of problem with swelling! No doubt not doing heavy lifting or anything repititious with your hand helps too, but it sure is limiting.

Do you know how to wrap your hand with gauze and short-stretch? That'd be the most effective for the LE, and the most flexible arrangement for the taped fingers. If you don't know, now would be a great time to learn. Very handy skill.

Short of that, do you have an old glove you can experiment with? A product called Fray-Chek that you can buy at fabric or craft stores would probably prevent fraying if you decided to cut them, but none of that is going to do anything for the look of the glove, that's for sure!

Hoping others come along with great ideas. Hugs,
Binney

purple32 · May 2013

An add'l option:

Check out

www.brightlifedirect.com and look at the Farrow glove.

The fingers are safely trimmable. I love the black!

Kicks · May 2013

I've taken old gloves and turned them into a gauntlet a couple of times - haf no problem with them fraying though the first time I did zig-zag around the cut edge but not after that first time.

I fell in late Jan and did a real good job breaking both bones just above wrist. Had surgery to get them straight again. I had no problem with hand swelling at all. My worst area is elbow and with wrapping it I was able to keep it under control. I have had more hand and wrist swelling after cast was off - but to me that's logical considering the trauma to the area.

Member_of_the_Club · May 2013

I don't know about gauze and short stretch. Are there instructions somewhere.

Unfortunately we recently moved and I threw out all my old gloves in the process.

Member_of_the_Club · May 2013

The Farrow glove looks interesting but the fingers don't go up far enough. My index finger is my swelliest part, so I think too short a glove would actually cause problems.

Member_of_the_Club · May 2013

OK, did some research at Google University and now understand short stretch, though would love a link to how to use it. I ordered some off Amazon because I assume this isn't sold at typical drug stores.

Thanks so much everyone. As always, the Swell Sisters are swell.

kira66715 · May 2013

MOTC, I'm going to post an image of how to do a hand/finger wrap, you can use folded over gauze--like transelast, or there is a cotton product, made by KT that is washable and reusable. Let me know if it doesn't make sense: with a transelast, you often need two bandages, with the cotton KT, one is fine.

When I first got LE in my hand, I had trouble with gloves that worked, and a gauze wrap always worked. I'm home recovering from a complete hysterectomy due to tamoxifen induced precancer, so I've got time on my hands...

First, links to gauze and cotton finger wrap:

Fingerband: http://www.lymphedemaproducts.com/products/fingerband.html

Transelast--you need to fold over to create the right width: http://www.lymphedemaproducts.com/products/transelast-classic.html

Member_of_the_Club · May 2013

Thanks! The orthopedist did buddy tape my pinky and ring finger together but there is only one piece of tape around the fingers. So my solution is to buy a gauntlet, which is much cheaper than the glove would cost and that I would only have to wear for two weeks with the fingers cut off, and to supplement with finger sleeves for the fingers that aren't involved.

Binney4 · May 2013

Great, MOTC! Let us know how it works for you.

Sure hope you're not in too much pain!

Be well!
Binney

Member_of_the_Club · May 2013

The funny thing is that it was barely painful at all. My finger was a little swollen but I could bend it, so i assumed it wasn't broken and debated having it checked out. I finally decided to rely on my rule that if I am debating whether or not to see a doctor, I should see a doctor. If its not an obvious call, the doctor should make it. What I've learned is that fingers are tricky and people often think they can get by with an injury but if its broken it will heal incorrectly and either have to be rebroken in surgery or leave you with permanent problems.

The gauntlet plus additions seems to be working well.

Can you cut fingers off a glove?

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