unexplained sudden brusing/redness at base of finger with swelling & numbness

I am so relieved to have found this discussion! This happened to me for the first time two days ago. Just eating pizza and my right pinkie suddenly swelled and was burning and stinging. Today it is just bruised and there's a small white lump that I can't put pressure on. I'm amazed that no one has gotten a concrete answer from a doctor as to what this could be... No medications except ibuprofen for a raging 3-day headache... This doesn't seem to be serious, but it's very alarming.

UPDATE!!

Hi, So I wrote on here in February about my foot doing the same thing. Happened for a third time, so I went to a new doctor and suddenly became alarmed. I hate to rain on everyone's parade, but it turns out that it could be very serious! Maybe since the same thing is happening in my foot, it's a different deal than your fingers, but in my case, the doctor is concerned about blood clots. She is having my take asprin to thin my blood and I am scheduled for an ultrasound on my leg and foot so that they can see if I have any clots in there, or what is going on. She's concerned for sure, and says that if it is a clot, and it dislodges, it can travel to your lung and you're toast !!! I'M OFFICIALLY SCARED NOW!!! Will let you know how the ultrasound goes.

Anyways, try taking an asprin a day if this is happening to you often and it may control it. And ask your dr. about blood clots!

Update from March 26th: Hello - I posted on the 26th and have since learned from the clinic that it's most likely capillaries bursting. Not sure about those with these episodes in their feet, though. I was told to continue all meds that I'm on and to call back if it happens again. Hope this helps :-)

Yesterday after I came home from work, I saw my left middle finger's vein enlarge a little bit as if it was going to pop and then all of a sudden the finger started swelling and turned purple. This morning the finger is itching, it's swollen and kind of hurts and stings... I'm 24 yrs old. My mom said I have had it before, although I don't recall but, does anybody know what this may be? It looks like a lot of you are having the same thing happening to you... Obviously it's not broken because I can move it... it doesn't look too pretty though..

this happened to me too today where my thumb had an awful pain then turned purple and swollen. I put ice on it and I was hoping I could find an explanation. I'm female 44 good health

Last night I looked down at my pinky finger and it was turning purple, today it's swollen, black and blue for no apparent reason.  I did not injurt myself, or cannot recall doing so...this is the weirdest thing.  Not sure if I should go to the doctors to check it out...based on the comments here the doctor won't know what it is anyhow.  Boo :(

My last post was on 9/5/10. So it's been over a 1.5yr since this all started. My little finger is still swollen and can barely move it; some days better than others. I am now seeing a new Rhuemetologist at SLU. I figure if she doesn't know what the problem is, I'll be a guine pig until she figures it out. I'm learning to live with the pain and very cautious of hitting my finger. Whatever this is, it's annoying and painful!

Thank you all for posting. this is my second episode of sudden finger bruising. I'll explain the diagnosis i rec'd the first time. I freaked that i wld lose my finger and sat for hours in a busy doc office crying for their lack of action! Doc sent me home with no explanation. Primary Care doc visit the following day referred me to a hemotologist (she happened to be an oncologist, as well). Did tests (CT scan and funny, i was asked by the tech how long i had cancer. "i don't have cancer!") Back to Primary care doc, referred outside HMO. Went for circulation testing (wires connected to fingers). in short, it was Reynaud's. Doc said in some folks it is more serious, but not in my case. As i said, this is my second episode and i'm still a but freaked out by my purple finger. Reynauds. My mom has the cold, white fingers. Anyway, i hope this helps everyone if it is posted.

This just happened to me right after I got out of the shower. I am a 22 year old female. I was in the middle of brushing my teeth when I felt a sudden hotness and pulsing in the middle finger of my left hand (was not using this hand to brush). I look at it and there is a swelling on the palm side of the top joint of my middle finger, with purple discoloration underneath. It started to tingle and felt numb, so I put it under cold running water, which seemed to help a bit. The slight pain has subsided for the most part (just feels like a bruise now) and it isn't swollen, just a slight purple bump under the skin. I hope it goes away soon.

Wow!  I am surprised to see so many of us with this!  It just happened to me last week.  After dinner on Thursday night the back of my right index finger at the tip felt numb.  When I looked at it I saw that the back of the finger in the center had turned purple and the finger felt a bit swollen.  The numbness left the finger rather quickly, but the discoloration stayed for almost 24 hours.  The next night after dinner the exact same thing happened to the same finger.  It hasn't happend since, but would like to know the cause.  I am 57, with high blood pressure that I control with medication, but otherwise in very good health. 

Today I ironed for about an hour. I put all the clothes on hangers and went to my closet to hang them. That is literally all I did. I suddenly felt a painful throbbing in my wrist and when I looked at it, it was a swollen ball where your veins show and black and blue. What the heck?????? The throbbing eventually subsided but it is now about 7 hours later and it is still quite black and blue!!

 

did you ever find out what was causing it? Mine has done the same thing today, very strange...

I wish I had an answer but I don't. Today is three days later and it is still black and blue

 

I also have reynauds and just had cataract surgery. My ring finger on my left hand is red, swollen and had extreme pain in it. I was afraid it may be a clot. Rest of my fingers were cold.

I've just finished reading through all the comments in this discussion. Wow... a lot of speculation and very few answers! Not that you haven't tried to come up with them and help each other, of course! I just registered for this website, and am not at all familiar with it.... but do actual DOCTORS ever post to this forum? Not just this thread, but the forum in general?

Anyway.... I'm not going to say I've experienced the same thing as almost everyone else here, because I haven't. But I am here because I did a Google search on "sudden burning pain next to index finger."

What I HAVE experienced:

• intense SUDDEN pain at the base of my right index finger (on top of my hand, just to the right and slightly below the knuckle that appears when I make a fist -- it feels sort of like this spot is "attached" to the knuckle

• SLIGHT swelling in the knuckle area between the index and middle finger

What I have NOT experienced:

• bruising

• itching

• not even much redness -- a bit, but not much
  

Yeah, there is absolutely no bruising or itching going on. Definitely felt like I was being stung (or had been stung), and this area definitely remains intensely painful, sharp and stinging, when I put any pressure on it.

It happened approximately 24 hours ago, as I write this. I first felt it when I was washing my hands kind of in the dark before going to bed. Water running over my hands caused intense pain in this one spot. I didn't think anything of it because I have a slight cut that is healing very near this area, and I thought the water was just hitting the scab the wrong way.

Then I went to bed and tried to go to sleep. After about half an hour of fitful turning, my right hand moved across the sheets and I nearly jumped! WOW, it was painful! I got up, went to the kitchen to take some Tylenol (I can't take aspirin or ibuprofen -- I'm allergic) and immediately put ice on it. I then started searching Google. My first thoughts were this must be some kind of repetitive stress injury. I have been working intensely on a new website for my business.... much typing and mousing. But I have been MOUSING since 1984, and TYPING for a lot longer! I've made my living on the computer, and before that, as a typographer. Why would I suddenly be in pain NOW, if that was the cause?

And as you can see, I'm having no trouble at all typing now. I can make a fist, I have strength, no problem.

It's a teeny tiny little spot, right next to the first knuckle bone of the finger (the "base" of the finger). When I make both hands into fists, and I hold them up in front of me, the "profile" of the left hand shows a pronounced dip between the index and middle finger. But my right hand shows a bit less of a dip and some swelling around that index finger knucklebone. Just to the right of that, near the "top" of the vein that runs up to that finger (that I can see), is where this spot is. But there is absolutely no bruising at all. No discoloration of any kind... only a very slight redness and a bit warm to the touch.

Yesterday (Thanksgiving Day), I was washing a glass by using a sponge, stuffing my hand into the glass, and scrubbing inside the glass in a circular motion. I have been performing this action several times a day since late July, as I am on a medically supervised diet and need to drink several shakes a day. I have two glasses that I use for these shakes and have been doing a TON more handwashing in these months than I have in decades. I've always used dishwashers during that time, almost NEVER handwashing. So today, I absent-mindedly stuck my hand in the glass and started scrubbing, as I have done many times routinely every day since July, and........ I NEARLY FELL OVER FROM THE PAIN!!!

I realized that this ONE little spot on my hand had been the recipient of frequent repeated daily pressure for about four months now.... and it's not something that I had given ANY conscious thought to until now! This specific point on my hand was the spot where my hand had the most intense contact with the inside of the glass as I swung the sponge around and around to get the residue of the shake off. (Even if you rinse the glass right away, you have to scrub the glass.... but of course, I didn't always rinse it right away!)

So rather than let my mind jump immediately to scary diseases and the fear of blood clots, just being OBSERVANT has allowed me to see a possible cause of this strange, intense pain that I'm experiencing. I otherwise would have given no thought whatsoever to the kind of pressure that I was sudenly putting on my hand on a daily basis.

It STILL would be nice if a doctor could CONFIRM what is going on for me, but it sure doesn't sound like there are many experts with this kind of thing! It would be interesting to know why I am NOT experiencing any bruising with this, even though so many of you are reporting that. The suddenness of it... the intensity of it... the location... these all jive with what many of you have experienced. But not the bruising or any other discoloration. A friend of mine, who is an Occupational Therapist, just told me she thought it might be nerve irritation. Can nerve irritation cause swelling? The little painful spot feels like it could possibly be a tendon in there, but I really don't have a clue.

Anyway, I thought I'd share my experience, which seems a bit different from everyone else's, but similar enough to possibly shed some light for others. Thanks for listening!