So, after 13 weeks I decided to go to a doctor about my finger. It was healing ok, but I was a bit concerned about the results. A normal success for this kind of injury means you are left with a permanent 10 degree (or less) droop in my finger. I didn't do any measurements, but I was concerned about it.
So I go into the doctor's office and he immediately makes a bunch of claims about how my finger is not healed. He orders an x-ray. The x-ray shows no fracture and a decently healing finger. He retracts his initial comments and claims I'm one of the few self treating patients he's seen with this injury that actually did a good job with it (I know, he's just saying that to make me feel good). Finger is healing with a 10-15 degree droop though. He thinks I can do better if I re-splint for another 6 weeks with a custom splint (hopefully get it closer to a 5 degree droop).
So, I'm out for tennis for another couple of months.
If I had gone to a doctor right away:
1) They would have made me a custom splint right away. Splint is more comfortable and may even do a slightly better job because of the fit.
2) I probably would've been done with this whole episode a bit quicker (probably by a few weeks because I clearly needed more time then I gave it).
Hopefully this experience will help someone else in the future.
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