Written by Shamaine Soh, Principal Hand Occupational Therapist at Phoenix Rehab, AHPC A1302343D.Clinically reviewed by Nigel Chua, Principal Hand Occupational Therapist & Director, AHPC A1300362Z.Last reviewed 7 October 2026.
Jersey finger is the deep finger tendon, the flexor digitorum profundus, pulled off the fingertip bone when a gripping finger, most often the ring finger, is yanked straight. To check, hold the finger’s middle section straight and try to bend only the fingertip. If the tip will not bend, see a doctor the same day.
Key takeaways
- Jersey finger is the deep flexor tendon pulled off the fingertip bone. It happens when a gripping finger is yanked straight, most often the ring finger.
- That tendon is the only one that bends the fingertip. The sign is a fingertip that will not bend on its own while the rest of the finger still curls.
- A tendon pulled off the bone does not reattach with rest, strapping or exercise. A hand surgeon repairs it.
- The tendon end pulls back toward the palm, and repair timing matters. The first days after the injury are the time to see a doctor.
- After the repair, hand therapy runs the splint, the protected movement and the strength work to your surgeon’s protocol.
What is jersey finger?
Two tendons bend each finger. The shallow one, the flexor digitorum superficialis, ends on the middle bone and bends the middle knuckle. The deep one, the flexor digitorum profundus, runs through it and ends on the base of the fingertip bone. The deep tendon is the only one that bends the end joint.
In jersey finger the deep tendon pulls off that attachment, sometimes taking a fleck or a larger piece of bone with it. The shallow tendon still works, so you can curl the finger at the middle knuckle and make most of a fist. The fingertip stays straight. Doctors call it a flexor digitorum profundus avulsion, or FDP avulsion.
The name comes from rugby and American football: a player grabs an opponent’s jersey, the opponent pulls away, and the finger is ripped straight while it is still gripping. You will also see it called rugby finger or rugger jersey finger.
How it happens, in the order to check
1. A grab at a shirt or a jersey
Holding on in a tackle at rugby, touch rugby or Oztag. A shirt pull in football or basketball. A gi grip in judo or Brazilian jiu-jitsu when your partner breaks it.
2. A hard grip on a hold, a bar or a handle
A foot cutting loose while you hang off a crimp, covered in climbing injuries. A heavy bar or handle torn out of a hard grip.
3. Holding on to something that is pulled away or falls
A dog lead wrapped round the fingers when the dog lunges. A suitcase caught as it drops from an overhead rack. A bag strap snatched from your hand.
In each case you will usually remember the moment. Some people feel a pop or a snap in the finger.
The fingertip test
Do this once, without forcing it, a few minutes after the injury or at home that evening.
- Rest the injured hand palm up on a table.
- With your other hand, hold the injured finger just below the fingertip, so the middle knuckle stays straight.
- Try to bend only the fingertip.
- Do the same on the same finger of the other hand, to see what normal looks like for you.
Leave the other fingers on the injured hand free. The ring, middle and little fingers share one deep muscle, so holding the neighbors flat can stop a healthy ring fingertip from bending too.
If the tip will not bend at all, the deep tendon may have come off, and that needs a doctor the same day. If the tip bends but hurts, a complete jersey finger is less likely. A tip that bends with little strength, or hurts more each day, still deserves a check. Swelling and bruising on the palm side of the end joint are common. A tender lump on the palm side of the finger or in the palm can be the pulled-back tendon end.
Many people with jersey finger can still make a near-full fist, because the shallow tendon bends the middle knuckle. That is why people strap it as a jammed finger and play on.
Jersey finger, mallet finger, jammed finger or trigger finger?
Watch what the fingertip does on its own. That answer separates them.
| Condition | What happened | What the fingertip does | What it needs first |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jersey finger | A gripping finger yanked straight: a jersey, a hold, a lead | Will not bend on its own. Straightens normally | A doctor the same day, then a hand surgeon |
| Mallet finger | A ball or a blow on the end of a straight finger | Droops and will not straighten on its own. Bends normally | A doctor, an X-ray, and a splint holding the tip straight |
| Jammed finger or finger sprain | A ball jams the fingertip, or the finger bends backwards or sideways | Bends and straightens, sore and stiff, with a swollen middle knuckle | Strapping or a splint, and an X-ray if a fracture is likely. See volar plate injury |
| Trigger finger | No injury. It comes on over weeks | Catches or locks as the finger bends, then snaps straight | Not an emergency. Assessment, a splint, a change in grip |
Why the first days matter
Once the tendon lets go of the bone, the muscle in the forearm keeps pulling on it and nothing pulls back. Leddy and Packer graded jersey finger by how far the tendon travels.1
- Type I. The tendon pulls back into the palm. The small vessels that feed it along the finger tear on the way.
- Type II. The tendon stops at the level of the middle knuckle, often with a small fleck of bone.
- Type III. A large piece of bone comes off with the tendon and catches near the end of the middle bone, so the tendon does not travel far.
The further the tendon has gone, the sooner a surgeon wants to repair it. By about 7 to 10 days, the pull of the muscle has drawn the tendon end back toward the palm. In a published series of eight Oztag players with this injury, the five seen within 10 days had the tendon repaired directly. The three seen four weeks or more after the injury were left with either a tendon reconstruction over two operations, or the tendon removed and the fingertip no longer bending.2
Early or late, the decision about the tendon belongs to a hand surgeon, and the route to one is your GP, a polyclinic, or the emergency department. Hand therapy cannot reattach a tendon, and nothing on this page replaces that visit. Ask the doctor one question: is the deep tendon still attached?
Jersey finger treatment: who does what
- A doctor (your GP, a polyclinic doctor or the emergency department) examines the finger, decides on an X-ray or a scan, and refers you to a hand surgeon.
- A hand surgeon repairs the tendon back onto the bone. The repair may be held with a small anchor in the bone, or a stitch tied over a button on the nail. The surgeon decides what is possible for a late tendon.
- A hand therapist takes over after the repair: the splint, the protected movement your surgeon’s protocol allows, the swelling and the scar, then grip and the return to sport or work.
A splint on its own does not repair jersey finger. After surgery, a custom thermoplastic splint on the back of the hand holds the wrist and fingers bent, so the repair cannot be stretched, day and night.
In the Phoenix Recovery Protocol the work after a repair starts at Calm & Protect: the splint, swelling control and the exact movements the protocol allows. Move & Mobilize reduces the protection in steps and gets the tendon gliding. Rebuild & Strengthen loads grip once your surgeon allows it. Return & Perform tests the tasks themselves: the tackle, the crimp, the gi grip, the toolbox. The splint usually comes off around week 6, resistance starts around week 8, and contact sport waits until 3 months or later. Your surgeon’s protocol sets the weeks. The Flexor Tendon Repair Recovery Program sets out each stage and what moves you up.
What we measure
- The fingertip test, written down. If you come to us first and the tip will not bend, we record it and refer you to a doctor with a letter. There is nothing to rehabilitate until the tendon is back on the bone.
- Active and passive bend. After the repair, how far the end joint and middle knuckle bend on their own, and how far they bend when we move them, in degrees, at every visit. The gap between the two numbers is the one that matters.
- Fingertip to palm. How far the fingertip stops from the palm when you make a fist, in centimeters.
- Straightening. Whether the end joint straightens all the way, because it can stiffen in a bent position after the repair.
- Swelling. A tape around the finger, week to week.
- Grip and pinch. In kilograms, on both hands, only once your surgeon allows load.
Tested, not dated. The plan moves on when the measures say so.
What you can do this week
- Take off any rings on that hand now, before the finger swells.
- Do the fingertip test once. Forcing a fist to check again tells you nothing new.
- Raise the hand above your heart and use a cold pack wrapped in a cloth for 10 to 15 minutes at a time.
- Strapping the finger to its neighbor and playing the next match will not reattach a tendon. Leave the strapping until a doctor has seen it.
- Write down the date and the moment it happened, and take that to the doctor.
- After a repair: keep the splint on as instructed, including at night. Do not test your grip, and do not pull the finger straight to see how it is doing.
- Pain relief and anti-inflammatory medication are a decision for your doctor or pharmacist.
Is this normal?
Usually expected: right after a grab or a pull, soreness along the finger and some swelling. A jammed finger that swells at the middle knuckle but still bends at the tip. After a repair, swelling for months, a stiff and sensitive scar, a fingertip that lags behind the others, and fingers that feel the cold.
Worth getting checked: a fingertip that will not bend on its own at any point after the injury. After a repair, a fingertip that bends when someone pushes it but not when you ask it to, months on.
When to see a doctor first
- Call 995 if a finger has been cut or torn off, or a wound is bleeding heavily and firm pressure does not slow it.
- Go to the emergency department now if the finger is cold, pale or blue, if it looks crooked or out of place, or if there is a cut on the palm side of the finger or in the palm. A cut tendon or nerve needs a surgeon to look at it.
- See a doctor the same day if the fingertip will not bend on its own after a grab, a pull or a fall, or there is a tender lump on the palm side of the finger or in the palm. After a repair, contact your surgeon the same day if you feel a sudden give or pop and lose the bend, if the splint breaks or comes off, if the wound is red, leaking or more painful, or if you have a fever.
- See a doctor soon if the fingertip droops and will not straighten, which is mallet finger and needs a splint early, or if the tip still bends but stays weak and painful to grip two weeks after the injury.
Where are you with this right now?
1. The fingertip bends, and it is settling
The tip bends on its own when you hold the middle section straight. The finger was jammed or sprained, the swelling at the knuckle is going down week by week, and you can close your hand a little further each week. That is a sprain behaving normally. Finger sprain covers strapping, splints and the return to ball sports. You do not need us for this, and we would rather say so.
2. It has been weeks, and the fingertip still will not bend
You strapped it to the next finger after the match and called it jammed. Three weeks on, the swelling has gone down. The tip still sits straight when you make a fist, and the ring finger sticks out on its own when you hold a mug.
The supermarket bag handles slide off that side of your hand. You catch one-handed at training and you have stopped grabbing in the tackle. The league starts again next month.
Waiting for it to loosen up made sense for a jammed knuckle. A tendon that has come off the bone has nothing to loosen, and in your own weeks the tip has not moved.
The swelling is gone. Has anyone checked whether the tendon is still attached?
That question goes to a hand surgeon first, through your GP, a polyclinic or the emergency department, even weeks later. The surgeon sets out what is still possible for a late tendon. If you cannot tell whether the tip is stiff or the tendon has gone, one Assessment & Treatment with a hand therapist answers it, and if it is the tendon, we write to your doctor that day.
3. You have had the repair, or you have a date
The surgeon puts the tendon back on the bone. The weeks after decide whether it glides. See the Flexor Tendon Repair Recovery Program, or hand therapy after surgery. Your surgeon’s protocol takes precedence.
What our patients say
Google reviews from our clinics in Singapore.
If it is months on and the fingertip bends when someone pushes it but not when you ask it to, that gap is the signature of a tendon stuck in scar. The Stalled Recovery Review is three weeks with the same hand therapist. The first visit measures the gap at each joint. The next two measure how it responds.
All of it runs on the same four stages. The Phoenix Recovery Protocol explains what each stage works on and what you have to meet to move up. No referral needed to start.
Next step
Find out which stage you are in
Pain is the first thing to leave. Movement and strength are the last things trained back, and most people stop before that part is done. One Assessment and Treatment is a single 45-minute appointment at $230, nett, no GST. Your therapist finds what is actually limiting you, treats it in the same appointment, and you leave with your current stage and a written plan.
Prefer to phone? Each of our five clinics has its own number on the clinics page. No referral needed to book.
Related reading
Sources: 1. Leddy JP, Packer JW. Avulsion of the profundus tendon insertion in athletes. J Hand Surg Am. 1977;2(1):66-69. 2. Baba M, Harvey JN, Beard AJ, Lawson RD. Flexor digitorum profundus avulsion injuries in Oztag players. Med J Aust. 2013;198(4):196.
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