how do you know if you've broke your knuckle?

i accidently punched the wall today(not a physco!) and my middle knuckle is killing it's red.Is it just a bruise?

Help appreciated

if it's mishapen i.e has greater bend than usual it is probably broken. Can you make a tight fist without pain?

If it's just bruised which the bone could be after such force it will still work but it will be sore for a few weeks. Without an xray you will never know for sure.

You will be able to tell if it is broken. If not from the pain, then from the appearance. My mate broke his knuckle. It was swollen and badly bruised. I do not mean just a little bruise either. Chances are you will not be able to bend your finger.

Well, its hard to tell. If it is still sore in a day or two, the best thing to do would be to ge an xray. It depends on a number of things like how strong you are, how you hit the wall, and if you followed through or not.

lots of pain and lots of brusing is usually a fracture.

If its swollen and turning purple, i would get it checked out. Otherwise you might of just bruised it.