Ever since I accidentally smashed the end of my finger with a hammer, I haven’t been able to straighten the tip of my finger. My doctor called my problem mallet finger. Why can’t I straighten my finger now?

A mallet finger results when the extensor tendon is torn from the attachment on the bone. This most often occurs from trauma, such as closing the finger in a door. When the extensor tendon is torn, a small fragment of bone may be pulled, or avulsed, from the distal phalanx. The result is the same in both cases–the end of the finger droops down and cannot be straightened.