Sprained/Fractured finger.... How to tell?

Yesterday morning I injured my finger with a basketball. I put ice on it, but the swelling kept getting worse. It's the middle finger on my left hand, I can type, but I can't do much else as I'm lefty. Anyway, the joint and all surrounding area has turned into a dark purple/blackish color. I THINK I'm getting an X-Ray tomorrow, not sure how my mom's dealing with this. I'm thinking I need one soon...the top half of my finger, above the injury, is deathly white, the bottom, where it's not purple, is red. I can move it up and down, but only from the knuckle. Besides that I can't do anything.

What I really want to know is, how can I distinguish between a fracture and a sprain? Also, since the incident, I've been getting sharp headaches in the area behind my ear. Could this have some relation, or is it all psychosomatic?

Tap on the end of your finger. If you have "shooting" pain that could indicate a possible fracture. You may also want to worry about your flexor tendon being ruptured. You cannot flex your finger at all at the distal joint? This concerns me more that a fracture. Go see the Doctor. Also real quick....when you press down on your finger nail of the injured finger, it should go white as the blood is squeezed out and should See if this happens. It should. Good luck.

Well you are doing exactly what you should keep icing it. Wrap it in a gauze bandage

The only way to positively rule out a fracture is with an x-ray.

The headache pain could be due to additional tension in the neck and facial muscles. It is common for these areas to experience additional tension in someone who is attempting to cope with pain from an unrelated injury.

See your primary care provider and you can rule out or identify the fracture as well as obtain medical assistance for pain relief.