I believe I fscked up royally.

Last Friday, I fell while snowboarding, and landed upon the fingers of my left hand, which got hyper-extended severely. And I've got a con in less than two weeks, the whole point of which is to perform songs on the guitar. Yes, this is exactly what I was afraid would happen. Sigh.

Mostly the problem is with my left middle finger, although the left index finger is a bit swollen as well. There is swelling, discoloration, limited mobility, and of course pain if the finger is moved far from the position you see it in the photo.

I don't know if this is a sprain or what. If it's not a sprain, what could it be?

I've heard lots of contradicting opinions as to how to care for it:

- Ice it regularly for many days.
- Don't ice it at all.
- Alternate heat and ice.
- Exercise it.
- Don't exercise it.
- Immobilize it.
- Take antihistamines to reduce swelling.
- Take advil to reduce swelling.
- See a doctor.
- Don't bother to see a doctor because they can't do much for it.

Can anyone render an opinion on how to care for it that's backed up by reasoning and medical explanations for those reasons? (As opposed to the equivalent of "My mom always put ice on my sprains and I turned out fine.")

My goal is to be able to play the guitar again in approximately ten days. In other words, I want it to heal as fast as possible. My fear is that attempting to do anything other than hold it still will lengthen the healing time.

So... anyone?