Unfortunately, when I woke up this morning, it was substantially worse. It went beyond being difficult to bend to unbendable as swollen up around the bottom and middle joints. Strangely a spot of discoloration appeared near the bottom joint as well. It was Janelle who suggested that seemed like I had a spider or insect bite and that my problem was likely a reaction to that.
That seems like the most likely scenario. Throughout the day, the pain and mobility have played a see-saw game between the two of them. There was a point that hitting the "A" key while typing was a particular difficulty. Thankfully, it seems to be getting better again.
I don't like how even a little amount of pain in a relatively unimportant region of my body can affect me so much through the day. It makes me realize how difficult it must be for those with chronic pain and discomfort--the effort that getting through the day can take, especially to do so with any level of a positive attitude. When the problem is beyond discomfort and edges into survival, one can understand why people in such desperate situations would resort to even more desperate measures. This is yet another reason why we need to be more cognizant of the pain of others. In a sense, I'm grateful for this miniscule issue with my pinkie if it helps me (even in such a minor way) to be more compassionate to my fellow human beings.