If you cut a tendon, it usually requires sewing it back together, splint and physical therapy. Must have a doctor take of it.
Wouldn't a break be a crooked finger to the left or right...with an un-natural stiffness to it? Just remembering seeing a guy's finger that had been broken and not properly set, would not bend.
What she's got there is a boutonniere deformity IMO. But I do believe it can be caused by a break as well as a cut tendon. So it's a slippery slope to call her out on it and the DT knows it. Because even they don't know if she's telling the truth about it. So neither side are willing to make the call to have it officially x-rayed.
MOO