Jimmy Fallon almost needed his finger amputated after he fell over and suffered from 'ring avulsion'

The comedian was forced to take a two week break from The Tonight Show when he spent 10 days in the ICU

Jimmy Fallon explains why he was in hospital for 10 days (YouTube )

Comedian Jimmy Fallon has revealed the story behind the bandage around his ring finger – and it’s not one for the squeamish.

The star was forced to take a break from The Tonight Show after he suffered a significant hand injury in which he nearly lost a finger after falling over in his kitchen.

“I tripped and fell, and I caught my fall, and I’m getting up and my finger is sideways,” he told the audience on his return to the show. “It looked fake – it looked like a cheap horror movie where you see a broken finger,” he added.

Fallon explained that he had suffered from “ring avulsion”, caused by his ring becoming caught on a counter top in his kitchen as he fell over. He was sent to a specialist at Bellevue hospital in New York, where he underwent six hours of micro surgery.

A doctor had to take a vein from his foot and put it inside his finger in order to save the digit – though in many cases of this kind, the finger would have simply been amputated, Fallon told the audience.

“I won’t get the feeling back for eight weeks,” Fallon said, pointing at his bandaged hand, explaining that he had spent 10 days after the surgery recovering in the intensive care unit.

But despite his ordeal, Fallon was able to joke about the experience. “I should say the fall was funny – I’m a comedian so I have to fall funny,” he said, adding that he had already drawn up plans for a new kind of ring.

He ended the segment thanking the “angels” that had looked after him at the hospital.