My 13 Year Old Daughter Has A Hair Line Fracture

My 13 year old daughter has a hair line fracture in her thumb. Our Peds Dr. wants her to see an ORTHO Dr.. I am just wondering what we might be looking at. I am not sure where the fracture in but her symptoms are between the tip and first joint where it bends. Her injury happened in Sept. A good friend, former emergency room nurse and now our school nurse saw her in Sept and said it was broken but usually heals on own in bout 6 weeks.... so we just waited for it to get better. It has some but she still has a lot of tenderness, it is swollen some and hurts/ throbs. She can not use it in a regular manner. What are your thoughts?