What's One of the Things Guitarists Fear the Most?

A finger injury...

Ok, not like I broke anything but today walking in to work, I was going the the revolving door and instead of a clean 'let go' of the handle, my ring finger and pinky stayed hooked in to the handle, hyperextending and essentially spraining my fingers.

Hurts to make a complete fist and do any kind of spread of the digits. I also stretched the muscle going up the lower/outer part of my wrist up through the fleshy/under side of my forearm.

Funny thing is, I can put all kinds of pressure on the finger tip but I can't get a good squeeze nor can I do the Vulcan 'live long and prosper' deal...which is ok since I've never really done that in the past either...

So, cry for me. :D

It's not the worst but no git-fiddle for me for a while.

soak your hand im warm water with epsom salt it will really fo the trick may take a few days but will help heal it

Originally Posted by: OTHELLO1869soak your hand im warm water with epsom salt it will really fo the trick may take a few days but will help heal it

how will that do anything :confused:

Originally Posted by: JeffS65A finger injury...
... my ring finger and pinky stayed hooked in to the handle, hyperextending and essentially spraining my fingers.

Ouch. :( Sorry to hear.

The few times I've injured a finger or hand I worked on other things. Compose on score paper, transcribe solos by ear, read sheet music and try to sing or mentally "hear" the music, work solely on the technique of the uninjured hand, etc.

Here's to a speedy & full recovery!

Jeff
Do you know the difficulty I face in not saying something inappropriate? :D

Get well soon dude!

Ah, hope that heals up quick for you. I think any guitarist's "finger-awareness" goes up 100%. Not only am I very careful about puttering in the workshop or places I can damage myself, but upon any injury, even slight, my first thought is if it will affect my ability to play.

I did a similar thing by jamming a finger of my left hand in the door the other day (why I did not remove it from between the jamb and the door, I still don't know). My immediate concern was the location of the injury, not the seriousness of it. :D

Thanks all. With a little periodic dose of Advil and some icing, the finger is not too bad. Still can't quite apply pressure like I would want but a little easy fretting seems pretty comfortable. Enough to where I can do a little alternate learning in the mean time like Chris suggested.

@Rick: :p

@hunter: Epsom salts is some amazing stuff. To othello's point, it's good for inflammation. Many other things too >> Health Benefits of Epsom Salts. Really, who knew?

Hey guys,

I swore off volleyball because I couldn't bear the thought of that speeding ball landing hard on my fingertips and jamming the joints all out of whack.

Come to think of it, I think I avoid a number of hand-intensive activities out of a gut feeling that I need to pamper these long-trained and pampered digits.

How strong, nuanced, and fragile they are. Like little brilliant dancers.

-Lisa

Just read about your injury bud...you might want to try this. Wear a magnet on your wrist, yeah i know I was sceptical at first too but OMG it really helped my back pain.
Get well soon!

Sorry to hear about your injury, hope you recoever fast! ON a separate note, I actually believe in strengthening the fingers specifically to make them less injury prone for guitar playing or anything else. I mean things like finger push ups, special hand strength building grippers and such.