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Thanks, Doc.
I've been practicing all day today with the guitar tuned down a whole step, D G C F A D, bottom to top. Took some getting used to, especially playing tunes that I sing, in my vocal key. Best to not think about it - just move up two frets. Floppy action takes some getting used to, but very easy on the left hand. Nice to have a few extra bass notes too - I play walking bass passages regularly during the solo/duo gigs that comprise most of my work. This may work out OK for now.
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12-24-2016 07:10 PM
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My fret hand pinky tip becomes painful at times. I have to rest and not play for several days until it gets better. I have been playing for close to 40 years and this is just recently becoming an issue. I don't really have calluses, just hardened finger tips including the pinky. I think that I might need to have the frets on my Strat shortened in height a bit. Right now that are at 0.050". I am thinking about taking them down to 0.045". I guess that I should avoid the Strat to see if the fret height is causing this. My other guitars don't have frets higher than 0.045".
Anyone else have this type of problem?
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Been there. Felt that. Lay off immediately. Mine passed but I'm extremely wary and careful not to overdo it. Once a nerve is inflamed, it takes time to recover. Any further irritation before you're recovered will exacerbate the problem and extend your recovery time a lot.
I'm not a doctor, but I know as I got older, muscle mass, skin tone and other things one takes for granted can potentially change and become problematic.
It's different for everyone but for me, I just laid off and checked my action, string gauge and playing habits. Fret height isn't as easy or apparent culprit/solution as string height and gauge. Check your set up too, to make sure string pressure throughout the range of playing doesn't change a lot as you go up the neck.
Good luck
David
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is the strat scale length 25.5 longer than your other guitars???
sometimes that little extra stretch can contribute to pain
could head over to chinatown and get baoding balls...useful for hand, wrist and finger issues..helps to flex the muscles in a natural way...
luck
cheers
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I call it "string finger." I'm pretty sure you and David are talking about the same thing. Feels like I stuck a push pin in the fingertip. Only happens to me when I'm playing a lot. Surprisingly, soaking the fingers in warm water helps. (5 minutes or so.) Also, some arnica gel applied after soaking. And most important, as mentioned, wait until it's better before playing again.
I know a kid who quit playing violin because of something like this. She tried to tough it out, play through the pain.
You can get a LOT of bad advice too. "Jus keep sheddin' an get you some calluses." The freedom from information act...
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I get a pain in my little finger every now and then, hurts for a few days and I have to talk it easy using my pinky but no big deal. I do have callouses on all my fretting hand fingers and the pain seems to be along the edge of a callous, maybe its dry skin, or tiny split in between callus and non-callous skin. Sometime I will soak my hand in hot water to soften the callous, or even sand the callous down then soak my hand. If pain was deep inside the finger not on or near the surface could be a pinched nerve want to see a doctor for that.
I don't think fret height has anything to do with it unless your bending strings like SRV, and your strangling the neck.
If pain persists you can go see a doctor, but I find unless the doctor plays guitar or another instrument they don't understand. Doctors look at everyone like there the average person on the street they don't factor in a musician hands and ears are more bigger issue.
Good luck hope it clears up in few days for you.
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Yeah, it's not a stretching thing though. More of a callous nerve thing.
Originally Posted by neatomic
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I am taking it easy. Going to do a handsoak in warm water. From the replies below it seems like a separation between the toughened part of the side and softer part closer to the first knuckle. I think the taller frets aren't helping. Slides and runs up and down might be a little bit bumpy. Originally Posted by TruthHertz
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"Push Pin Pain" will be my next three chord romp with the shizzzle. Yes, that is the pain. Going to try a soak. Originally Posted by bil
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I think you hit the nail on the head, or the push pin into the end of my finger. Going to do some soaks. No doctor visit here. I was thinking about having the frets on that guitar taken down a bit. Slides and runs can be bumpy and that probably doesn't help. I have to admit that I have always loved playing a Strat. I still pick up one to play more often than any of my other guitars. Just went for a nice new USACG neck and maybe the frets are a tad too tall. Hm, "Tad Too Tall" my next three chord improvised romp with the shizzle. Originally Posted by docbop
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I get that every now and then, on any of my fingers. I'm not sure what the cause is, but I'm pretty sure fret height has nothing to do with it. I just take it easy on the playing for a day or two and it goes away. So far so good. It's not uncommon to get a temporary pain here, there, or anywhere as one gets older, and I'm certainly getting older. I just deal with it as it happens, and so far they all go away after some varying amount of time. But as I lurch into my 70s, I fully expect more pain than in my younger years. If some pain is the price I have to pay for getting old, so be it, as long as it isn't complete agony, and so far it's not.
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Yes, I've had this come and go over the years, on various left hand finger tips. It feels as if a nerve is inflamed from being repeated trapped between the thin wire string and the finger tip bone. I went to a finger specialist doctor years ago who muttered something about a nervoma, but otherwise wasn't particularly interested or sympathetic.
When it's been particularly chronic I've been able to get by with one of these, a prosthetic-like hard plastic covering. This protects the tip completely, giving it time to recover without stopping playing completely. Looks unwieldy to use but surprisingly easy to adapt to playing with:
Galaxy Guitar Products - Galaxy Guitar FT-1 Finger Protector
When it's just a mild pain I use one of these, which just cushions the tip enough to avoid it developing into anything more problematic:
http://originalguitarfingers.com
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Thanks. In my imagination I was thinking of similar devices but wasn't aware that they exist. The products in the first link are pretty spendy. I am going to order something from the second link. Hopefully I won't need it for very long. It is definitely between the hardened tip and the softer flesh at the side. I put some heat on it last night. It helped a bit. I am trying to remember if I ever felt this kind of pain when I first began playing some +/- 40 years ago. I might have and just tolerated it. I was a kid then. I could do practically anything I wanted to do except play guitar well. Either way I am not going to play through any pain. I am sure that my "audience" members don't think that I should either. Originally Posted by bleakanddivine
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I looked at possible solutions for many years. Most of the rubber/nylon finger tip things you see are useless as the material just creates too much drag on the strings. I experimented with shaping bits of soft thin plastic (from the shoulder area of plastic milk bottles was best) in place with smooth sticking plasters, which was effective, but had to be carefully applied each time you played. The Guitar Fingers are pretty good. They slide almost unnoticeably up and down the strings, come in a couple of different thicknesses, and a pretty unobtrusive flesh colour. I even used the full gloves when I had multiple tips sore. They do wear out after a few months and either develop holes from the string wear or come apart at the seams, so I always have a stockpile. Originally Posted by lammie200
Thanks. In my imagination I was thinking of similar devices but wasn't aware that they exist. The products in the first link are pretty spendy. I am going to order something from the second link. Hopefully I won't need it for very long. It is definitely between the hardened tip and the softer flesh at the side. I put some heat on it last night. It helped a bit. I am trying to remember if I ever felt this kind of pain when I first began playing some +/- 40 years ago. I might have and just tolerated it. I was a kid then. I could do practically anything I wanted to do except play guitar well. Either way I am not going to play through any pain. I am sure that my "audience" members don't think that I should either.
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Thanks. I did some heat, some cold, some massaging, and then carefully clipped the nail with super sharp clippers as short as possible. All of that pretty much fixed the issue for me right now. I think that I am at the point where my skin is losing elastin faster than building it. The combination of the hard tip, the softer surrounding flesh, and the edge of the nail coupled with the force of pushing the three together was the cause. Previously I never gave much thought to the nail, but it seems like I need to trim and shape it more often to keep this from happening again.
Last edited by lammie200; 10-29-2017 at 12:24 PM.
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Update: Pain is gone. It seemed to be related to the nail. I have been trimming my fret hand nails shorter and shorter. I think that the edge of the pinky nail was digging into the areas where softer tissue hits the hardened tip portion. I never had to be so concerned before, but it looks like I will have to from here on out.
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I had a similar experience a couple of times and it would always go away after laying off for a few days but around 15 years ago I got a sharp pain in the tip of my ring finger (fretting hand) that didn't go away after the usual few days. I thought it was a nerve issue but someone said it could be a bone bruise. I bought some finger cots which are like small condoms to put on the finger. At first I would sometimes even use 2. They worked and I always used them for years after that and still do when I practice a lot. Usually just one. They are comfortable for me and they don't cause much interference for the most part. They come in both nitrile and latex but the latex ones won't work because they stick on the string and won't slide. The nitrile are harder to find but are available from some specialty medical supply stores and from a large nationwide company called Grainger. The large ones are the best size for adults and may seem tight at first but they stretch and can last for a long time. People with bigger diameter fingers might have to search for larger ones.
I tried to paste in a link to Grainger.com but this site wouldn't accept it. Just go to grainger,com and search for nitrile finger cots.
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Thanks. I actually ordered the $15 variety that was in one of the links above. They still haven't arrived though. I am also going to have my Strat and Tele frets taken down a bit. Those are my real high ones and I play those guitars twice as much as any of my others.
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Is there a doctor in the house?
For most of this year I've suffered from pain in my left-hand index finger. For the first four months or so it was extremely sensitive to cold - cold water especially. Truly agonising. But I got by through always using warm water. There was no pain at other times, and I could play guitar without a problem.
Then recently that disappeared, to be replaced by swelling, stiffness, and constant awareness that if I moved it a certain way, or banged it, the pain would be intense. I can now only play for 30 minutes or so a day.
I'll go to my doctor, who might refer me to a specialist, but I'd like some ideas first of what might be going on so I can discuss it intelligently. So if any of you have specific experience and advice, I'd be happy to hear from you.
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Sorry to hear this, Rob!
Well, we'd need much more information about your finger pain, its exact location and trigger, the swelling, restriction of motion (functio laesa), pre-existing condition, etc., to be able to guide you to the most precise diagnosis, sine qua non for any efficient therapy, if necessary. Even then, you can describe the painting of the Mona Lisa, or look at it in the original. You understand the difference …
In the German Banana Republic, as a doctor, you still move in a legal gray area when giving individual medical support online. Nevertheless, we can and do assist as far as possible. I'd google some pics of 'index finger anatomy' and try at least to localise your finger problem, which according to your current information suggests an inflammation of unspecific or unclear kind, presumably starting from the MCJ, middle or end joint.
Sure it would be the best to see a specialist, but I know these are unfortunately not wider spread than fine archtop guitars … Best wishes!
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Ah, we do have a doctor in the house. Excellent. I'll be as specific as I can.
Left-hand index. Middle joint. Not sure of it's the flexor digitorum profundis tendon or the collateral ligament. When I bend the finger, the top part between middle and tip joints feels tight and a little painful.
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Pre-existing condition: never had a problem until the start of this year, with pain when in contact with cold water. Otherwise I could still play without pain.
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See your doctor, they should take hand injuries seriously. My wife injured her finger recently and the doctor got her seen by a consultant very quickly. The NHS website says hand injuries should be looked at soon as possible.
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Thanks. Managed to get an appointment for early tomorrow morning...
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Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop
Great! So the first step would be the differentiation between hand maladies afflicting the joints, or not.
The big problem dealing with such discomforts, on an online basis, is that the tactile sense, the feeling of the sliding tissues and anatomical structures is missing. In addition, anatomical structures are related to each other or can even interfere with structures at a distance. Then, there is often a considerable number of misunderstandings between the patient's / doctor's communication.
According to the information given above by Rob I'd suspect the main problem area of his index could be on the palmar side, not primarily joint-related, more between the PIP and DIP joints. Might well be the area of the insertion of the deep flexor digitorum tendon / tendon sheath and the A4 annular pulley. However, both the deep and the superficial flexor tendons have one tendon sheath in common. The A4 pulley is nothing but one of the many annular reinforcements of the tendon sheath, though it is important: without the A2 and A4 pulleys the finger tips can't be actively bent down to touch the palm wrinkle, even with fully intact flexor tendons. The tendons and their sheath is provided with a tender soft tissue called Tenosynovium, essential for a low-friction movement of the tendons and their nutrition by diffusion. Any problem there will result in local swelling, pain and other inflammation signs.
The collateral ligaments are lateral reinforcements of the joint capsules. They commonly react in combination with a joint affection. If there was never an adequate trauma or a rheumatoid disorder, the collateral ligaments should be ok.
Since educated patients (docs too) are always and anywhere preferred (the first at least being less prone to medical quackeries), here some anatomical illustrations for the OP:
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