Hand Injury (Full Version)

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davidj -> Hand Injury (Nov. 4 2006 18:15:40)

Hi all,

I don't post so often, but I thought I might ask the forum's advice / encouragement on an unpleasant hand injury I have sustained, please:

during a fall backwards whilst engaging in sports, I broke my fall with 3 fingers of my left hand, which bent backwards, also breaking my ring finger over my wedding ring!

My 3 fingers effected are little, ring (broken near first knuckle) and my middle finger of my left hand. I have had an operation on my broken ring finger and the surgeon has tried to align the bones in the natural position by inserting a metal 't-plate'- which looks pretty good and correct.

I have a 2 inch scar from above my nuckle to my middle joint, stitches are out but it is still sore around scar and middle joint. I'm having hand therapy to get the fingers to move and curl. I'm working towards making my hand into a fist and straightening it again, but its early stages (3 weeks) and the broken finger only makes it halfway so far - which I suppose isn't bad considering the bone itself takes 6 weeks to join up and heal properly. (the 't-plate' makes this possible, otherwise it would be immobilised for 6 weeks).

I'm writing all this for 2 reasons (with my right hand only): -
first any sensible advice from someone who has had a hand injury would be welcome

second - I hope that I may encourage someone else if I can overcome this to play guitar again.

best wishes
davidj



koella -> RE: Hand Injury (Nov. 4 2006 18:29:58)

I'm sorry for you David.
Can't help you though, but please keep us informed about your improvement.

Because you never know what may happen to one of the other members here.[;)]



bahen -> RE: Hand Injury (Nov. 4 2006 19:15:11)

My goodness, that sounds like quite the accident. Please keep us posted on your recovery. I'm sure all will be well, and I look forward to hearing an upload from you in the future!



Miguel de Maria -> RE: Hand Injury (Nov. 4 2006 19:25:27)

David,
that's a tough blow to take, I'm sorry. I like your attitude, and have no doubt you will overcome this injury. Thank you for sharing and offering your story to help other injured people.



Ricardo -> RE: Hand Injury (Nov. 4 2006 21:33:40)

My friend who subs in for me at gigs and plays professionally, broke his finger playing Basketball. he was in a splint or cast for a long time, and definantly out of commission playing for a few months. This was last year or the year before. He suplamented his income by teaching a lot for those months. After it healed he went back to playing, no problem. Now he is playing better than ever. So keep the spirits up.



davidj -> RE: Hand Injury (Nov. 4 2006 22:38:24)

Thanks very much. I'm definitely hoping to play again and will post again to let you know of my progress if that's alright. Guitar playing has been a passion in my life.

davidj



davidj -> RE: Hand Injury (Nov. 4 2006 22:41:41)

Thank you for the encouragement. I think 'm going to need it, as the healing process is going to take months - a test of faith.

If I get to play again I will do an upload.

davidj



davidj -> RE: Hand Injury (Nov. 4 2006 22:52:06)

Yes, it has been a tough blow, after putting in so much work into playing.
Right now, it looks like I won't even have normal use of my hand again as only my forefinger an thumb escaped injury, but I'm told I should get recovery from this. Thankfully I have a wife who is a great help and keeps telling me it will return to normal!

thanks for your reply,
davidj



davidj -> RE: Hand Injury (Nov. 4 2006 22:59:06)

Thanks Ricardo, thats encouraging. One thing I have been doing is practicing right hand techniques. It sounds a bit odd with only open strings being played on the neck, but on the other hand it gives me the chance to concentrate just on the right hand, while my left hand is in a fastenable splint.

davidj



fevictor -> RE: Hand Injury (Nov. 4 2006 23:09:20)

I broke my third metacarpal (middle finger but in the hand itself) in my right hand years ago on my motocross bike. It took a loooong time to recover. But it does recover 100% if you dont force the recovery. I remember when they took the cast off, my hand was so weak that one time when I was holding a beer bottle it slipped from my hand because I didnt have enough strength to grasp it. The funny part is that for about five seconds I was looking around the room to see who the dummy was that dropped it! I didnt even feel it slip away!

Go to physiotherapy and follow the recomendations 100%.



troy -> RE: Hand Injury (Nov. 5 2006 2:11:51)

Hello David,

Very sorry to hear about your injury..I too had an injury - As a classical guitar student in college, I broke a bone in my left hand and did not know that it was broken--well, the bone deteriorated to almost nothing. To try and make a very long story short, they used a piece of bone from my forearm and fused it with a very small screw and gave me a 70% chance that I would recover. After a year or so of therapy and several consultations, my movement slowly came back (not fully, but enough to play)

I worked fiercely on my right hand during the cast era- mostly tremelo,some different tunings, and what would soon spark my interest in flamenco- the beginnings of rumba strumming and rasqueados. I also focused on a ton of theory- everything from exotic scales to transcriptions.

I wish you the best of luck in your recovery..Keep in mind that this is not a setback- but instead, a chance to widen your perspective on this unbelievably demanding, and rewarding instrument..

troy..



frhout -> RE: Hand Injury (Nov. 5 2006 13:47:27)

I have one of my left shoulder's tendons torn two-thirds due to a fall on ice last winter. The medical people will not operate unless it's completely torn. So I'm having physiotherapy and balneotherapy to strengthen the other tendons for compensation. It's improved a bit after 15 lessons, five more to go, and hopefully, I could ask for more. The physiotherapist said it would take about 2 years to "heal" (i.e. getting rid of the pain, as a broken tendon will never heal without operation). As for daily guitar practice, we don't have a meeting of minds: I am talking about a few hours everyday, she was talking about 20 minutes daily!

All the best to you, we need patience and perseverance.



El Craic -> RE: Hand Injury (Nov. 5 2006 20:26:11)

Hi there. If it's of any encouragement I can tell you my experience. I acquired a different type of injury a couple of years back which is sometimes referred to as Overuse Injury or Repetitive Strain but that's not really a diagnosis, but that's not relevant to you so never mind.

It's different to your situation because it mine is a chronic condition but I can say that even when it seems that you are going to have to live with a disability for the rest of your life (at its worst I had to swap hands or use both to lift a cup and I couldn't raise my right arm to horizontal) it can improve so imperceptibly that a return to near normality can surprise you. It took over a year for me to lose the numbness in my right arm and I did it by following the advice of a physio and changing my routine. Anyway as I say, my issue is different as it is chronic and can return if I am not careful but I wanted to say that your body does have an amazing capacity to adapt and to recover, as long as you take your time and are very careful when you notice pain or discomfort! Better to take time to recover slowly than cause further damage. Good luck



davidj -> RE: Hand Injury (Nov. 6 2006 10:22:06)

Thanks. It's great to hear that you recovered 100% in your middle finger. Yes, right now , my hand sounds about as ineffective as yours was after your injury. Fortunately, I can use my thumb and index normally, but its the remaining 3 that are effected. I've increased the flexing of my middle and little finger now into a curve so there has been a noticeable improvement on last week.

I'll have to try the beer bottle trick to see if someone will feel sorry and buy me another beer!

all the best with your playing.
david



davidj -> RE: Hand Injury (Nov. 6 2006 10:44:58)

Hi Troy,
Many thanks for your reply. It's great to hear how you overcame your injury to play again! I suppose I can't expect it to be exactly as it was before I had my injury, but I'm hoping for the best recovery I can get. I somehow wonder if I will have the same dexterity that I had, particularly in playing fast scales/picado etc. It's hard to know, but because the surgeon had to divide my tendon over my knuckle, so that he could slip in and screw in a 't-plate', I wonder if I may be left a bit of weakness in 'pull-offs' and hammers because of a weakened Extensor tendon. It will be a long time before I can even know the outcome! For now, I have to massage the scar to get rid of 'Adhesions' - where incorrect scar tissue wrongly connects my dermis with tissues underneath, causing the skin to be pulled along when the finger flexes therefore restricting movement. Massaging the scar has been a bit painfull, but I'm desensitising it now.

Can I ask if your pain has gone away or is there still some discomfort on playing?
I bet you've got a 'mean' flamenco right hand now with all that work you put in one the right hand.

all the best,
david



davidj -> RE: Hand Injury (Nov. 6 2006 12:33:37)

Hi,
Thanks for your reply. Sorry to hear about your injury and the pain it causes you. That sounds quite nasty. You're right, getting over this sort of thing really does take patience and perseverance and I've only just started on this road of healing.

I guess that that means that it is a real effort holding up your left arm to the neck of the guitar. Do you keep the guitar in the same position or have you had to modify your guitar position for comfort and ease of playing? Is warm water any help to you in exercise?

I'm only practicing with my right hand until my finger bone has healed and until I have regained some reasonable movement in it, so I'm not doing hours of practice, as using only open strings gets a bit tedious in sound after a while.

Please let me know how your doing as you progress, especially how you cope with discomfort in playing etc.

thanks again,
david



Jon Boyes -> RE: Hand Injury (Nov. 6 2006 12:40:37)

Hi David, sorry to hear about your injury. Sounds nasty.

quote:

ORIGINAL: davidj
Fortunately, I can use my thumb and index normally, but its the remaining 3 that are effected.


Functionally, I am in a very similar position as you although my 'injury' couldn't be more different. I have an overuse condition called Focal Hand Dystonia, which I have written about here in the past several times.

I basically have full control of P,I and C and virtually no use of M and A. This happened before I got seriously into flamenco, so the last five years or so have been incredibly frustrating. Despite state of the art therapy, my condition shows no sign of improving and I have had to resign myself to working on non-orthodox approaches to technique to be able to play.

Despite this I accompanied dance classes (only stopped when there was nothing for me to learn) and gigged regularly with a pro dancer before she moved back to Spain earlier in the year. I also managed to complete a CD - not flamenco but pretty demanding on the hands nonetheless.

It is very early days and you are already getting movement. I am sure that your hand will make a great recovery. Even if you do not get back 100% control, take solace in the fact that if you want to make music its always possible to work with what you have, and find solutions that suit your anatomy. There's a disabled guy in the US that plays blues guitar with his feet! He has his own website out there somewhere.

Cheers and good luck.



davidj -> RE: Hand Injury (Nov. 6 2006 13:14:03)

Hi,
Many thanks for your reply.

Sorry to hear of your injury, but it is encouraging to hear of how you have coped, adapted and gone through healing with it. Yes, it is a different kind of injury, but in the acute stage, perhaps it effects us in a similar way in that it stops us playing and enjoying the guitar by temporarily disabling us? Yes, I think you're right about taking time over recovery, because we guitarists think we're going to pck up the guitar at any moment and rattle up and down the fretboard wihout a care in the world and the temptation I know for me is going to get stronger and stronger to expect my left hand to instantly do what it did before! However at this stage it really does remain to be seen what ability my left hand is going to be left with once it has healed.

I do realise now just how much I took my guitar playing skills for granted, such as they were. If I get over this, I will do some recordings of my playing while I still can!

all the best with your healing and playing. Please let me know how your doing if you wish to.

david



davidj -> RE: Hand Injury (Nov. 6 2006 15:04:56)

Hi Jon,
Thanks for writing and telling me about your difficulty. It sounds a little similar to the repetitive strain injuries suffered by people using computer keyboards, which can be quite severe.

I can identify with the frustration, as I know you are both a very able guitarist and a keen flamenco player. Yes, I take the point about working with your limitations and being inventive in getting round them. I know there are people who think that things have to be physically done in a certain way, but I personally believe that its the result that counts and not how it looks or how achieved. eg. 'doesn't look flamenco!' Django Rheinhardt was another example of the unorthodox yet brilliant in his genre.

It's great that you accomplished the accompanying and pro level gigging and the CD. That's encouraging!

I'm not at your level, but I had just started joining a fellow flamenco guitarist in accompanying flamenco dance classes myself and now that has to be shelved. At least I've been told I'm welcome to join him again when/if I've recovered.

Yes, I certainly hope for a good recovery. I think my injuries could have been a lot worse and I dare to believe that I'll get next to normal use of all of my fingers, even though it's stretching the imagination at the moment.

thanks again and best wishes,
david



harry98 -> RE: Hand Injury (Jan. 18 2007 7:00:32)

Hi David, Sorry about your hand injury. I was a Tool and Die Maker years ago and managed to injure my hand in a grinding machine which removed most of the back of my index finger including a lot of bone. I was lucky to get one of the only two existing Hand Surgeons in the area. After hours of micro surgury and reconstruction of blood vessells and what they called a Rotational Dorsal flap I wound up doing physio therapy for a year trying to get it to bend. It kept filling with fluid and hurt like hell and one thing helped me a lot. They immersed my hand in hot parafin wax. You keep dipping your hand in the wax and removing it until it forms a glove and it removes the excess fluid from your hand which eased the pain a lot. It's probably obsolete now though. The surgeon got peeved when I asked him if I would still be able to play guitar, he thought I should be gratefull I saved my finger. Wanting to play guitar again will be a big assett to you, My finger healed great and is no problem at all. Good luck David. Keep working on it and you will be fine. Harry.



frhout -> RE: Hand Injury (Jan. 18 2007 9:48:01)

I got better after 15 sessions of physiotherapy. From time to time, it still hurts, especially when I practise the first three frets. The best way to overcome the pain is to reduce the stretching of the left arm, by bringing the guitar more to the right, to play a la Paco de Lucia.



Doitsujin -> RE: Hand Injury (Jan. 18 2007 18:31:14)

Hey davidj!!

At first. Thats a horrible happening. Very sad. I hope you heal well!
To give you some hope .. Look at Django Reinhard. He was the king of gipsy-guitar with only 2 correct working finger on the left hand. And wath Vicente Amigos DVD. Watch the bassist. Two of his fingers are cut off. But he plays with Vicente Amigo. So dont be sad. Try to make the best as you can. Its not the end. But you will recover 100% and start playing normally again, I know!



henrym3483 -> RE: Hand Injury (Jan. 18 2007 22:17:28)

david,

i popped my pinkie finger on my left hand ( 5yrs ago) playing hurling it a (ball and stick game from ireland), it took a long time to heal up but i can now strech very far with it without any pain, id recommend eatin alot of fish and priducts with fish oils as they help with the flexibility and recovery of joints and fascia in the fingers.



Jim Opfer -> RE: Hand Injury (Jan. 19 2007 12:49:12)

Hi DavidJ,

Sorry to read about your problem. Being real sudden, it must have given you a shock then all the implications start to unfold.
I don't have any breaks (says he touching wood by reaching for his head[:D])
I do however get rhumatic pian in my finger joints from time to time and I have to just make do.
Your injury will be really frustrating I know, but I guess the important thing is to not push it and give it time to heal. Your condition will improve and I wish you the very best.



davidj -> RE: Hand Injury (Feb. 27 2007 21:20:13)

Hi Harry,
Many thanks for your encouraging mail. You have my great respect in demonstrating your own recovery! many thanks!

I have now recovered quite well. Though I'm not a brilliant player, I've got back about 90% of my playing skills. I think the extra 10% will come with practice - and its partly because of not being able to practice with the injury. All in all I'm quite pleased with the recovery.

thanks again Harry,
davidj



davidj -> RE: Hand Injury (Feb. 27 2007 21:21:52)

Many thanks for your encouragement and glad to hear of your own recovery.

I have now recovered quite well. Though I'm not a brilliant player, I've got back about 90% of my playing skills. I think the extra 10% will come with practice - and its partly because of not being able to practice with the injury. All in all I'm quite pleased with the recovery.

thanks again,
davidj



davidj -> RE: Hand Injury (Feb. 27 2007 21:23:41)

Hi,
Many thanks for your encouragement. I appreciate it. Sorry for delay in replying.

I have now recovered quite well. Though I'm not a brilliant player, I've got back about 90% of my playing skills. I think the extra 10% will come with practice - and its partly because of not being able to practice with the injury. All in all I'm quite pleased with the recovery.

thanks again,
davidj



davidj -> RE: Hand Injury (Feb. 27 2007 21:25:01)

Hi Henry,

thanks for the encouragement. Yes, I'm eating lots of fish and cod liver oil capsules!

I have now recovered quite well. Though I'm not a brilliant player, I've got back about 90% of my playing skills. I think the extra 10% will come with practice - and its partly because of not being able to practice with the injury. All in all I'm quite pleased with the recovery.

thanks again,
davidj



davidj -> RE: Hand Injury (Feb. 27 2007 21:27:42)

Hi Jim,

Thanks very much for your encouraging post. It makes a big difference when you get an injury and just a little encouragement from fellow guitarists can give hope.
Sorry for the late reply!

I have now recovered quite well. Though I'm not a brilliant player, I've got back about 90% of my playing skills. I think the extra 10% will come with practice - and its partly because of not being able to practice with the injury. All in all I'm quite pleased with the recovery.

thanks again Jim,
davidj



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