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Finger Lock

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 Cat
(@cat)
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Joined: 16 years ago
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Topic starter  

Okay, old age is settling in...with yet a new hassle to sort out: my left ring finger actually gets sorta stuck bent all the way down and will unstick with a sort of click. Weird. Doc says "rest it". Okay, anyone work their own way through this? Geez, WHAT a finger to have it happen to. Pretty worrysome, really...

Cat :? :(

"Feel what you play...play what you feel!"


   
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(@trguitar)
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Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 3709
 

Is it a cramp? How's your hydration and electrolytes? Been playing a lot lately? I've had that happen when doing building projects when I sweat alot and use my hands a lot more and in ways they are not used to. I have had my whole hand lock shut. "Let go of the hammer Dang you!" :lol:

"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --


   
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 Cat
(@cat)
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Joined: 16 years ago
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Topic starter  

No...that's not it, Bud...but thanks for the insights. It's not muscle as in a cramp but the second joint in the finger back from the nail. It locks so it's at 90 degrees and will undo itself with a click. It's not painful, but makes me cringe. The osteopath said it was from RSS...and said rest should fix it...then surgery if not. He said it's just attrition...and considering how much work that finger got over...what...fifty years, okay. Criminy, TR...of all the fingers to screw up, this is the worst. But, again, that's the one I pivot, diddle, bend...whatever...so...okay...I can see RSS being the culprit. Rather than sulk and moan about it, I've posted this enquiry to find out if any of my mates here on GN have gone through this. :?

Cat

(Thanks!)

"Feel what you play...play what you feel!"


   
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(@derek-wilkerson)
Estimable Member
Joined: 13 years ago
Posts: 110
 

just want you to know ive now got the strangest feeling in my stomach from reading this.. :?

i dont know what i would do if i couldnt play bass

bassist for the crux
Randall RB-125-115 120 watt 15" eminence spk.
Randall RBA 500
2X Acoustic B115's
Peavey T-40
Indiana P-bass


   
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 Cat
(@cat)
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Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 1224
Topic starter  

Ten years ago I had keyhole surgery on my left thumb joint for RSS...with great results. So now I'm hopeful I can get this fixed, too. I've got great health coverage that's cost a bundle so that's a relief of sorts. No specialist, hospital or treatment is out of reach other than the $1000 deductible. But you're right about getting the eebie-geebies from hearing about this sort of thing. And...YES...I don't like the vibe. This is why I bothered to post it...to maybe see if someone else dealt with it. With all the contortions that finger's made since I first picked up a six string in 1962, I guess I gotta concede that I'm starting to fall apart, slowly, bit by bit. This is how it happens, folks. Look, one day all the music's finished. Nuthin' ya can do about it. So I write songs about it, now! ("The Lines On My Face" being something that'll get me a Grammy...I hope!) But, what the heck, at 61 there's still plenty of scratch left in this Cat. I'll get past it and maybe become some sort of resource base for others. I've always taken good care of my body (duh brane...not so much!) so I can only imagine my position if I hadn't. After so much time on GN it's sorta like home so...like I said...I'm just curious if anyone else out there has had RSS (repetitive stress syndrome) finger-wise. Other than that, I ain't gonna make much more of a big deal out of it.

Cat

"Feel what you play...play what you feel!"


   
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(@rparker)
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Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5480
 

My left knee sort of locks up on me. Has for years and years, but not contantly Just spells. Probably too much abuse from using a knee kicker way, way back in the day doing carpeting during college. That and a ski mis-hap. It's not a comfortable feeling.

I wonder if it's something that can be fixed and buy you more time behind the guitar?

Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin


   
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(@boxboy)
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Joined: 18 years ago
Posts: 1221
 

I have a similar problem, in reverse, Cat. The knuckle closest to the nail on my fretting pinkie sometimes locks 'straight', so when I try to hinge it to fret the note, I can't. Doesn't happen any other time but when playing guitar. Frustrating as all get out!
It happens only intermittently and come to think of it hasn't happened in a while.
I'll try to pay attention to when it does happen and report back.

Regardless, I wish you the best. :)

Don


   
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 Cat
(@cat)
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Joined: 16 years ago
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Topic starter  

Yeah...thanks for that. Rest seems to help. Playing means that I often have to let go of the neck and violently flip my hand outwards...like flipping a ring off your hand...to get it right. Very weird symptom but it's seemingly a bit less. Thanks, again, matey...

Cat

"Feel what you play...play what you feel!"


   
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(@dogbite)
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Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 6348
 

hey Cat. I have the same problem. it is called "trigger" finger. it arises from a swollen tendon. much like carpel tunnel, our fingers have ferrels much like a fishing pole; the tendon runs through them. when the tendon is inflamed it gets caught moving through the ferrels. each time it snags and is pulled through the tendon swells further. so it is a chronic deal always getting worse. anti inflamatories help. one should get to a therapeutic dosage level ( ibuprofen four times a day for a week).
that worked for me until the inflammation became severe and my finger locked solid and swollen.
I went to a doctor and was referred to a hand specialist. he gave me a shot of steroid and in tow days the finger feltt brand new.
it is 6 months later and my finger is sore and triggers again. of course I have given it plenty of usage; pulling weeds and playing guitar twenty hours a week.
there is no cure. rest is not practical. I am going to make another appointment. the plan is for another shot, but if that fails then it is surgery. they go in and carve out the ferrel a little wider.
aging is fun, it's the falling apart that bothers me.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=644552
http://www.soundclick.com/couleerockinvaders


   
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(@trguitar)
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Yep, sounds like trigger finger to me. Dogbite hit the nail on the head. Roy, yours sounds like a torn meniscus. There is a tear in the lining of the joint and when it pulls apart and flips up your knee locks. Usually happens after an injury to the joint that destabilizes it. Things slide against each other in a way they aren't supposed to and it causes the tear. Back to the finger, yes, they can do surgery. Bummer Cat. I wish you luck with it. It is something I have feared as a guitar player every time I read it in a patients history. Like, I hope I don't get that! Again .... hope things turn out OK! Same to you Dog!

"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --


   
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(@hobson)
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Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 794
 

Bummer for both of you, Cat and Dogbite. Getting old isn't for sissies. I'd be looking for another instrument that is not so demanding of that finger. Don't know what that would be.

Renee


   
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(@dogbite)
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Joined: 19 years ago
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I am expecting another round of shots should help. in the long term, degeneration is inescapable. we do our best to put it off. it is a good thing that I play lap steel. I should always be able to hold a slide. my resonator that is collecting dust will be my trusted companion when I am really old and crippled.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=644552
http://www.soundclick.com/couleerockinvaders


   
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 Cat
(@cat)
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Topic starter  

Thanks for the commiserations, fellas...but it's getting marginally better day by day...so that's cool. Yep, the surgery is what I'm reading up on right now. All's I can say is that I'm glad it's 2012 and not 1912. Microsurgery seems to be the thing. There's a guy in Sydney that's fixed this in a couple of six string players and pianists...so I'm planning a phone consult this week. Still, at the end of the day, I really can't imagine all the accumulated wear and tear this hand's had after like half a century...so it's kinda normal. What can I say to that?

Meanwhile...I've been going over some really old classics and hohning my hook-writing. Most of the time I'm on a kayak coursing through my part of The Northern Rivers here where Queensland meets New South Wales out by the Pacific Ocean. The Kinks are at the top of my "headphones & kayak" list this week. Really easy/peasey songs with some of the strongest hooks ever. Gawd-awful musicianship. But absolutely brillliant plateaus. Takes my mind off of things...

Eh, we all get here sooner of later. Nobody's clock ticks any faster or slower than anyone else's.

Thanks for the good vibes, people...

Cat

"Feel what you play...play what you feel!"


   
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 Cat
(@cat)
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Joined: 16 years ago
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Topic starter  

Progress! For you older guitarists out there with aching fingers...or "trigger finger"...a pharmacist put me on to the following stuff: high strength wild krill oil/1000mg capsules. 30 are $48 dollars and you need one a day. Made by Swisse Professional Company. Reading the ingredients...euphasia oil, eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, astaxanthin. Don't ask me what this stuff is, either...but it works.

Cat

"Feel what you play...play what you feel!"


   
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(@dogbite)
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Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 6348
 

my trigger is beyond meds at this point. it locked half bent for a whole day this week. next Monday I go to out patient surgery for a simple operation to release the trigger. the doc said I could play my guitar the same day and my problems will be gone 100%.
I'm trying to cross my fingers but it is too hard.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=644552
http://www.soundclick.com/couleerockinvaders


   
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