Hey guys, I have a urgent question, my pinky hurts a lot from playing. Like when I try to press a fret it hurts quite a bit (like a dull kinda pain). If I press lightly I don't feel anything, but when I press hard (not just the guitar, for example making a tough fist) I feel the pain. The problem is that it isn't going away, I've had this for five days now, I thought it would disappear, but it didn't. I've played guitar all five days, ranging from 30 mins - 2 hours. I think I'm doing something systematically wrong, like the arching or something. There's no guitar teacher around so that doesn't comfort me either.
Anyone know what I'm doing wrong?
what part of the finger? tip? joint?
Definitely need to know which part! If you've played that much and been pressing really hard, you've probably bruised the tip. But if its achine elsewhere it might be signs of something more serious.
Well, the pinkie probably has the less amount of muscles out of the other fingers. I have a bad habit and try to avoid using my pinkie. A bad habit I know, but that's the way I've played for 30 some years. Sure there are times I use it, like in chording, but when soloing I don't unless I have to. Could be that you need to strengthen it up more to keep up with the other fingers. I don't know of any exercises off hand (no punn intended) but maybe some other members do...
Why do we have to get old...
Hey guys, I think it's the joint of the 1st part of my pinky (upper one) to the second. My 1st language isn't english so maybe I'm better off by explaining it with a schematic picture.
____ ___ ___
____I___I___I
If that's my pinky, then the red part hurts. Don't get me wrong, it's not like it severely hurts, but I just don't quite trust it yet.
Hope you guys can help me further. Maybe I should see a doctor soon?
Take a few days rest when youre not playing guitar at all (its hard I know :) )and see if it heals.
I wouldn't presume to give you medical advise and if your condition doesn't subside you should certainly see a doctor.
However, now that you say that the pain is in the joint it might be simply that you have a chronic inflamation of the joint or tendon from over use. Sort of like tennis elbow for guitar players. As much as I hate to admit it, anyone who plays guitar on a regular basis is, by definition over using the soft tissues in their hand. Perhaps some over the counter anti inflamitory like naproxen could help.
You also said that English isn't you first language. Are you over 50 and of Scandinavian or Northern European descent?
The reason I ask is that I have a condition called "Dupuytrens Desease/Vikings Desease". Dont' let the name scare you, it's not a serious condition. This is a quote from some research I did on the net. (" Dupuytrens desease usually does not cause pain. When pain does occur it is usually early in the desease. This desease develops slowly. The first noticeable symptom may often be a small lump felt in the palm, usually near where your ring and small finger meet. As the desease progresses a fibrous rope like chord my appear in the palmar facia of the hand").
I've had this condition for many years and it does not affect my playing. Most likely what you have is simply a sore finger. However I offer this information not only to you but to any other players who might read this and are wondering why they have these pea sized knots in the palm of their hand. When I first got the desease I stopped playing for a while and the condition got worse. Then I found out that, although there is no known cure, stretching the tendon is good therapy. I went back to my usual 2 hour a day practice and things improved to the point that it causes me no problem at all. In fact playing is good therapy for this problem. So my advice to anyone with this condition is play through it and don't worry to much.
