Musician Forum - Band Discussion Board - BandMix

When I was in Vegas playing I started to have pain during the gig in my wedding ring finger. Last Sat. during our first set I started to have terrible pain in that finger and it became so stiff I could BARELY bend it. I started to wonder if I would make it through the first set let alone 3 - 1 hr. plus sets! I managed to make it through and somehow rock the roof of of that joint! Yesterday I had even more serious swelling and pain. This morning I was doing the brakes on my truck and while washing the oil and grime off my hands managed to get the wedding band off (whimpering & sniveling). A couple of hours later the pain and swelling was gone. Even though I abused the crap out of my hands changing my brake calipers (2 rear had pistons sticking) today I am back to normal. This SCARED THE SH!T out of me. I mean seriously I used to think my no. one unit (wink wink) was the most important thing to me! MUSIC IS NO. 1 if I can't do music just give me the 9 mil! Seriously if that were to happen I am sure I would adapt I just would not TRUELY be happy again or continue to be the idiot that is typing this LOL!
I have discovered that my wedding band has become too small (because I have become a fat @ss) and that coupled with the extreme use of that finger had irritated the joint and tendon!

I know all about the wear n tear, bro. I regularly find unusual soreness as well as sharp pain in my fingers and hands...too much time at the keyboard, too much emphasis on my fingers when lifting, etc. I've had fingers go numb, or ache, or get stiff. Oddly enough, I never get these things when I am playing-unless I fail to warm up properly. With the band, even though we have a few live mix issues, my hands and fingers don't get much of a work out. When I am practicing alone, however, I tend to jump into more complicated material without getting the old digits good and ready.

Sucks getting old, don't it?

BTW, I didn't get to answer you before...baby is due Apr.4, we don't know what it is.

There is a guy in a rock band around here that has terrible warts and hair growing in the middle of the palm of his left hand. He can barely fret the guitar these days since the neck irritates his hand so much.

joseph6 wrote:I know all about the wear n tear, bro. I regularly find unusual soreness as well as sharp pain in my fingers and hands...too much time at the keyboard, too much emphasis on my fingers when lifting, etc. I've had fingers go numb, or ache, or get stiff. Oddly enough, I never get these things when I am playing-unless I fail to warm up properly. With the band, even though we have a few live mix issues, my hands and fingers don't get much of a work out. When I am practicing alone, however, I tend to jump into more complicated material without getting the old digits good and ready.

Sucks getting old, don't it?

BTW, I didn't get to answer you before...baby is due Apr.4, we don't know what it is.

Now thats WAY COOL!!!!

Great creative playing j6. I have listened before, thanks for bringing around again.
Babies are way cool . Thanx man.

My hands are beat all to hell from oilfield work and martial arts.
But then I still have a lot of strength and flexibility from the two.
I've not worn a wedding band in a long long time.
Working with machinery and jewelry don't mix.
My wife is cool with it ... so it's not an issue.

Take care of yourself Jeff.
What would rock be without you?

I asked my wife if she is cool with it because I LOVE HER SO MUCH and it is the first time I haven't worn My wedding band! Of course she is cool with it! I am a LUCKY STAR!

Sometimes my fingers tighten up, and I don't notice it until I practice Martial Arts and have to make a tight fist.
I feel that if I force a tight fist, that I'll be putting a lot of bad strain and leverage on the finger joints.
What I do is to gently push each finger - one at a time, into the curled position. It takes about 60 seconds to do all 4 fingers (forces out edema, swelling). Once done - again, just 1 minute later - my hands are in peak conditon.
Check if you can make a rock-hard tight fist. If not - do one finger at a time - use your other hand, until all of your fingers flex fully.
.
By the way - you DO stretch your fingers before playing, right?

hey J- I have Ehlers-Danlos and it's a degenerative condition. I used to play piano, drums and acoustic guitars. When I hit my mid 30's I started dislocating my wrists and my fingers. (flanges sublux, sounds like a band name, right?)

I'm not in my 30's anymore and the condition seems to affect me worse now than ever. I'm married to a famous jazz pianist, and his issues started this past year, now that he is almost 50. For him, playing for over 45 years finally gave him some swelling and tendonitis. (yep, we live in vegas full time).

I gave up playing instruments for nearly 6 years. A few months back a friend handed me her electric bass, as payment for a favor I did. (Nice, huh?) So I tried it, since my old one is acoustic, and now in another friend's home. Turns out I was able to play the electric toys much better than I had the acoustic, and now I"m back playing guitar and bass, still able to play a clavinova as long as I set the weight to light on the keys.. and long babble aside- here's the point.

My husband swears by the Chondroitin. He's never bought into any new age meds, and only takes a tylenol if he is prescribed it. But, after about 3 months of taking it, he's now relieved of his tendon and swelling issues.

I, on the other hand, have discovered bone chips, and if you get your hand MRI'd, you may find something similar, or just put your mind at ease that there's nothing more to it than swollen fingers and time flicking boogers at you. (another good band name) I got relief initially by having cortisone shots, and believe me. SO worth it. Feels like I had new finger implants.

You may also find that wrapping your hands in warm wraps before a gig and cool wraps after a gig help stop swelling and hands stiffening up. Also, I have hand braces I use during the day, and use a playdoh style wad of goop to help strengthen the palms, wrists, and joints when I can't play that day. I can't tell you how much I love parafin wax for soaking hands- and you can get a cheap manicure parafin bath on ebay. You put gloves on, warm the wax, and set your hands in for a few minutes, take it out, let it cool, and peel the gloves off. Feels like $50 afterwards. economy.

Hope that helps- Any gimpy stuff? I'm a good go to person for- been dealing with wheelchairs, hand braces, and all sorts of things like that for almost 10 years now.

J-HALEY wrote:When I was in Vegas playing I started to have pain during the gig in my wedding ring finger. Last Sat. during our first set I started to have terrible pain in that finger and it became so stiff I could BARELY bend it. I started to wonder if I would make it through the first set let alone 3 - 1 hr. plus sets! I managed to make it through and somehow rock the roof of of that joint! Yesterday I had even more serious swelling and pain. This morning I was doing the brakes on my truck and while washing the oil and grime off my hands managed to get the wedding band off (whimpering & sniveling). A couple of hours later the pain and swelling was gone. Even though I abused the crap out of my hands changing my brake calipers (2 rear had pistons sticking) today I am back to normal. This SCARED THE SH!T out of me. I mean seriously I used to think my no. one unit (wink wink) was the most important thing to me! MUSIC IS NO. 1 if I can't do music just give me the 9 mil! Seriously if that were to happen I am sure I would adapt I just would not TRUELY be happy again or continue to be the idiot that is typing this LOL!
I have discovered that my wedding band has become too small (because I have become a fat @ss) and that coupled with the extreme use of that finger had irritated the joint and tendon!

You could re-size the ring if necessary... and also, if ya got arthritis in the family, at this age an occasional flare up might not be unusual. If you wanna see some messed up fingers, check out the latest Keith Richards interviews and look at his hands... way messed up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7_9ktMNsNw

My Mother God rest her said "Don't let the left hand know what the right is doing"
So I cannot answer

Hmmmmmm

Irish?

I've had many pains over the years don't wear rings or a wristwatch. Had to go so far as to get a bong without a carburetor hole. lol

I've always worked with my hands and have taken care not to overstretch them. When a podiatrist told me never let anybody operate on your feet, I looked at my hands. Long skinny fingers learned to do most things with gloves on and don't shake hands with Irish guys named Tim.
Arthritis has been manageable with a daily 500 mg naproxin, but kinda don't go with bad heart. Resize the ring buy some suspenders too cause you know that back pain is caused by a belt.

Some real good info here.
I have considered publishing the hand flexibility exercises I've learned from numerous "masters".

But it would be a really boring video ...


Much back pain is also caused by carrying anything in you back pocket.
I refuse to carry my billfold in my back pocket any longer.

The belt ? Hang a Glock 22 or a full size 1911 off that belt all day every day (except when I'm in scrubs of course) as long as I have nothing in my back pockets to throw my hips / spine out of alignment ... no back pain.

I had pneumonia in 09 and almost died. As a result of that the pneumonia
has affected my joints. In addition the many years of tree climbing
didn't help either. Sometimes the pain in my wrists is so bad I have to
leave the room and almost cry. 800mg Motrin is a miracle drug. Have you
ever heard of a Hydroculator? The best thing since hot dog buns. Joint or
muscle pain? GET ONE!

Also apple pie Moonshine helps immensely [/b]

I like the Moonshine idea the best! I had to slack up on drinking after I found out I was diabetic (probably a good thing)! I'll still Tie one on every now and then!