Index fingertip went numb after first set

[CelinderMotoMan]

I play primarily electric bass but have just started playing the upright for a corperate band. I have been pulling it out for one or two songs per night but Friday night I did my first dinner set where I played upright for the whole set and noticed afterwards that my left hand index fingertip was numb from the knuckle to the tip. We also had a gig sat and sun night that included dinner sets but I used my middle and ring finger more (with no numbness at all) but now it has beenalmost a full week and it isstill a little numb but not as bad as it was originally. I've read about carpul tunnel but I thought that effects the whole finger as well as the middle finger. Any ideas?

[koricancowboy]

You might be playing it like a BG. The technique involved in DB is much more specific and enormously different than BG. The only things the two share in common are function in an ensemble and tuning. It would behoove you to get a serious teacher if you plan on playing with any regularity. My guess without seeing you is you are squeezing instead of using gravity to help. Just my 2¢.

Cheer,
Oz

[koricancowboy]

Just saw you were in Flint. I am sure there must be some badasses not to far away from you to take a lesson from. Maybe in Detroit or Ann Arbor.

Cheers,
Oz

[malloybow]

I had a similar experience when I got my upright after playing EB for two years. I played about 3-4 hours the day I got it. The next day my index fingertip on the left was numb and stayed numb for months. None of my teachers had heard of this. I worried that I would have to give it up. I started lessons with a teacher immediately to learn proper tecnique and hand position. It got no worse and eventually went away. I believe it was direct trauma to the digital nerve at the fingertip( I am a physician). I think I was using way too much pressure and not using good technique.

[salcott]

Please get yourself to a teacher before you do further damage. I played a late October outdoor gig 25+years ago, and due to low temperature, my fingers got just cold enough to make me squeeze the strings harder than I needed to without realizing what I was doing. As a result, whenever the temperature drops and my strings get cold, I get pain, then numbness in my left index finger. Malloybow has it exactly right.

[CelinderMotoMan]

That's what I thought, thanks guys