Wrong doctor. They can fix it surgically. It may or may not come back. My Dad had 3 surgeries over 30 years or so, took a while to heal each time, but his hand worked well for his whole life.
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Blasted Career Ender
- Thread starter Aberdumbie
- Start date
Back in 2012 I got my left hand crushed in a 1920s style freight elevator. I had like 400 pounds of steel elevator doors Malachi Crunch my hand from top to bottom. Nothing was broken, but the nerves and muscles are janky. Not that I was ever particularly good at guitar or bass, but I've had to dumb down beyond that. On top of that, it's most often not comfortable or fun to play- it hurts and it can be embarrassing.
I still play in one steady band, I don't play as often or with as many bands or as many people as I used to.
I wish you luck.
I still play in one steady band, I don't play as often or with as many bands or as many people as I used to.
I wish you luck.
Sorry for the news. That is a tough break. Did you get a referral to a physical therapist?
I have a slight contracture on both hands but for now is stable. I still do stretching therapy exercises daily motivated by my wife's much worse contracture. Her doc also said that when you can't get your had flat It's time. Me? I don't care if I have to have an elephant sit on my hand, that sucker is going lie flat!
Best wishes.
I had two fingers on my left hand start to curl and I just ignored it until i could no longer fret with those fingers. The doc who did the surgery on my hand told me had I come in sooner there may have been hope, but by waiting so long I took any significant chance of going back to playing off the table. I'm down to a Mustang and struggling to make it work, but my days of four 45 minute sets on Friday and Saturday night are over. Not trying to bum anyone out, just relating my personal experience
The OP's condition actually sounds more debilitating with regard to playing, but, two years ago I had a stroke that completely racked-up the left side of my body.
The middle two fingers on my left hand didn't work at all at first. They have improved, but are still sluggish, and lack much feeling.
My point? I have learned to work around them for the most part, and back to about as good as I was before the stroke, which admittedly wasn't virtuoso by any means.
I truly hope you can keep on playing despite taking that hit.
The middle two fingers on my left hand didn't work at all at first. They have improved, but are still sluggish, and lack much feeling.
My point? I have learned to work around them for the most part, and back to about as good as I was before the stroke, which admittedly wasn't virtuoso by any means.
I truly hope you can keep on playing despite taking that hit.
i've been through a similar physical injury, also throughout my non-dominant left side.
fwiw I find playing music therapeutic in terms of (re)developing function on that weak side. I don't play drums but I practice drum rudiments specifically for that.
life is both trauma and therapy imho
Yeah, none of us at advanced age (70 going on 71) or with illness (arthritis) or injury (none, thankfully) are up to what we once were but I agree that playing on with whatever limitation is the best therapy, at least mentally and for the soul. Some days inflammation in my hands seems to give me lobster mitts, but it passes. Comes and goes. Once things warm up, and if I start playing well (by my low standards), I don't even notice any physical issues, but I can only play for about an hour at a time. If I'm lucky I do that twice a day. Music is transcendental and playing it even more so. So do whatever you can, it's worth it, even if it only lasts an hour.
This may sound like a really stupid idea but consider a fretless. The action is so low you can get away with very little physical effort to get the strings down. Curled fingers also not as much of a disadvantage, use the tips. Not saying it will work, but worth a try?
The only stupid ideas are those not expressed. They may prove to be not so hot once tried, but if we stop trying new things, we stagnate.
Thanks for the idea, but part of the problem is my ability to stretch my left hand enough to cover 4 frets. These days it's all I can do to cover 3 on a Mustang. The hardest truth is that I'm finally getting a real time lesson that the old saw proclaiming, "practice does not make perfect, practice make permanent" is not just a clever play on words, it is a fact. The hardest thing I'm up against is I'm self taught and my entire bass experience centers on covering 4 frets with 4 fingers, and trying to unlearn that has so far proved daunting.
Really hoping worst case doesn't happen. But, if it does...
In my young, dumb, and full of...youthful arrogance days, I almost cut my ring finger tip off with my wedding band (Safety note: Don't wear jewelry when doing aircraft repair).
Got stitches, wrapped, secured in a metal finger splint. Had gigs coming up the following weekends. Tried at home to play with 3 fingers and found it much easier than I thought. Yeah, lost a bit of pizzaz, but I wasn't worried at all about trainwrecking and didn't call out of the gigs. No problems with the gigs. Made for conversation starters, too LOL.
Looking back, I think knowing the fretboard got me thru it. I didn't have to 'think' about what to do or where the next note was. If I was still learning the fretboard and struggling with songs at home, I wouldn't have done the gigs.
So, if you know your fretboard and worst case is the ultimate result for your ring finger, I think you'll find your career isn't over at all.
Really hoping the best results for ya, man.
Side note of no importance: That was about 45 years ago. Still don't have full feeling back in the finger tip.
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Well, then here's another possibly even more stupid idea. What about a custom 5 string short scale? The first Fender 5 string, the Fender5, was a short scale 5 string. My friend has a friend whose dad has one, played it on an Elvis movie, where he can be seen in background. Unfortunately that particular bass has a neck like a baseball bat and is hard to play, plus is tuned E to C. Plus they didn't have p'ups that spanned 5 strings back then, so sound wasn't great.
If you're going to change technique it might make sense, if you can cover the span of the neck. Custom build could make a narrower neck than standard 5s. You'd have 15 notes available in 3 fret span. Just saying....
I know a local guy who builds some killer guitars, I'll go see what he thinks of a shorter, narrower neck for a bass.
If you took an Ibanez SR neck as a model and chopped it down to perhaps 17 frets you would have a very fast and easy to play neck.
I've tried Ibanez basses in the past and really liked the necks I tried.
Yes, they are super fast and easy to play well. Just remember that if you chop one down, the intonation points will change. If you just use one as a model the fingerboard will have to be figured out by luthier, or you could go unlined fretless, and have the intonation dots added afterwards?
There are some really great stick on side dots out there like the Jockomo Inlay Stickers. I've had really good luck with them and they've held up well over the years.
