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Broken Finger Recovery time?

#21
I'm 52 and in good health, but won't heal fast like a kid would. Adjust this time line as appropriate...
June 29, broke my left (fretting hand little finger).
July 2, barely invasive hand surgery. Amounted to 2 pins and a cast.
July 30, cast off, pins removed.
BTW, prescribed Epson Salts 3x a day with very warm water. This was a huge help in reducing swelling and sped up my not feeling so tender.
Had to baby my pinky and try not to use it as much as I could. Speaking of which, I played the Sunday I got my cast off for Church and fretted a note using that tender pinky. That blew...
It got better faster than I thought it would but
December 13, its raining and pinky aches. Not sure if it's that or the fact that Christmas time = more playing than normal. Probably both. I mean not tons, but it's there. If I had a gig tonight, I'd play it. Got some Epson salts at lunch, am planning on doing that over the next couple days.
Still can't wear my wedding ring or make a complete fist. Probably 93% there, but no way that i can see it will ever match up with my other hand they way it did pre-breakage....
Good luck and prayers for your guitar player. If it turns out as good as mine, you should be fine.
I don't think I'll ever be as good as new, so maybe get used to that expectation, but it's no where near game-over territory either. Hope this helps!!
 
#23
redwingxix said:
He doesn't smoke, but I had never heard that before. Add that to the list of reasons not to smoke, I guess.
Click to expand...

Smoking causes vasodilation which decreases blood flow. The compromised flow of blood to the injured area will slow the healing process. I found that out years ago when I shattered my entire wrist skateboarding. I was in a cast for months and then physical therapy for weeks after that. I didn't regain my ability to play for almost a year. I couldn't even move my hand the first week the cast was off. It blew.
 
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#27
redwingxix said:
Thanks for all the info, people. Really helps me plan our next couple months for the band and I will be passing this along to our infirm friend.

He doesn't smoke, but I had never heard that before. Add that to the list of reasons not to smoke, I guess.
Click to expand...

I remember a guy telling me he needed back surgery, but they were unwilling to operate until he quit smoking. I'm glad I quit years ago.
 
#29
Don't have a better answer than your guitarist's doc. Don't mean to hijack your thread, but here's an interesting aside:

One of the first great lead players I ever worked with cut off the little finger on his left hand (he is right handed) in a farm accident on a Friday afternoon in the Fall of 1966. He played with us on both that Friday and the Saturday night following the accident and never missed a lick. Also never missed a date after that. We were playing two to four times a week in that era.

Super nice guy and the best three fingered guitarist I know. He's still going strong at 75 years young.

Your guy will recover and be better than ever!
 
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#33
Three broken fingers here, all individual accidents (all crashes on a bike)

One wasn't too bad and healed on it's own over 4 weeks or so with a homemade splint (chop sticks and tape). Another took almost two months with the help of a physiotherapist who made me a custom hand cast since this break was vertical along the bone which is apparently a risk for re-breaking during the healing process.

The third break was the middle finger of my fretting hand, it folded over to the side (just like in Major Payne) and broke a chunk off of my middle knuckle joint. I got a splint put on at the hospital and unfortunately we had a gig the following weekend. I made it happen but through a immense amount of pain and swelling... not a fun show but a fun story in hindsight. This last finger now has a joint about double the size of it's right handed counterpart and aches constantly in cold or wet weather. Up until very recently, I used to need athletic tape wrapped around it in two X-shapes just to jam with my band since the side to side action made it feel like my finger was about to pop out of its socket.

All I can advise it to tell your guitarist to be patient and let it heal once because rushing it now could cause a life long problem. Let it heal correctly once and he's good. If he screws up the healing process now, he'll find out that some injuries never complete go away.
 
#37
redwingxix said:
So our guitarist got in a car accident and the only injury he sustained was a broken index finger on his left hand, third metatarsal. Fortunately, we have no scheduled gigs in the immediate future as we were going to focus on writing some new material, but does anyone have any experience with how long that takes to heal get back up to playing speed?

We are not looking to just get a sub as our LG is something of a savant that would be very hard to replace, plus we're really not that kind of band where we would want to try and gig without a member.

Thank for input.
Click to expand...
I busted the 4th metacarpal on my left hand on Jan 27th and I was back to normal after four to five months.
 
#39
I broke the bone just behind the knuckle on the first finger on my left hand.
They put a cast on it, but it was a PITA so i soaked it off after a couple weeks.
 
#40
Should take 6-8 weeks for bone to heal completely.Possibly faster if young slower if old.Eat some turmeric to help with swelling,alternate heat(promotes blood flow) and cold packs(reduces swelling). l-arginine for better blood flow (vasodilator)to get nutrients to damaged area and a product called Bone Powder to help the bone knit faster. And make sure he does his therapy like clockwork per Doc/therapist .
 
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