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Cut finger/damaged nerves

T

TheHend

Guest
Jan 14, 2015
3
0
#1
So a few weeks ago I managed to cut through the top of my left index finger with a knife. In doing so, I managed to damage the nerves in the finger, leaving me with a pins-and-needles type sensation above the cut. It generally hurts if I put any pressure on the tip of the finger, with the area directly where the cut was being the worst. As you can imagine, this has been rather problematic (I'm right handed), and as such I have been forced to take a break from playing.

Has anyone else had a similar injury or can anyone recommend a way to play without it hurting too much?

Thanks in advance :)
 
#2
In 2008 I had an accident at work, with an exposed fracture on my left thumb and damaged nerves. Had surgery and 6 months of physical therapy every day.

I got better and now I work and play like it never happened. Just a scar to remember.

You'll be fine. Patience, exercise and positive thoughts help.
 
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#3
i sliced my ring middle finger like that a year ago. Fortunately(?) it was a couple days before we went to Disney World so I had time off anyways. I was also only jamming with one or two "projects" then. It still doesn't feel "right" but not a problem playing with it. I'd take a couple three weeks to let it heal up and hope for the best :) .
 
#7
The doctor basically said there's not much they can do about it, and to just hope that it improves by itself. They did say that they would expect it to be much better within 6-8 weeks though, but considering it's already been seven weeks without much improvement, I doubt that's going to happen.
 
#8
TheHend said:
The doctor basically said there's not much they can do about it, and to just hope that it improves by itself. They did say that they would expect it to be much better within 6-8 weeks though, but considering it's already been seven weeks without much improvement, I doubt that's going to happen.
Click to expand...
i had carpal tunnel surgery two years ago and I still haven't fully healed.
I realize it isn't the same thing but I am saying that sometimes injuries take a long time to recover.
 
#9
I crushed my left hand pointer finger about 5 years ago. It broke in 14 places all the way to the knuckle. The doctor put pins in it but it didn't set right. It doesn't hurt anymore but it's really crooked so I had to alter the way I play bass. I think I was back to playing in slightly under a year. It took me three years to really pick the bass back up and be serious about it. Waiting so long made me forget why I like playing bass.
 
#10
A couple of years ago I fell down a short flight of stairs and caught my right pinky finger in a heavy wooden chair on the way down. I dislocated both joints and broke the bones in three places, and one of the breaks was in the middle joint. I had surgery, and there were pins through my finger for a couple of months, but that finger will never be the same or even close. The last joint is pretty much immobile and I have spots where there is no feeling.

I am philosophical about it. Out of the ten fingers I have, if I had to pick one to sacrifice, that would be the one I would have chosen. Life goes on.
 
#12
RoadRanger said:
^ Yah, assuming you're right handed you only need one working digit on your right hand to play ;) . I'd hate to give up one on the left though :( .
Click to expand...

Right. In the grand scheme of things I have no complaint. Others have worse challenges than me, that's for sure. Back when I was in college at LSU and dinosaurs walked the earth there was a bass player for a band called the Luvrakers who had it a lot worse. He was a Thalidomide baby (birth defect from pregnant women taking that drug in the 50's). His arms were about half normal length. and he had no thumbs and only partial mobility of his fingers. His left hand technique was to bring his hand over the neck from the back, hook his pinky finger behind the neck, and pretty much barre every note. His right hand technique was to hold his hand in sort of a claw shape and move it in one piece from the wrist.

He was actually pretty good and played with a lot of enthusiasm.
 
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#13
I was working on my Harley and modifying the oil bottle some 25 years ago when I sent a hacksaw through the inside of my left index finger between the first and second knuckle. Through the skin , the nerve , and about 1/3 of the way through the bone. Six hours , two plastic surgeons and several stitches later they sent me home and told me I may never regain the feeling in the end of the finger. A week and a half later the stitches came out and about a week after that I picked up my guitar. The finger was stiff and didn't want to work and it hurt like hell fretting the thing (a twelve string guitar by the way.) Took a couple of months till I was playing tolerably again. There's still some numbness in the finger but determination will get you a long way. Good luck.
 
#14
Two words:
Tony Iommi.
If he can play with 2 missing fingertips...

Just kidding - give it more time. Nerves are weird that way.
My wife had some nerve damage and it took a couple years for them to re-generate back to normal. But they did.
 
#15
I cut through the tendons on top of my left hand with a grinder. It took a year (after surgery) to feel normal again. Keep positive and practice other types of exercises, like ear training, transcribing tunes, sight reading. Stuff like that. Now that you have it, take the time to really learn the gear that you do have. You might be surprised what that old amp or pedal can really do.
Good luck, stay positive and busy and you'll be back in no time.
 
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#16
both of my hands have been messed-up from an assortment of mishaps. it hurts when i play, but i just keep playing until the muscles cramp. lol,.. then i improvise.
i'd be alot better off if i listened to my doctor, but i gotta eat.
:( (i wish i didn't have to eat)
 
#17
Yes, I have done something similar....a piece of glass severed the median nerve in my left index finger one evening. Taped 'er up and played a gig that night and went to the hospital the next day.

But two operations later, it took me a few months of recovery until I was kind of back playing. Took me almost a year to feel comfortable enough to play a full gig. Still have varying numbness and pins and needless in the finger, but I'm at the point where I've pretty much forgotten about it. I don't think I'll ever be 100% but at least the recovery is going in the right direction. Nerves in my fingertip were a bit wonky for a while but that went away. My biggest issue is not being able to contract my finger fully. Hard to play chords on a guitar, but OK for bass.

Pics for the less squeamish: http://goo.gl/dN1eUz

Basically, if the nerve was damaged, it will take time for it to heal/regenerate. I don't think you'll do any harm to the nerves by forcing yourself to play. It might be uncomfortable for a bit, but it will get better eventually. Might take a few weeks, might take a few months.

Oh, and one thing I did was switch to halfwound strings. Roundwounds stimulated the nerves in my fingertip too much. Halfwounds were much more gentle, esp. for slides.
 
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#18
we all heal at our own rates ... I would use it a little daily ... not enough to irritate things or make things worse ... sadly , if it hurts , then you Are feeling something ..!! injuries seem to go thru phases of how things feel as they're healing ...

would one of those rubber tip things like folks use when they sew .? help soften the feeling of the string .?
soft low tension flat wounds ..? very low action ... I'm sure your other fingers will get a good work out while the index heals ..!!

beware ... chronic pain signals may linger for a while after the pain at the ' point of origin ' has actually stopped ...!! those neuro pathways just gets used to the eb/flow of those pain signals ... it might reach a point where the pain is actually just 'in your head ' ..!!?? kinda like a 'phantom pain ' where someone has lost a limb , but they still feel it ...

or ... maybe just do some finger exercises , like you're playing the piano ... starting on something like a mouse pad to soften the impact , then move on to slight harder surfaces to help build up tolerance and feeling as the nerves heal ..??!!??
 
#20
You may be interested in, if not joining (hopefully not), a read through The Missing Digit Club here on TB - The Missing Digit Club | TalkBass.com

I was a guitar player when I chopped off the top third of my left ring finger. No hope to put it back on (much less find it). Picking up the guitar after that was difficult, painful and for many years not rewarding in any way. I would argue how, for a right-handed player, there is no more important finger than the ring finger (thumb excluded). The little finger can take up some of the work, but it is too small and too far 'out there' to remain a sustainable feature for the fretting hand. I've found this especially true on the bass where the reach is longer and the strings heavier. The OP mentions nerve damage - in my case it was only by playing that I was able to 'kill' off the raw nerve feeling of the amputated stump. Now it's completely numb and is more in the way than anything else, mainly because it's too short and too fat to do any good, even on a bass. Fingers are priceless things, careful where you put 'em.
 

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