Ouch! Sprained my ring finger

[Powman]

I tripped and fell while groping around in the dark and sprained the ring finger on my fretting hand. Luckily I am more of a 1-2-4 fretter rather than a one-finger-per-fret player. But still, once I go higher than the 5th fret I use my all four fingers a lot.

Has anyone else played bass with an injured fretting hand digit? How did you overcome the problem? Did you stop playing for a few days, or keep playing through the pain?

 

[steve f]

A few bits of advice:
- make sure it's only a sprain, sometimes finger fractures can be subtle but delayed diagnosis in a finger can be disastrous
- rest the finger for a few days but not too long
- ice and elevation are good for several days
- the most important thing is to prevent the finger from getting stiff so once you're sure its not a serious injury work on gently moving the finger joints
- you can try taping the ring finger to the middle finger, the tape protects the ring finger but encourages it to move
- play with index, middle, little only for a while, like with upright

 

[Jim_F]

I agree, get it checked out and rest it.

 

[strummer]

Has anyone else played bass with an injured fretting hand digit?

Yep, both fretting and plucking hand. The retting hand was actually my ring finger, and the very nice doctor taped it together with my long finger while I had the finger curved, so i could play. I was warned though, that I best give the finger a rest, which I did as soon as the gig was over.
The plucking hand is easier, get a rubber or felt pick and forget you have too few fingers lol

 

[TNT]

pow,

By the way, what were you groping around in the dark for??? Hopefully, your bass cable.

Don't play injured UNTIL it heals - or you'll regret it!! Been there - done that.

 

[Kirby]

All the above qualifies. When I was a student in Boston, I was playing a game of touch football and jammed my middle finger of my left hand. Unfortunately, my class schedule would not let me rest it, but it never felt right until I was able to take some time away and give it the rest it needed.

Take the time to rest it now, it will serve you better in the long run.

 

[keko]

If You don't have some professional gigs to work out, avoid playing for a while, but if You need to play for earning money, than try to improvise with other fingers!

I was in such a situation a few times, but work was at the first place, so I was tortured with improvisation using other fingers!

 

[Powman]

I am an amateur...hence I dont need to play to put food on the table...as such I do have the luxury of giving it a bit of a rest. I did play for an hour last night, but just did some basic songs that allow me to use the 1-2-4 fingering. No injured ring finger needed.

Thanks for the advice folks!