Help! My hands.

[ohdamnitsdevin]

So I've been getting furniture and what not for our home. Mainly from Craig's list because you can come across some fantastic items at very reasonable prices. Anywho, in these scenarios in most cases, in my experices at least, you transport the purchased goods yourself. Well, we acquired a gorgeous California king bedroom set that has pillars... HUGE solid oak pillars. I'm talking 60-70 pounds each! Seeing as I'm poor -___- we had to move said furniture ourselves. Long story short I basically crushed my left hand. I'm a right handed player. its been about a week or so since this happened and it has recovered rather nicely but my middle finger hurts pretty bad whenever I try to play. My other fingers feel just fine so this is why I am concerned. Perhaps it's just going to take some more time to heal? My middle finger did take the majority of the blow from the pillar. My whole hand in general feels much tighter and all my knuckles feel tight too. This is a HUGE deal as guitar is literally my soul. I live for it. Any recommendations? I.E stretching exercises, ointments, etc. I do not have medical insurance or I would have went to the doctors already. Any input would be appreciated.

Regards,
Devin

 

[lessthanone]

Damn, I bent my middle and index finger back last year on my fret hand between a pallet and my trailer wall. It finally stopped hurting and feeling tight qbout 2 months ago. Took a real long time

 

[beej]

That's awful dude. Not to be political, but it's such a shame that you're prevented from seeing a doctor because of money.

It really depends how badly you've hurt yourself - there's a lot to injure in your hands. Perhaps you can give it more time and see how it heals. A week isn't a lot of recovery time for an injury, after all.

 

[Roubster]

Sorry to hear that man! But yea, the hand has MANY different parts that can get effected in an injury and take some time to heal. I highly recommend doing a lot of stretching individual fingers. Check out Petrucci's Rock Discipline if you havent already...he shows you all the stretching you should be doing before playing guitar anyway.

And yes it does take some time for certain parts of the hand to heal. I went snowboarding in January and landed on my right hand ring finger. Thankfully did not break anything, but it took a while for it to get better. I still feel a little tightness in it now, but it loosens up after some stretching.

 

[DR5Guy]

This is probably not the answer you are looking for, but you should take some rest from playing and allow your injuries to heal properly. I know how hard is not to play, but this is the fastest way for you to recover. Another thing to consider is to give you body all the materials it needs to rebuild the damage - take a lot of water, quality food, vitamins and some food supplements if you can.

The recovery can be slower than you expect if you have some tendons injured. Because of the nature of the tendons tissues it takes much longer to heal compared with muscle/bone. Be patient and keep optimistic attitude - sooner or later your body will rebuild the damaged tissues.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, please consult a real doctor (ideally a hand injury specialist, I heard some sport medicine doctors are amazing for that type of problem) as soon as you can. They will diagnose the problem (x-ray, etc.) and help you much better that any advise you can get online. The price may be high but trust me - it is nothing compared with the chance to be left with a permanent damage.

 

[JMD]

I have a friend with bad arthritis in his hands.....so he started playing slide. I wish I could play slide like him.

 

[luv]

Rest, water and light stretching. Don't be afraid to ice that hand a little bit.

....And sorry to hear that. Hand injuries are not fun. I hope you like the bed!

 

[crywolf71]

Can you post en picture of your finger so i can see where the swelling is and if there is a heamatoma. A picture with the finger max straightend and max flexed (not forced with you other hand)
You could have hurt your tendion or the joint capsule. The last you do not want to stretch.
I am a medical doctor, you can also PM me

 

[DrKev]

Hand injuries can take a long time to heal. Back in 2010, I sprained my right hand (fingers and wrist). I had to take three full weeks off work and even then my fingers and wrist were sore for a few weeks afterwards.

Thinking of ya buddy, hopefully it'll heal completely and not take too long. Patience and rest are key.

 

[FantasyMetal]

I have arthritis so I can literally feel your pain. Good luck and I hope it heals soon!

 

[guitarp77]

Input is...go to a doctor...

No one here will be able to give certified advise on your injury...

Hope it heals soon!

 

[ohdamnitsdevin]

Damn, I bent my middle and index finger back last year on my fret hand between a pallet and my trailer wall. It finally stopped hurting and feeling tight qbout 2 months ago. Took a real long time

Although I'd hate it taking forever to heal I'd be happy! As long as it heals 100% or at least to the point where it doesn't hinder my playing. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[ohdamnitsdevin]

That's awful dude. Not to be political, but it's such a shame that you're prevented from seeing a doctor because of money.

It really depends how badly you've hurt yourself - there's a lot to injure in your hands. Perhaps you can give it more time and see how it heals. A week isn't a lot of recovery time for an injury, after all.

Don't gotta tell me twice! Yeah it really sucks! I know doctors need to be paid for their services and I'm all for paying but it's too expensive! It cost me 3k when I was passing a kidney stone because I had no insurance.

Its hard for me to tell the extent of the damage. My hands outer appearance now is fine. Looks just like my other hand with the exception of a couple scrapes. Internally though there's something going on.

 

[ohdamnitsdevin]

This is probably not the answer you are looking for, but you should take some rest from playing and allow your injuries to heal properly. I know how hard is not to play, but this is the fastest way for you to recover. Another thing to consider is to give you body all the materials it needs to rebuild the damage - take a lot of water, quality food, vitamins and some food supplements if you can.

The recovery can be slower than you expect if you have some tendons injured. Because of the nature of the tendons tissues it takes much longer to heal compared with muscle/bone. Be patient and keep optimistic attitude - sooner or later your body will rebuild the damaged tissues.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, please consult a real doctor (ideally a hand injury specialist, I heard some sport medicine doctors are amazing for that type of problem) as soon as you can. They will diagnose the problem (x-ray, etc.) and help you much better that any advise you can get online. The price may be high but trust me - it is nothing compared with the chance to be left with a permanent damage.

Yeah it's not! Haha but, this was something I realized as I was playing yesterday. Only makes it worse. Sucks too as I was just about to level up on guitar. Been practicing with a metronome as of late and wow! WHAT A DIFFERENCE!

 

[ohdamnitsdevin]

Rest, water and light stretching. Don't be afraid to ice that hand a little bit.

....And sorry to hear that. Hand injuries are not fun. I hope you like the bed!

I'm looking into hand stretching excercises and the bed is awesome. I'll post a picture.

 

[ohdamnitsdevin]

Can you post en picture of your finger so i can see where the swelling is and if there is a heamatoma. A picture with the finger max straightend and max flexed (not forced with you other hand)
You could have hurt your tendion or the joint capsule. The last you do not want to stretch.
I am a medical doctor, you can also PM me

I can send photos but I doubt it'll help any. My hand looks the same as my uninjured hand minus a few scratches. But then again, I'm no doctor. I'll take photos tonight and email them to you. Thanks so much for taking the time to help! Seriously, appreciate the poop out of doctors like you!

 

[ohdamnitsdevin]

Hand injuries can take a long time to heal. Back in 2010, I sprained my right hand (fingers and wrist). I had to take three full weeks off work and even then my fingers and wrist were sore for a few weeks afterwards.

Thinking of ya buddy, hopefully it'll heal completely and not take too long. Patience and rest are key.

Thanks! I'll keep you posted. Gonna take a break for a week starting today

 

[ohdamnitsdevin]

Thanks to everyone for your responses and concern. Best plan of action for me right now is to take a break from guitar, ice my finger and such. If its still hurting in a week I'll go to the doctors.

 

[TSHOW]

Good plan.....I will also say some prayers for you tonight......!!!

 

[paranoid70]

I think you should still go to the doctor. If you tell them you don't have insurance, they should be able to tell you how much they charge for an exam and xray. You don't want to develop chronic issues.