Hi. Its terrible everytime I enter a discussion its to complain about an ailment. I play very regularly and practice everyday. I am recently experiencing a very painful pointer finger (1st finger). It feels like a blister underneath the callous. At this time its excrutiating to play and I have two shows on Sunday. What should I do (other then the obvious, not practicing). Somebody told me ambosol is a good temporary solution. Would soaking it be effective? Is there anything anyone can suggest?
Well, Emily's probably the best to answer this one...but I figure you can do one of two thngs.
1) Address the problem. If you're *sure* it's a blister, lance it. Stop practising for a day to see if it gets better. Try and soak the callus off, it's not like you won't get new ones, and *then* lance the blister if that's what it is, or
2) Address the symptom. Put a padded fingertip band-aid on it when you play. Use ambusol or other topical painkiller, knowing you'll probably pay later for playing through what is after all your body's way of saying, hey, stop that.
As you say, the obvious is to stop until it goes away, but sounds like you can't.
A blister? My intuiton tells me it's more likely a bruise on the end of your finger. No less painful, and lancing the tissue won't do any good.
I'm no doctor, so take my suggestions with a large lump of salt. If it were me, I'd take a day off from playing (you're either already prepared for the show or you're not, and one more day of practicing isn't going to salvage it if you're not) and protect that finger. Work on getting any swelling down (even if you can't see it). Gently rub the end of your finger on some ice till it's really numb (but don't frostbite the skin). Consider taking some ibuprofen (or arnica if you're more into homeopathy) to help reduce any swelling. If that helps, keep doing the ice every two or four hours right up till Sunday. If you play at all before the show, don't press hard with that finger, and stop if it hurts.
You can try the Anbesol (and more ice) right before the show if it's still sore by then.
An interesting posting, as I also occassionally get what feels like a bruise under the callous on my index finger. Is this a common occurance with other players?
I have put it down to overuse, pressing down on the double course of my mandola. At times I have had to play through the pain and have found that it does subside after later rest.
Fiddlebug, if the tip of your finger is indeed the part that is pressing the string, and this is where the pain arises, you could try altering your hand/finger position slightly so that the broader soft part of the finger contacts the string. This will give a slightly softer tone, but nothing to worry about.
I'm wondering if perhaps you're pressing down too hard with the tip of the finger. When you press the string down towards the fingerboard the finger contacts the fingerboard before the string does, but you don't need to get that full contact of the string with the fingerboard to play the note. Getting full contact in fact demands much greater pressure (and therefore expenditure of energy), and I can understand why this could cause deep bruising.
Further, pressing the string into full contact with the fingerboard takes a little extra time, a few milliseconds perhaps, but it all adds up to making you work unnecessarily that little bit harder in the physical side of your playing.
A high finger action (snapping the finger down onto the string)could also cause bruising, and isn't generally necessary (it looks spectacular on stage when a fiddle player is playing with a pop band, but that's what the punters want to see). When I was learning the cello in my early teens my teacher taught me to use a low finger action, so that the fingers are always close to the strings, and not to hammer the finger down onto the string. In fact he said that the finger hammering technique on the cello could bring about an arthritic condition in later life. I've since carried that advice and technique over into my fiddle playing.
I've watched, at fairly close quarters, a concert violinist doing some warm-up practice prior to a rehearsal with the orchestra, and his fingers hardly seemed to move, they looked as if they were stroking the strings. I've also seen fiddle players with a similar technique, the downside, incidentally, of which is that it's difficult for another player to work out exactly what fingering being used!
A few years after I started the cello I had lessons in classical guitar, and here again the teacher told me not to attempt to press the string into contact with the fingerboard. Apart from causing intonation problems and undue wear on the strings, it is unnecessary hard work. Could it be, Len, that you may be pressing down too hard?
Fiddlebug, another thing that occurs to me is whether your strings are too high from the fingerboard. Playing is always that much more efficient when the strings are as close as possible to the fingerboard, provided there's no buzzing. Have a luthier check your fiddle out and make any adjustments if required.
Trevor
I took the inadvisable (and wholly unintentional, I might add) step of slicing the tip of my finger (left hand, middle finger) off with a circular saw, a couple of years ago. Luckily, I didn't damage the bone at all, and it has healed well. But I am left with a little less padding than before, so the fingertip gets very sore after a big session.
Whilst waiting for my finger to return to service, I decided I would take up the harmonica, that not requiring the use of fingertips. But I soon got frustrated with my lack of competence and slow progress, and decided that being a finger short should be no object. So I learnt to play the mandolin without my middle finger. It was awkward, and I didn't quite attain the level of proficiency I had with the full complement of fingers, but I could get the tunes out - and it was a good work out for the little finger ('pinky', to all but the English).
Learning the alternative fingering was easier than one might expect, and it is useful as a reserve whenever I overuse my middle finger. It's a long term solution, and perhaps not a perfect one, but I can play a gig on 3 fingers, if I have to (nobody expects me to be Barney McKenna, anyway).
Fiddlebug, it would be good to make sure that what you're describing is just a bruise from overuse, rather than an actual infection. Could there have been a cut injury, even a small one?Calloused areas can have cracks in the skin that might not be noticeable, and a cut might have healed over before you noticed it--leaving some unwanted stuff in there. "Excruciating" is a worrisome word. Lancing this by yourself wouldn't be a good idea. Maybe some medical person could check it out.
I couldn't give a proper diagnosis for the injury.
but, first of all, in response to other people's thoughts: I doubt that overuse is a significant factor in these type of injuries. My knowledge in this is from my playing a veena (a south indian stringed lute thing like a sitar) and I've never encountered, with me or anyone else, an under-the-callous injury from overplaying (btw the metal-wire string is much further from the frets than, say, a guitar or violin), and the callous just gets thicker to protect such things.
however, if you /dont/ have a large enough callous and start playing, then I could see how injuries might occur.
secondly, I don't know how well this applies to fiddle/mandola/guitar, but if you don't have the large callous or if there is some problem moving your hand along the string, we coat the string with a little bit of petroleum jelly. of course, most of the potential friction on a veena comes from sliding the hand up and down a fingerboard, so I'm not sure how well the technique would apply to instruments where you put down and lifted fingers more than slid them.
Thank you all very much for your advise and diagnoses. I was fully able to play both gigs without any problems. But I am looking into what most of you guys suggested. I am at a point in my playing where little things like this are really freaking me out. My finger is fine now and was ok by sunday. I think I was just feeling the results of a really high powered rehearsal the night before. Again thank you.
finger question
finger question
Hi. Its terrible everytime I enter a discussion its to complain about an ailment. I play very regularly and practice everyday. I am recently experiencing a very painful pointer finger (1st finger). It feels like a blister underneath the callous. At this time its excrutiating to play and I have two shows on Sunday. What should I do (other then the obvious, not practicing). Somebody told me ambosol is a good temporary solution. Would soaking it be effective? Is there anything anyone can suggest?
# Posted on February 27th 2004 by fiddlebug
Re: finger question
Well, Emily's probably the best to answer this one...but I figure you can do one of two thngs.
1) Address the problem. If you're *sure* it's a blister, lance it. Stop practising for a day to see if it gets better. Try and soak the callus off, it's not like you won't get new ones, and *then* lance the blister if that's what it is, or
2) Address the symptom. Put a padded fingertip band-aid on it when you play. Use ambusol or other topical painkiller, knowing you'll probably pay later for playing through what is after all your body's way of saying, hey, stop that.
As you say, the obvious is to stop until it goes away, but sounds like you can't.
# Posted on February 27th 2004 by Zina Lee
Re: finger question
A blister? My intuiton tells me it's more likely a bruise on the end of your finger. No less painful, and lancing the tissue won't do any good.
I'm no doctor, so take my suggestions with a large lump of salt. If it were me, I'd take a day off from playing (you're either already prepared for the show or you're not, and one more day of practicing isn't going to salvage it if you're not) and protect that finger. Work on getting any swelling down (even if you can't see it). Gently rub the end of your finger on some ice till it's really numb (but don't frostbite the skin). Consider taking some ibuprofen (or arnica if you're more into homeopathy) to help reduce any swelling. If that helps, keep doing the ice every two or four hours right up till Sunday. If you play at all before the show, don't press hard with that finger, and stop if it hurts.
You can try the Anbesol (and more ice) right before the show if it's still sore by then.
Good luck.
# Posted on February 27th 2004 by Will CPT
Re: finger question
An interesting posting, as I also occassionally get what feels like a bruise under the callous on my index finger. Is this a common occurance with other players?
I have put it down to overuse, pressing down on the double course of my mandola. At times I have had to play through the pain and have found that it does subside after later rest.
# Posted on February 27th 2004 by len
Re: finger question
Fiddlebug, if the tip of your finger is indeed the part that is pressing the string, and this is where the pain arises, you could try altering your hand/finger position slightly so that the broader soft part of the finger contacts the string. This will give a slightly softer tone, but nothing to worry about.
I'm wondering if perhaps you're pressing down too hard with the tip of the finger. When you press the string down towards the fingerboard the finger contacts the fingerboard before the string does, but you don't need to get that full contact of the string with the fingerboard to play the note. Getting full contact in fact demands much greater pressure (and therefore expenditure of energy), and I can understand why this could cause deep bruising.
Further, pressing the string into full contact with the fingerboard takes a little extra time, a few milliseconds perhaps, but it all adds up to making you work unnecessarily that little bit harder in the physical side of your playing.
A high finger action (snapping the finger down onto the string)could also cause bruising, and isn't generally necessary (it looks spectacular on stage when a fiddle player is playing with a pop band, but that's what the punters want to see). When I was learning the cello in my early teens my teacher taught me to use a low finger action, so that the fingers are always close to the strings, and not to hammer the finger down onto the string. In fact he said that the finger hammering technique on the cello could bring about an arthritic condition in later life. I've since carried that advice and technique over into my fiddle playing.
I've watched, at fairly close quarters, a concert violinist doing some warm-up practice prior to a rehearsal with the orchestra, and his fingers hardly seemed to move, they looked as if they were stroking the strings. I've also seen fiddle players with a similar technique, the downside, incidentally, of which is that it's difficult for another player to work out exactly what fingering being used!
A few years after I started the cello I had lessons in classical guitar, and here again the teacher told me not to attempt to press the string into contact with the fingerboard. Apart from causing intonation problems and undue wear on the strings, it is unnecessary hard work. Could it be, Len, that you may be pressing down too hard?
Fiddlebug, another thing that occurs to me is whether your strings are too high from the fingerboard. Playing is always that much more efficient when the strings are as close as possible to the fingerboard, provided there's no buzzing. Have a luthier check your fiddle out and make any adjustments if required.
Trevor
# Posted on February 28th 2004 by lazyhound
Re: finger question
I took the inadvisable (and wholly unintentional, I might add) step of slicing the tip of my finger (left hand, middle finger) off with a circular saw, a couple of years ago. Luckily, I didn't damage the bone at all, and it has healed well. But I am left with a little less padding than before, so the fingertip gets very sore after a big session.
Whilst waiting for my finger to return to service, I decided I would take up the harmonica, that not requiring the use of fingertips. But I soon got frustrated with my lack of competence and slow progress, and decided that being a finger short should be no object. So I learnt to play the mandolin without my middle finger. It was awkward, and I didn't quite attain the level of proficiency I had with the full complement of fingers, but I could get the tunes out - and it was a good work out for the little finger ('pinky', to all but the English).
Learning the alternative fingering was easier than one might expect, and it is useful as a reserve whenever I overuse my middle finger. It's a long term solution, and perhaps not a perfect one, but I can play a gig on 3 fingers, if I have to (nobody expects me to be Barney McKenna, anyway).
# Posted on February 28th 2004 by ragaman
Re: finger question
Fiddlebug, it would be good to make sure that what you're describing is just a bruise from overuse, rather than an actual infection. Could there have been a cut injury, even a small one?Calloused areas can have cracks in the skin that might not be noticeable, and a cut might have healed over before you noticed it--leaving some unwanted stuff in there. "Excruciating" is a worrisome word. Lancing this by yourself wouldn't be a good idea. Maybe some medical person could check it out.
# Posted on February 28th 2004 by gena
Re: finger question
I couldn't give a proper diagnosis for the injury.
but, first of all, in response to other people's thoughts: I doubt that overuse is a significant factor in these type of injuries. My knowledge in this is from my playing a veena (a south indian stringed lute thing like a sitar) and I've never encountered, with me or anyone else, an under-the-callous injury from overplaying (btw the metal-wire string is much further from the frets than, say, a guitar or violin), and the callous just gets thicker to protect such things.
however, if you /dont/ have a large enough callous and start playing, then I could see how injuries might occur.
secondly, I don't know how well this applies to fiddle/mandola/guitar, but if you don't have the large callous or if there is some problem moving your hand along the string, we coat the string with a little bit of petroleum jelly. of course, most of the potential friction on a veena comes from sliding the hand up and down a fingerboard, so I'm not sure how well the technique would apply to instruments where you put down and lifted fingers more than slid them.
# Posted on March 1st 2004 by micelfife
Re: finger question
Thank you all very much for your advise and diagnoses. I was fully able to play both gigs without any problems. But I am looking into what most of you guys suggested. I am at a point in my playing where little things like this are really freaking me out. My finger is fine now and was ok by sunday. I think I was just feeling the results of a really high powered rehearsal the night before. Again thank you.
# Posted on March 2nd 2004 by fiddlebug