Original Post By: mLKauai Date: 7/2/2010 2:15:58 AM   (Updated: 7/2/2010 2:17:53 AM) I got 4 stitches in my fretting middle finger today. (No I'm not taking any pain meds... yet) From time to time I have heard posters mention infirmities that prevent or make playing our beloved ukes difficult to impossible. I have always flinched a bit, shook my head, and then moved on not thinking more that twice about it. Then it happened to me; today. I chose to have a 12 yr old embedded aluminum splinter in the upper (most distal) pad of my middle finger removed. Until now it never really bothered me as I don't tend to play those chords or intervals that require the fleshy pad to kinda hold down 2 or three strings with the mid finger.. maybe that's why. The anesthetic has worn off and I asked the surgeon to keep my finger tip exposed, and the joint free; not sure if I'll be playing tomorrow (with the tip only). The stitches come off in a week. I play at least an hour a day and there's a hole, a void... a couple songs that i'm working on.... OK so wanna list your uke handicap? Or should i just take the damn meds? just kidding; actually there's no pain yet. Posted By: Bruce E Date: 7/2/2010 6:04:47 AM Don't do it. Let the incision heal. It won't really be that long. It will just seem that way. Easy for me to say. I don't have a playing handicap. I have large hands with long, slim fingers. I should be a MUCH better player than I am, according to my hands. I have always envied the people who can hold down two adjacent strings with one finger tip, but they struggle (when learning) to hold down a single string without damping its neighbors. I guess my uke handicap is my ability to be distracted by other things in life. But, it's OK. I get along. Posted By: coconino Date: 7/2/2010 10:02:20 AM A couple of weeks back I had a flea bite on the pad of my left index finger which kept me from playing for a few days. Not a major problem but an odd one! Posted By: allenhopkins Date: 7/2/2010 10:35:32 AM Does lack of basic talent count? But seriously, folks, as I wander through my 60's, I find that warming up the fingers becomes more and more necessary. First thing in the a.m., they're slow and stiff and inaccurate, and I have to massage and flex and get both hands loosened up. Didn't used to be a problem. I've played many a gig with a bandage over the finger tip, trying to fret as accurately as possible so that the fabric didn't dampen the string's sound. They say Chet Atkins wore gloves any time he was out of the house, and wouldn't shake hands with strangers for fear they'd put a vise-grip on his fingers. If you make your living playing a stringed instrument, guess you need to exercise extra care. For the rest of us, we probably put up with the occasional sore digit and limited playing. I backed up my friend Julia at a concert Tuesday night; she was born with only one hand, and plays guitar with a knitted "sock" over the elbow joint of her left arm, a pick attached so she can strum chords. No threat to the above-mentioned Mr. Atkins, but she accompanies her singing and gets by very well. Whenever I worry about this or that little problem with handling my instruments, I think of Julia, and relax just a bit... Posted By: mLKauai Date: 7/2/2010 4:01:40 PM i used to get arthritic stiffness and aching in my hands/fingers a lot. Believe it or not I found that a daily dose of natural, unpolluted, Cod Liver oil did the trick; no more stiffness. Aside from pollution, the ratio of vitamin A to D that most commercial CLO has is an issue so I got the best natural one I could afford. Our ancestors knew this is a Super Food, and I do too. Posted By: Mattman Date: 7/2/2010 5:06:42 PM Hang in there, mLKauai, and play through as best you can while you heal! Every now and then my "ring" finger on my left (fretting) hand gets arthritic- I broke it ten years ago falling downstairs racing to put out the trash before the garbage truck got to my house- (long, stupid story also involving broken ribs, and tailbone- never hurry- it ain't worth it!) The ring finger now acts as a "weather predictor", and a few days before a storm it tends to get tender (still kinda twisted, too, from the break). I know its a minor complaint compared to what many people deal with, but I sure notice it when it acts up! Aluminum chip in the finger pad, eh? By any chance are you a machinist? My brief career as a machinist gave me many metal splinters... Take your time and allow yourself some leeway, get better & heal-up well! Cheers, -Mattman Posted By: Jamie_T Date: 7/2/2010 5:59:28 PM I sell adhesives for a living..that includes hot melts. Had a demo gun full of 375 degree melted glue pop it's cap and pour the contents onto my left hand...playing was put on hold for about a week.... Posted By: northern uke Date: 7/2/2010 6:28:27 PM Broke my fretting pinky last summer and found a cyst on the bone that had weakened it and required surgery, doubling my recovery time. Thanks to great therapy and patience I recovered in about 4 weeks. Move the joints as regular as the wound will allow. Imobility is your enemy! Posted By: Craig Date: 7/2/2010 7:09:37 PM Stitches in my fingers, and the like, are what my nightmares are made of! I think you'd be foolish not to do whatever the physician says. I hope you heal soon! Posted By: Rose City Jeannie Date: 7/2/2010 7:37:50 PM Take the meds Mikey, and play less than normal while you heal, at least for the first week. I had carpal tunnel surgery and have bad arthritis spurs, but what seems to hurt more is when the trigger fingers get stuck - OOOOUUUWWWWEEEE! You CAN give the playing a little break, or just play less and work back into it. So, now I'm learning to play laying down, looking at the ceiling as on May 27th I had knee surgery; I said, "Just let me lay here with my meds and surround me with my ukuleles" - that worked just fine. But,,,,, while still in therapy for the knee healing, I tripped at work and fell Really Hard and Fast - over 200# hit directly on my knee. So, I'm going to go lay down again, and play. It's a good way to memorize songs too. Enough babbling, Mikey - TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF! Posted By: Brudda WUZ Date: 7/2/2010 8:27:31 PM My fingers often go numb after 10-15 minutes of playing... especially if I am using chords that are less familiar to me. But... I can stop for a minute, shake them out a little and they come back to normal fairly quickly. While they are numb, they still work, but I have to watch my left hand, because I can't count on feel. I imagine I'm pressing too hard or something... I guess I should make a conscious effort to adjust that. Take it easy on yourself... that week or two will go by quicker than you think. Posted By: William Date: 7/2/2010 9:42:24 PM A golfball sized mass laying on my optic nerve. At close range,letters would drop out of words and chord shapes may only show two or three lines. After it was removed, and I was able to see, a pulse monitor was taped to the index finger of my left hand. When I explained the impediment, they moved it to the middle toe of my right foot. There was a red LED bulb on it. It made me smile as I saw it through my white socks. I am writing the words for It Must Have Been Toe Glow. It must have been toe glow down there at my feet. It must have been toe glow to help me see the beat. Posted By: LoMa Date: 7/2/2010 11:55:00 PM just garden variety arthritis and carpal tunnel. Athritis is worse in the morning, carpal tunnel is worse in the afternoon/evening. Bit of a balancing act I guess... Let your finger heal before stressing it though, or you'll end up with a longer recovery time. Unless you're the macho athlete type... Posted By: Ukester Brown Date: 7/3/2010 7:56:17 AM Wiliam- Toe Glow.... funny. Brudda Wuz- I have that happen sometimes too. Make sure your wrist is not bent in a funny position. I have to do that if I'm sitting in an awkward playing position. Posted By: East Mountain Date: 7/3/2010 1:07:34 PM I have a touch of arthritis in my hands, but actually playing uke is much easier for me in this regard, because I've been playing guitar for years and 4 nyglut strings versus 6 steel strings is like a vacation. I dropped a car transmission on myleft ring finger once. Broke the bone and tore the nail out by the roots. I wasn't a uke player at the time, but it sure curtailed my guitar playing. I remember hearing that when Les Paul was in a car accident and broke his right arm, he had the doctor set his cast so he could still play. Posted By: coconino Date: 7/3/2010 5:00:43 PM Les Paul didn't just break his arm - he lost the use of his right elbo. He had the doctors set it so it would be permanently in playing position! I suppose if they set his arm straight he would have to have lengthened his strap and taken up Ramones music... Posted By: mLKauai Date: 7/3/2010 6:19:03 PM interesting; and thanks for the suggestions and the get wells. Indeed there are many much worse than i and am grateful for that. Somehow I do feel better knowing that some of the best in the world had handicaps. Jerry Garcia, Django R. with hand/finger disabilities, Ray Charles and other blind musicians, and I've seen a guy play virtuoso guitar with his feet, and on an on. Posted By: noel v. Date: 7/4/2010 4:26:54 PM mLK, let the wound heal. Some down time not playing may supercharge your mind and body. Sometimes playing everyday can become like over training the body and mind for an athletic event. Outside of an aging mind and bit of finger joint stiffness from years of exposure to cold conditions the only major handicap is the result of "dislocating" my fretting hand thumb years ago. The ligaments have never been normal. Fat necks are literally a pain and squeezing tight is an issue . Posted By: Neal Date: 7/4/2010 6:49:09 PM Arthritis, broken bones, bad fingernails..... all these pale in comparison to stagefright. If you don't have that, play thru it. Posted By: ToeBone Date: 7/5/2010 1:41:33 AM No rhythm. No sense of melody. Bad memory. Too lazy to practice ... have I missed anything? Posted By: ChefJeff Date: 7/5/2010 9:19:36 AM A fondness for good Cabernet. Posted By: ToeBone Date: 7/5/2010 11:09:27 AM Thanks, Jeff, I missed that one. Posted By: mLKauai Date: 7/5/2010 3:56:45 PM oh yeah, thanks Neal... i wasn't thinking about the most insidious of all; mental problems... big time. chuckle that's another thread in itself. Posted By: hashireeightman Date: 8/18/2010 6:30:23 PM My late entry perhaps revive the discussion. I'm considering a face transplant due to smiling too much. I don't think my insurance pays for this. Posted By: mLKauai Date: 8/19/2010 3:06:49 AM I had the splinter removed; it was big, and the lab actually analyzed it as plant material (wood). The stitches healed up and there was a BIGGER lump (and sensitive) than before... gradually it's leveling off and not too bad... funny, i'll probably always stay away from those chords where you play 2 strings with the pad of my middle finger just from the years of living with the thing in there... go figure. to all with infirms... GET WELL SOON; ;)))) Posted By: East Mountain Date: 8/19/2010 10:36:27 AM   (Updated: 8/19/2010 10:42:53 AM) (deleted by author) I forgot I already posted on this string. I guess CRS is one of my ukulele handicaps too (can't remember sh_t).. Posted By: hashireeightman Date: 8/20/2010 12:16:01 AM I left my eyeglasses at the uke group meeting tonight. I'm typing Ray Charles way right now... Does it count? Posted By: Ukebug Date: 8/23/2010 7:30:17 PM   (Updated: 8/24/2010 8:40:54 AM) Not a uke infirmity, but a guitar infirmity, although he may play the uke. Received this video today of our cousin who lost part of his left ring finger in an accident when he was young, as you can see in the first few seconds of the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSmXueC7Fhk Get well soon. Posted By: Ukulele Nuff Date: 8/25/2010 9:52:53 PM Interesting, because I have had similar issues develop in a more permanent way. I have developed a syndrome called trigger finger, effecting my middle finger on my fretting hand and my ring finger on my strumming hand. What happens is that my fingers lock sometimes when I curl them and sometimes jerk open. Sometimes, when I make chords, that middle fingers jerks instead of moving slowly to where I want it to go. I've thought about surgery, but fear that it might make the problem worse. Posted By: JETUKE Date: 8/26/2010 3:24:48 PM I play right handed. In a couple of weeks I'm having surgery on my left shoulder to remove some bone spurs and repair some rotator cuff tears. Two weeks off work, then return to work using one hand only. I'm not sure how long it will be until I can hold a uke again. Posted By: Tonya Date: 8/27/2010 2:38:46 PM I've been battling *two* frozen shoulders at the same time since January; they say it's a two-year process from freezing to frozen to thawing. Geesh, it's wearying not to have the freedom to move shoulders/upper arms around the way I usually do when I play (who'd a thunk your *shoulders* would affect ukulele playing???). Now I've developed an aching pain in the side joint of my fretting thumb when I do barred chords--I'm hypothesizing that it's because I've compensated with my fretting due to the shoulder issue and now I'm putting pressure on my thumb where it's not good for it. Or maybe it's just arthritis or something else. I *hate* hearing those barred chords sound so sloppy these days, though! Not that they were every really clear and clean to begin with, I guess... Posted By: Tom B. Date: 8/27/2010 6:06:57 PM Besides the aforementioned CRS and fondness for hooch, I have an infirmity with a fancy name: De Quervain's tenosynovitis. It's an inflamation of the wrist most likely caused by my tendency to squeeze the uke neck repeatedly for damping. I've already had surgery, but it came right back. The only real cure is to change my way of playing (or take up another instrument). I'm exploring both options right now ... as well as copious amounts of the aforementioned hooch. Posted By: warndt Date: 8/27/2010 6:56:26 PM Well Tom B., You know what Homer would say....Woo Hoo! Wm. Posted By: ricdoug Date: 8/28/2010 3:06:04 AM   (Updated: 8/28/2010 3:06:48 AM) Two words: Django Reinhardt: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Django_Reinhardt Posted By: mLKauai Date: 8/29/2010 4:10:37 PM exactly ricdoug ! and don't forget Jerry Garcia. ... there was a guy on tv yrs ago: blind, no arms! was a virtuoso at guitar.... his feet. seriously. so,, there will be a way. whatever you do to approach music it is not for nothing; it adds to your knowledge and learning curve ;) cheers all.

E-mail: info@fleamarketmusic.com

Home Online Store    Events Calendar 
Mailing List    Ukulele Links    Marketplace     Bulletin Board 
Player Directory   Collector's Uke Yak    Ukulele Tuner

© 1997-2026 Flea Market Music. All rights reserved.
Web Design by Web Solutions, Inc.