I dropped a 50lb box on my ring finger of my fretting hand and pinched it between the box and the edge of a shelf. That was almost 2 weeks ago. I never went to the doctor because in my experience everyone who has done something similarly stupid said they don't do anything anyway. They either splint it or tape it and tell you to get on with your life. Its still a little swollen and hurts like a bugger in the morning! Picked up the guitar for the first time since doing it today and its not going so well. Has anyone else done this and do you have any idea how long it will be until my finger is fairly normal again? I am severely bummed.

i'd go to the doctor if i were you. if you don't treat it a broken finger can hurt for months. not to mention if its bad enough it can be stiff for a long time, even if it doesn't hurt.

-Jake

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"I don't care how good you are, how fast you are. You ain't good enough no lessin' you got the soul." -Hubert Sumlin

Django Reinhardt lost the use of his ring and pinky
Here he plays in spite of the loss. With two fingers!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEzsPGHsi90

i have experince, i broke my left wrist about a month ago, t'was in plaster for 2 weeks. Couldn't play, t'was horrible, but i improved my picking technique alot cause i just strummed away all day long with no fretting hand.

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riley

yeah, get it checked out buddy, about 8 years ago i was getting ready to play a show with my former band and my bassist dropped his ampeg amp on my fingers broke my right ring finger and my pinkie i never got it checked out and to this day i can hardly bend those fingers, luckily it didn't bust up my left hand though

Get thy afs and finger to a doctor; you do NOT want it healing crooked !

yeah, my pinkie healed crooked it's seriously NOT fun

It's definitely worth getting checked out. I broke the little finger on my fretting hand last year and it was over a month before I could use it properly again - and a few weeks of painful playing after that.

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Steve

Get to a Dr. and get it checked out and x-rayed today if not sooner.If that's a break and starts to set on it's own you may be plagued with a mis-shaped finger and the only remedy for that is to have it rebroken and/or surgery.If you truly love playing you should get medical attention ASAP or you may loose your ability to play.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

I am also in the medical field as a nurse (LVN). I recommend it at least be looked at. If it is still swollen I recommend ice 20 minutes on and an hour off until the swelling goes away. Use some sort of anti-inflammatory like Motrin (ibuprophen) or Aleve. These work better for reducing inflammation. If they make your stomach upset, try Tylenol for the pain. Use them as directed on the bottle. I recommend doing this until you are able to see the doctor. Yu may want to consider buying a finger splint (local pharmacy) or using 2 clean popcicle sticks and tape them above and below the suspected break. Not too tight though, if you start losing sensation, loosen the tape.

Have the finger looked at ASAP to make sure no real damage has occured. I hate to say this, but you already waited too long and the healing process has started. Hopefuly it is not broken, and if it is I hope it heals straight. 6-8 weeks usually is the amount of time you you need to heal a broken bone.

Tough break for now. Rest up, practice strumming for now. I hope all works out and you are back to playing real soon.

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head