Broken Hand

[Draco]

I broke the bone under my pinky finger (I was told it's called a "boxer's fracture", and yes, I broke it being an idiot) last week, which may require surgery. Does anybody have experience with this injury as far as eventually getting back to playing guitar? It's my pick hand and I'm just hoping everything will be back to normal after healing.

[MALAM]

I did exactly the same thing in June this year- fractured the fifth metacarpal in my right hand. I went to A&E the day it happened, a fracture 'specialist' took one look at it and had my hand put straight in a cast. At the time I really wasn't happy about this and kept telling him that I'm a guitarist and teach for a living, in an attempt to drum into his tiny little head that it's really important that he fixes my hand properly- I'd read some of the horror stories on the internet

So, a week passes by and I return to the hospital for my next appointment with the fracture specialist. Different 'specialist' this time. He undresses my hand and asks me to make a fist really slowly. Could I do it? Could I hell. The broken metacarpal had started to repair out of line, causing a rotational deformity. My pinky and ring finger were pointing in different directions, crossing over each other. The fracture specialist then told me the obvious, surgery required. I told him I was a guitarist and taught for a living, he booked me in for an emergency op straight away

I ended up having to have the metacarpal broken again and reset, complete with a K-Wire to hold it in position.



After the op, my hand was put back in a backslab plaster cast. I then had to wait 5 weeks before the cast could be pulled off and the K-Wire removed. Having the K-Wire removed is the strangest feeling ever, I tell thee. As you can see in the pic above, there's a little bit sticking out of the skin- just enough to be able to grab it with some mini-mole grips and yank it out

I was out of action for 7 weeks in total. 2-3 weeks after having the K-Wire removed I had full movement back in my hand and fingers, wrist still gets a bit stiff now and again but that's to be expected...it takes a while for everything to repair fully.

Good luck

[Magical Muffin]

Originally Posted by MALAM

I did exactly the same thing in June this year- fractured the fifth metacarpal in my right hand. I went to A&E the day it happened, a fracture 'specialist' took one look at it and had my hand put straight in a cast. At the time I really wasn't happy about this and kept telling him that I'm a guitarist and teach for a living, in an attempt to drum into his tiny little head that it's really important that he fixes my hand properly- I'd read some of the horror stories on the internet

You can always tell between the doctors that genuinely try to help their patients problems in the most convenient way possible and the losers who just want you to get out of their office so they can get to the next patient and make more monehs.

@OP, you can at the very least tie a sock to the guitar neck and practice legato, if you want your left hand to be in shape.

[Draco]

Originally Posted by MALAM

I did exactly the same thing in June this year- fractured the fifth metacarpal in my right hand. I went to A&E the day it happened, a fracture 'specialist' took one look at it and had my hand put straight in a cast. At the time I really wasn't happy about this and kept telling him that I'm a guitarist and teach for a living, in an attempt to drum into his tiny little head that it's really important that he fixes my hand properly- I'd read some of the horror stories on the internet

So, a week passes by and I return to the hospital for my next appointment with the fracture specialist. Different 'specialist' this time. He undresses my hand and asks me to make a fist really slowly. Could I do it? Could I hell. The broken metacarpal had started to repair out of line, causing a rotational deformity. My pinky and ring finger were pointing in different directions, crossing over each other. The fracture specialist then told me the obvious, surgery required. I told him I was a guitarist and taught for a living, he booked me in for an emergency op straight away

I ended up having to have the metacarpal broken again and reset, complete with a K-Wire to hold it in position.


After the op, my hand was put back in a backslab plaster cast. I then had to wait 5 weeks before the cast could be pulled off and the K-Wire removed. Having the K-Wire removed is the strangest feeling ever, I tell thee. As you can see in the pic above, there's a little bit sticking out of the skin- just enough to be able to grab it with some mini-mole grips and yank it out

I was out of action for 7 weeks in total. 2-3 weeks after having the K-Wire removed I had full movement back in my hand and fingers, wrist still gets a bit stiff now and again but that's to be expected...it takes a while for everything to repair fully.

Good luck

Wow, that seems pretty nasty having wire sticking out of your skin like that. The orthopedic doctor today told me that the CAT scan showed that the alignment seems OK, but the fracture actually goes into the joint as well which is why surgery might come into play. I have to see a hand surgeon on Monday to see what needs to be done. I guess MM has the right idea - use the time to work the fret hand.

[Hikey Mikey]

Draco, MALAM . . . best wishes for a full recovery. Hope you are rocking again soon!

Peace

Mike

[taracatac]

Originally Posted by Draco

I broke the bone under my pinky finger (I was told it's called a "boxer's fracture", and yes, I broke it being an idiot) last week, which may require surgery. Does anybody have experience with this injury as far as eventually getting back to playing guitar? It's my pick hand and I'm just hoping everything will be back to normal after healing.

I had the same thing on my left (fret hand) about 20 years ago. Once the cast comes off, you will be very stiff. Just follow your instructions for stretches etc. I didn't have to have surgery, and it healed very well. I don't remember how long in took to get back to my normal dexterity, but it wasn't very long, probably a few weeks.

[rhynobyte]

Sorry to hear this Draco. Hope it all heals well. I see you're in MA as well. No shortage of specialists. A cabby slammed into my buddies motorcycle a few years ago and the bumper slammed his leg into the bikes engine at the ankle pressing it apart from the leg. His foot was hanging from a thread of tissue and the first doctor wanted to just snip it and toss it into a bucket. In comes the specialist and now it's reattached and he's walking on it. Take it slow and good luck.

[+SAM+]

Wow man, if I miss playing for even 2 days it'll take me a month to get back to where I was.
Hope you get better soon man.

[Draco]

I appreciate the good sentiments...the hand specialist told me no surgery necessary, and he's hopeful that I'll only need to be in a splint for 2 more weeks - great news for me.

[jaxadam]

Don't worry about it, I've broken my right hand 4 times, and it hasn't messed me up yet.