Falling apart

[Mark Gunter]

In my 20's, 30's 40's - strong
In my 50's - pretty dad-blamed strong
Now I'm 62, in the words of the Everly's, "problems, problems, problems all day long"

Joint pain, back pain, arthritis, inflammation. All this has crept up slowly throughout the past decade, to the point that I'm now a shell of my former self. Doesn't help that I suffer from scoliosis.

Anyway, the most irritating development now is a bad case of trigger finger that cropped up about two months ago in the ring finger of my right hand. It is now to the point that there is pain in the joint and all along the finger at all times. I plan to see a physician next week. Definitely not interested in surgery.

It's good that this is not in my fretting hand, just arthritis as usual over there. It still bothers me a bit while playing though, and while doing many other daily tasks. Anybody got a miracle cure?

[DataNick]

Sorry to hear that Mark!

SteveDenver as I recall had some experience with trigger finger; you might want to PM him.

[Roger Adams]

I can relate. Welcome to the "Golden Years."

[Don Grieser]

I got the steroid shot when I developed trigger finger. I would never do that again. Unbelievably painful. The trigger finger was back in a month or so. Mine wasn't severe, but it was the ring finger in the left hand so it was more of a problem for playing.

I saw an Alexander teacher who also did body work, got acupuncture, and started on every natural inflammatory I could find (turmeric, flax seed meal, fish oil, chia seeds, bromelane). Mine eventually went away. I don't know if any of that stuff helped it go away, but it's all supposed to be good for you anyway. I also used arnica gel on my hand at night.

Heat seems to help too. Put a very damp washrag in the microwave to get it hot and wrap that around your hand. Feels great.

That's my experience. Not giving any kind of medical advice--just letting you know my experience. YMMV.

[Ivan Kelsall]

From Mark - "Doesn't help that I suffer from scoliosis". Me too mark - right at the base of my spine & it gives me hell !. Two MRI scans have revealed the problem - the Doc's solution,pain killers & an anti-inflamatory gel !.

'Trigger finger' in my right middle & first fingers right now. It's not affecting my playing,but it makes manipulating a pick in my right hand difficult. It it twists around,i have to turn it with my left hand. Don Greiser mentions 'steroid injections' - they do work for some folk,but if the finger has been triggering for a long while,usually the swelling in the tendon won't respond. I had an op.on my left middle finger & thumb around 13 years ago. It was fairly painful for a while afterwards,but after 3 months start to finish,i was back to 100%. If my right hand gets to a point where it becomes a serious problem,i'll opt for the op. - it doesn't return.

I've mentioned this on here several times. After my TF op.,one of the things i was advised to do as part of my physio,was to soak my hands & a face cloth in water as hot as i could stand for several minutes. After your hands get 'soaked' with the warmth,take the face cloth & wring the bejeezus out of it several times. The tension & then relaxation help to free up the TF. It won't take it away,but it does help a great deal. If i feel my right hand is a tad more stiff than usual,i do that as part of my morning ablutions.

I will mention one other thing. I mentioned that my Doc. prescribed some anti-inflamatory gel. for my lower back pain. It's called 'Piroxicam' & it's a Feldene Gel.
The first finger on my left hand began to 'trigger' about 4 years ago. I used the gel.on my finger,rubbing it into the part where i could feel the swelling in my tendon. After a couple of weeks,my finger was fine & it still is !.
http://www.medicinenet.com/piroxicam/article.htm
Ivan

[billkilpatrick]

70 and counting here - and the aches and pains come and go. Obviously, if one of them becames a serious problem, you'll have to get help. But for the others - call 'em "post growing" pains - accommodate them as best you can and just get on with it. Welcome to the future.

[Mandoplumb]

I've had the steroid injections several times in different fingers. Yes the shot is painful but that lasts only a few minutes and for me the treatment lasts for quite sometime. Every one is different so it may be that you should try.

[Manfred Hacker]

It's good that this is not in my fretting hand, just arthritis as usual over there. It still bothers me a bit while playing though, and while doing many other daily tasks. Anybody got a miracle cure?

Had it in the left pinky. Two injections (yes, very painful) helped for about a year each. But they do not recommend more, because that would damage and weaken the tendon. So I got surgery in October. It was no big deal (although I was scared) and the doc said that it will not come back again. I use my pinky a lot and it has been a great relief.

[Eric F.]

I've had two trigger fingers. The shots hurt, but I didn't think they were that bad. The condition always came back eventually, though, so I had the surgery. As mentioned above, it's not that big a deal. As far as I know, it's the only sure-fire permanent cure. Good luck.

[Denny Gies]

Mark, wait 'til your 70's. Gettin' old ain't for wimps.

[Steve Ostrander]

Maybe we need to start a new forum on this site, "Mando Related Aches & Pains"....

I just turned 62 last week and I'm blessed with relatively good health, except for some cardio issues like occasional A-Fib and arrhythmia. I've never had a knee, hip or shoulder operation and for that I'm grateful. I think we all would agree that the benefits of playing an instrument outweigh the pain. I dread the day that I have to stop because the pain dictates it.

[George R. Lane]

Let see, I am going on 67 have some arthritis in both hands, bulging disc in my neck (C5), lactose intolerant, pre-diabetic, both knees replace, torn rotator cup in right shoulder other than that I feel great. Denny is correct, no time for wimps.

[pops1]

Same as George, we were both born the same year. Arthritis in my hands and wrists and spine, tore meniscus in my knee a couple years ago, gluten intolerant. Whoohooo ain't we having fun. Still playing as much as I can and picking up the guitar occasionally after a couple of decades of not playing it.

[Paul Busman]

By all means try all other options first, but I'd suggest that you don't rule out surgery. As an OR nurse I've worked on many of these procedures. It's a very straight forward operation which only takes a few minutes (plus prep time, recovery etc). Everyone I've talked to who has had it done has been very positive about the results. If possible, try to find an Ortho surgeon who specializes in hands.

[mandolindude04]

I'm nearly 61 and have assorted aches and pains. From 2002 until I retired in 2011, I worked as a painter in the facilities department at the County. That job was tough on my body. I now am doing painting and odd jobs to earn a little cash, and supplement my pension check. My lower back and shoulders can be quite painful at times. I've found that CBD oil cream works wonders. It's legal where I live, but who knows? My finger joints get sore from playing guitar, and mandolin, so I use it for that as well.

[Mark Gunter]

Thanks for all the replies. I've lived with plenty of pain, and still do, but at the rate I'm going now I felt that a little whining might be excusable

I've not considered the cortizone shots for any of my maladies, though some seem to get great relief from them, I've seen in my acquaintances that the relief is temporary and continued use can cause its own damage. It is good to hear the surgery success stories. I am not totally averse to surgery, just not quick to go that route. I had surgery to remove a tumor between a couple of knuckles on my right hand about 20 years ago, and it took a couple months to regain full strength and use. I had surgery to patch a hernia about seven years ago, and down for nearly a month followed by another month or two to gain full strength - and the patch gives me a lot of pain from time to time even today. I'm glad to hear that this particular procedure has worked so well for those who've posted here, and it makes me open to consider it.

For now, I'm going to try some of the remedies that Don & Ivan suggested and see if I can get some relief that way. Most of that is less intrusive that cortizone injections.

[stevedenver]

See the doc
Rest it...
I had it in ring and then pinky (LH) , from hard (3 hours plus daily) rehearsal and gigging and practice..lots of closed position work and some killer jethro and dawg exercises.....was most zealous in trying to get to the "next level".......


First was my ring fiunger i think. I being a tough guy and stupid, pressed on, as i loved playing and the band then was getting tighter and more gigs. As a result my pinky did double duty for ring , while i tried to play three fingered on the LH. Pinky paid for it's over usage later.


Mine (TF ring and then pinky) went away after ......8 months and then a year respectively. I stopped guitar, bass and mando, and played "at" harmonica and piano and sang for musical fixes.

Yup,its likely age. And, i learned it might be a related factor to triggering arthritis later, accoding to my doc. (This, btw, is a bfd, if you get it bad).


I too exercise and take care of myself, and its the luck of the gene pool, and, i think, over doing it, in my case.


BTW, im fine and playing daily, hour or up to four, daily. BUT, i now take rests, stop for a minute ot 2 and stretch the hands. Helps. At jams, in will sit out a song, or stop chopping if there are others on mando, just for a tiny break from the constant gripping.

Surgeons know how to cut. Mine basically said your "option" is to stop playing, or, get cut. In my case, it wasnt true. But thats me.

I got away without this, but, my close friend the metal guitarist had his cut (same doc btw) and he's fine.

Fwiw, i KNEW, my TF was from a lot of hard playing, and, having done various stuff all my life, mountainteering, biking, running, yoga, horses, climbing, fencing, i was sure a rest would cure things. It always had in the past re injury.

. And, i was leery of touted surgical recovery time, infection, and other risk. And, i was willing to stop playing for a long time in order to see if surgery was really necessary.. (Had had enough band drama at the time too, so mentally a break was fine.)

Steroid shot did nothing for me. Except creep me out, as i was at the time a huge needle coward. And steroids need to be understood. I understand that they actually can destroy tissue )which is sometimes why they work), so they need to be understood.

But,im a lawyer, not a doc, and a doc is the ONLY source you should rely upon, not a mandolin forum........and im not discounting ivan , don or anyone else. You have a medical issue.

Become informed , and rest. Rest!
Best of luck.

[HonketyHank]

Mark, I hope and trust that you will find a way to resolve the problem in an acceptable manner. Luckily, I have not faced the issue, but I do know it IS an issue. All the best, and keep on keepin' on.

[Willie Poole]

Wait until you are 81 and then you can really complain about how you ache...Like me...A fellow once told me that when he woke up in the morning that was the best he would feel all day, well not for me, each morning I hurt like hell when getting out of bed but its a blessing that I can even get out of bed each morning at my age...

Falling down my garage steps back in October didn`t help any, still have a little problem making chords on the mando but I get by...Got a gig tomorrow that will be a true test...

Willie

[Mark Miller]

Good luck, Mark. I hope you find a way forward.

[JeffD]

My heart goes out to all of you. Please take care of yourselves. Watch your step, don't take up any dangerous hobbies, wear a seat belt, eat right and exercise some.

This stuff starts happening just when we are getting somewhere on the mandolin. Just getting a certain stride, a certain competence and confidence. Its so unfair.

[catmandu2]

I'm feeling my just desserts these days too after decades of too much of this stuff. I gave up playing guitar (and mandolins) almost entirely - did so completely give up the rigorous gtr styles classical/flamenco - my first loves. I find mandolin among the more strenuous instruments to play - lots of concentrated energy in a very small space (fiddle is much easier on the fingers). I found other instruments as alternatives to the ones I initially preferred. There are several that are highly ergonomically amenable - as well as wonderfully expressive - and others that are just plain fun (accordians, woodwinds).

Best wishes for the fullest experience you may attain, no matter the methods.

[Mark Gunter]

I gave up playing guitar almost entirely - did so completely give up the rigorous gtr styles classical/flamenco - my first loves.

For the past 2 + months I've been enjoying an old Harmony Patrician that I picked up as a Christmas/birthday gift to myself. I learned Norman Blake's Thebes with it, in the absence of my main axe. Got my Breedlove back yesterday, and felt a little pain at some of the stretches, it wasn't working out too well, so I checked scale lengths. About 7/16"difference, and I couldn't easily adjust.

I've found though that regular playing actually helps keep range of motion in my arthritic hands, as long as I don't go excessive and injure myself. I probably injured my right hand doing furniture repair somehow, maybe pulling upholstery staples, could have been a number of things that I don't register; the trigger finger thing just started there one day and has gotten progressively worse.

[catmandu2]

Ya my issues are different - too much 'arched wrist' classical position...i may play some folk-style (gtr) stuff, for fun, that's much less physically demanding than the technical styles. My issues are also exacerbated with other technical 'chording' approaches on plectrum/tenor banjos, and mandolins (with larger mando-family it emanates as much from the string tension, I think); I can play fiddle, doublebass etc as the hand positions are much different.

But I do encourage folks to adapt to other means/methods if they find it too difficult to continue, as I found.

[T.D.Nydn]

The topic is "falling apart" .. I'm 62 and in the best shape of my life,,except for one thing,,my teeth,,I have full upper dentures and had to get my bottoms pulled for lower dentures 2 1/2 weeks ago..18 shots of Nova Caine did nothing at all and the dentist pulled them all out raw cold on me,,I felt everything and he was aware of it also,,they still arnt settling in yet and still hurt..