 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: K.B.M
Date: 2006-04-30 03:03
Hi,
About 7 weeks ago I broke my middle finger on my right hand. The doctor said it is starting to heal a little but it is healing very slowly. She told me that I could start playing a little but at the time she told me that, the test results wern't back from the radiologist, which told just how slowly it was healing.
I was wondering if anyone else has broken their finger before. If so, did you play? Also, is there any way to wrap it up(I broke the middle joint)?
I really want to start playing again because I have concerts coming up soon, but I do not want to do any life long damage. If anyone has any input, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Katie
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Author: rc_clarinetlady
Date: 2006-04-30 03:30
Listen to the medical professionals.
I didn't do what I was supposed to do with a broken ankle 15 years ago and now I've had 6 surgeries to correct what could have been taken care of by putting a cast on it and being patient all those years ago.
Don't get in a hurry. Concerts will always be there. If your finger is that slow to heal then maybe you shouldn't be pushing it. Just a thought.
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Author: Ryan25
Date: 2006-04-30 04:54
I broke my right hand 6 years ago. It was pretty bad as my pinkie finger was just hanging off my hand. I went to a doctor that was considered great for these type of fractures. There was no way I could play until it was healed. The problem, the best way to fix the fracture was to put pins in my hand bone and finger bone and then run a wire through the pins but this would have kept me from playing for a much longer time than setting it and using a cast.
The doctor was very helpful and let me choose what was better for me. I picked the cast and no surgery. Two weeks after the the cast, I went in for new xrays to see how the bone was healing. The doctor noticed that the bone was starting to grow off center and he had to rebrake my hand which is the most pain I have ever felt in my life.
After 10 weeks total in my cast and another 4 weeks of physical therapy, I was playing again and have had no problems with the hand. I guess my point is:
Don't take chances and let things heal. I really understand how anoying it is to have these types of problems but in the long run you are better off letting it heal at it's own pace. You can't rush these things and you don't want it to be a problem for years to come.
Good luck and trust me you will be playing again before you know it.
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2006-04-30 05:13
One time I fell and what stopped my fall was my finger, and it was straight. I have no idea how it didn't break, but today, more than 10 years later, it is almost 100% heeled (I don't think it will ever be 100%). For a while I couldn't move the finger at all. After a while I could but it hurt a lot. A few weeks/months later I could play normally again. Today when I bend the middle joint of the finger and press hard I can still feel it and it hurts a little, but there is nothing in playing clarinet, or any other activity that requires me to bend it hard enough for it to to hurt.
The time you take to heel from injury is different for every person, but I am sure you will be able to play clarinet again. I agree with the rest that you should let it heel before trying to overload your finger again.
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-04-30 10:48
About a month ago I slipped while running up the stairs and landed taking the force on my LH pinkie which bent back and the tip bent back as well.
I pulled it straight and bent it back as it was (then went into shock!) but I think I must have stretched or sprained the ligaments in the top knuckle joint as it's still a bit tender, so getting around the low C#, B and Bb on bari sax is a bit painful (maybe Conn X-bar style bell keys would be better at this time for me than my Yamaha), though just checking it now it's not as painful as before.
I just have to make sure if I press anything with my LH pinkie the tip should be pointing down as it's agony if it bends back slightly. I can apply plenty of force with it, but as long as I keep the tip pointed down.
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Author: Anon
Date: 2006-04-30 17:08
I broke my right pinky 20 years ago, while still in high school. I played a concert that night (because I had no choice) but skipped every note that required that finger or played it on the right. Didn't play after that night until it was "healed" or it didn't hurt anymore. To this day it is slightly crooked and I don't trill as well with it as I would have if I hadn't broken it. But no, it hasn't ruined me as a player at all...and now I can tell when it's going to rain before the weather guy tells me because my finger feels a little weird! :-)
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Author: Chris P
Date: 2006-04-30 17:46
An alto sax player I know had the tip of his LH pinky chopped off (I think it was shut in a car door) down to the base of the fingernail - and he had a gig the same evening which he managed to do - but probably missing a few G#s, low C#,B and Bbs.
I had to lengthen the C#/G# touchpiece by around 10mm on his Yamaha 62 clarinet as he had trouble reaching it as it's a pretty short touchpiece anyway, and even with my fingers I find it too short. Easy enough job to do - I cut the touchpiece arm and soldered in a piece of nickel silver, shaped it and had it silver plated.
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Author: Ralph Katz
Date: 2006-04-30 18:49
See a specialist. Don't try to treat yourself.
I would advise anyone with a broken finger to see a good orthopedic specialist, one who specifically works with hand issues. I have been very fortunate to have such a person as a friend. While there have not been any broken fingers, he has been extremely helpful with a number of other hand and wrist issues, for both me and my wife (a flutist).
As a teenager I broke my right pinky, and it did not heal straight. It felt like someone had moved all of the right-hand extension keys on my clarinet down half an inch, and it took quite a while to relearn things. Had anyone known how much I would be playing later in life, we would have seen a specialist who would have taken more steps insure the fracture was better aligned.
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Author: Sean.Perrin
Date: 2006-04-30 23:03
When I was young and before I started playing the clarinet I broke my right pinky in an unfortunate biking accident. The break was misdiagnosed as a bad sprain for 3 weeks, and then the doctor realised that there was actually a break and made me come in again. I almost had to rebreak it, but it was too far along the healing process or somehitng. Anyway, 10 years later, my finger bends in a strange way, is still a little crooked and locks when I play sometimes. Interestingly enough though, this same problem makes playing the Eb Clarinet a cinch. I can sneak the finger around the four pinky keys quite well!
Founder and host of the Clarineat Podcast: http://www.clarineat.com
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2006-04-30 23:55
I sorta broke my left thumb in a bus accident (30 kph against a tree. So do buckle up if the bus has belts...). Well it was bruised and swollen but got back to normal within a week or so and I didn't give it much thought after that.
Last fall I realised that it'd stretch only to a straight line (and not point slightly up/backwards as other people's thumbs.) Took me a while to find a good sealing position over the thumb hole without accidentally pressing the register key.
--
Ben
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Author: jessiemayfall
Date: 2006-05-02 13:35
Ummm...
I was at all area band and this 2nd chair clairinet player's nail split down the middle when she was changing her shoes and she played anyways.
Well, she reagreted that. So let it heal.
~jessie~
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Author: ya gurl
Date: 2006-05-02 13:38
hey,
band is important to me, and last year i hurt my hand bad and i really wanted to play but i knew if i did then then id hurt myself more and i might not get to play anymore. so whats more important playing a couple more times with a bad finger or never getting to play again? if band is important to you as it is to me then you'll wait, so always remember patience is a virtue. and good luck with your finger, and get well soon.
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Author: Gary Foss
Date: 2006-05-02 21:26
Since You broke a right hand finger, I would still play long tones and left hand exercises to keep the chops up, but be very careful not to engage the broken finger. If You find yourself unable to separate the right hand from moving, I would not play at all. Gary
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Author: MSK
Date: 2006-05-03 01:45
I'm an amateur clarinetist, but a professional physical therapist. I have seen too many broken bones that plagued people forever, because they took chances while the bone was healing and it healed badly! Ask your doctor, though, about doing range of motion now, to prevent later stiffness. Don't even do range of motion without his OK though! By the way, hand specialists (both MDs and PTs) have a lot more skill with this sort of thing than regular orthopedic MDs and regular PTs. (I am not a hand specialist)
The left hand exercises to keep the left hand & embosure going will certainly make your eventual return go more smoothly. Personally, I have found that my chops suffer more than my fingers after a too long break from playing.
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