Fretting hand fiasco
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Anybody here dealing with CRPS (Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome)? How about CRPS that includes bone density deterioration?
I broke my wrist/thumb in a car accident the end of last August and for the first 9 weeks of being in a cast everything was fine. Could move my fingers (thumb was in a splint inside the cast so it wasn't going anywhere) then with a week to go before I lost the cast for good, everything went to hell in a hand basket. From my wrist down to my fingertips I constantly have that pins and needles feeling like when your foot falls asleep only it tends to burn on occasion. The tingling sensation hasn't let up yet since it started the end of October. Also can't distinguish temperature with my hand - soak it in ice water 3 times a day and at best, it feels like room temperature water to me. I had more x-rays on my hand last week and that's when I learned that bone density is very much in play for me now. MRI in a couple days to see if it's limited to just my hand or how extensive it is. My plastic surgeon literally gasped looking at my x-rays last week and said without knowing better, she would assume the x-ray was that of a 75 year old woman with severe osteoporosis. That was not the case a month earlier at my last x-rays.
Anybody with any experience with this CRPS? I was hoping the worst of it had come and gone (skin on my hand would turn darker and peel off daily, freakish wolfman hair growth, excessive swelling, etc) - but this bone density stuff is a bit more serious issue from the tone my plastic surgeon is taking now.
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Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: thinthread
sounds like something a hand
sounds like something a hand specialist should look at, like a form of carpal tunnel or something. just throwing that out there, may or may not be able to assist, the least he/she could do is perhaps steer you in the right direction. all the best to you, fretting hand issue for a player is scary.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: My Name is
Wishing you the best of luck.
Wishing you the best of luck.
Lots of rest and healthy eating. Plus some PT might help to get that blood flowing into that area
I have some numbness going on after my last surgery so I understand where you are coming from.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: cb
Sounds awful.
Sounds awful.
Hoping they diagnose the problem and fix you up.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: aiq
Must be very tough, my worst
Must be very tough, my worst fear aging is the possible loss of playing. A good motivation to keep the stretching and flexibility exercises going.
I would get with a specialist ASAP. Dont mess around.
Best of luck.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sycamore Slough
When I had numbness in hands
When I had numbness in hands (too much time w/ primitive, non shock-isolated chainsaw) Gingko Biloba tincture helped a lot. If nothing else, it's harmless.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Highnote
Sounds like physical therapy
Sounds like physical therapy was needed early on. Sounds like a pinched nerve. My advice is avoid surgeons and find a good rehab specialist.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: treat island
One of my sisters has CRPS.
One of my sisters has CRPS. Started in an achilles tendon after a misstep off a curb. It also went to her other achilles, then her wrists and now I believe it's in her back. She once described it as "the feeling of having nerve sensitivity on the outside of her skin. Like you could rub a cotton ball on her skin and it would be so painful she would cry." She's had it for years, and I don't know if her bone density has been affected, but will check.
It looks like there are 2 types. The one she had, type-1, was first diagnosed as reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), the name when she first got it. It's been changed to CRPS.
It totally sucks.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Across
good luck with getting this
good luck with getting this health situation handled, sounds pretty frightening.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Fingers on the
Thanks everyone. Sorry to
Thanks everyone. Sorry to hear it's awfully close to you Judit.
I've been doing 3+ hours of physio 4 days a week since the start of Nov. Mon/Sat doing non strenuous stuff like trying to touch my thumb tip to my fingertips, trying to stretch as wide as possible, etc - Tues/Thurs are the cry you sissy days. Been going to a pain clinic every Friday since mid-Dec, every Wed since it happened is my family doc and the plastics clinic/specialists. Spent most of Jan getting off the opi meds that were all consuming for a while there.
I would agree with how you describe it, Judit - my surgeon explained it as the nerves in my hand are firing full strength all the time and never shut down. That seemed accurate. I started doing some clinical study stuff up at the University of Toronto at the start of the year but had to back out due to time constraints. Sorta sucks since I am a stay at home dad so in theory, I had the time - just too far and long to get there by train then subway. Better part of 2 hours each way was just too much in the dead of winter.
Thanks again everyone. I will give the guitar another go tonight. At some point I'll be able to form a G chord again.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Highnote
Sorry you are dealing with
Sorry you are dealing with this. I have nothing to offer for medical advice but guitar wise, consider open tunings. It will keep your right hand in shape and get your left hand moving slowly. Good luck.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Lassen
Have you tried acupuncture?
Have you tried acupuncture?
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Bluelight
Open tunings and bottle neck
Open tunings and bottle neck slide moving forward.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Highnote
Remember that Django
Remember that Django Reinhardt had two disabled fingers on his left hand after being burned in a fire. Inspiration, move me brightly.....
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Django_Reinhardt
Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia and Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi, both of whom lost fingers in accidents, were inspired by Reinhardt's example of becoming an accomplished guitar player despite his injuries. Garcia was quoted in June 1985 in Frets Magazine:
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: treat island
From my sister:
From my sister:
yes i have bone density issues in my legs especially my left leg.
i take a pill once a week to try and help it (alendronate sodium tablets).
i have been living with it since (i think)1991. i have been walking on burning feet for a few years now. try for 3-7 miles a day. use it or lose it i always say but it isn't easy a lot of the time.
i am so sorry for your friend. i wish i had a cure. i did find out that wearing a cast in the beginning hurt me and had me develop rsd ( crps). i just stepped off a 3 inch high stepping stone and that's all it took.
tell your friend that i do take norco ( for crps and fibro) and it seems to help along with muscle relaxers. weak of me perhaps but livable.
tell him i am sorry and feel for him.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Fingers on the
Thanks Judit - sorry to hear
Thanks Judit - sorry to hear about your sister and her quarter century ordeal. That is far too long of a timeline to even wrap my head around. Ugh...
One of my doctors also suggested having the cast on for 10 weeks didn't help me as intended - but I had a broken scaphoid and 3 breaks in my thumb so complaining about it now seems foolish. I had a tough time finally finding a doc who is fairly well versed in CRPS - can't imagine what it was like for your sister when it started for her. If you want to pass her my email, feel free. If nothing else I can relate to trying to cope.
So here's my left on Oct 10 (car crash was Aug 26 - sorta assume my left was on the horn when the lady driving the oncoming car turned directly in front of us and the air bag deployed). Hand is groovy and pain free, I would see the kids off to school then spend the mornings watching 3 episodes of The Wire while doing my exercises. Had thoughts of taking one of my guitars into my local shop and having the tech giving it a once over and fresh strings so I'd be ready to go in a week and half when the cast came off.
Here's the best I could do to bend my fingers on Oct 18 (cast off on the 19th). By then something had obviously changed - pain/burning had started, couldn't move my fingers nearly as much, meat hanging off the bone, etc. Maybe I just did my exercises too hard and it needs a couple days to recoup? Maybe it's all in my head and I'm just counting down the hours until the cast comes off and life returns to normal?
Here's my hand the morning of my first appointment with an actual Pain Doctor on Nov. 2. Oh yes, I had by then had to shave down some of the thick nasty pubes sprouting on my delicate, guitar player hand. Skin turning dark and peeling off daily with just a hint of swelling considering the breaks happened on Aug 26... The wedding ring was my grandfather's war ring so I had said I would rather it not be cut off - but there was no way it was coming off without it being cut. Still have it - they had told me as long as I could spin it, I could keep it. Or until my finger turned purple, which it never did.
Up until I showed up at my regular doc with my hand like the one above did anyone get serious on the chronic regional pain syndrome - up until then it was you're not doing enough physio, you're not working it hard enough, only you can make it better, etc...
Another MRI last night, guess we'll see how the bone density depletion is coming along in a week or so. Yippee.
On the brighter side of things, my wife and kids got me this for Christmas. Had to go get a tone bar rather than using my regular slides but adjusting to it all things considered. Sick and tired of playing the intro solo to Freebird and parts of Like A Rock by Seger - but starting to kick out some Saturday Night Special by Skynyrd on it with an overtly aggressive gain setting. Smoke On The Water is an easy one to pull off on it too. It's the little things.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: treat island
I asked my sister if she had
I asked my sister if she had more information about the cast's role in developing (RSD) CRPS. She wrote back,
uc davis doctors had mentioned to me many years ago about the cast. it was on for about 6 months
(2 different ones ) and apparently holding the foot still and injured (it wasn't broken) caused it to take on the crps.
they don't really know what causes it. it just one of those fucked up things. damn sympathetic nerve.
I will ask her if she'd like to have your email address and give her the link to this thread so she can see your photos if she wants. She's a dear person, very sweet, and has been messed up by pain and other traumas. Life just isn't easy.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Sless is Best
Hi Fretboard~ sorry to hear
Hi Fretboard~ sorry to hear you are having a tough time!
Can you take supplements for the bone density?
For the nerve pain, try Topricin. They should have it online or at Whole Foods. I use it like Arnica, which really works.
Healing thoughts sent your way!
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Johnny D
I'm sending you my strongest
I'm sending you my strongest vibes for less pain and more healing.
Hang in there and get better and better.
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: treat island
emotw
emotw
Top of Page Bottom of Page PermalinkFull Name: Old Fart Message Board
Hope your hand heals. It's
Hope your hand heals. It's every guitarist worst nightmare. Maybe, a dabble into bowing the guitar could satisfy the urge. Wishing you a safe a fast recovery.