I did a dumb thing!

RafterGirl

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No sooner do I heal up from tendonitis surgery on my left wrist, then I go and injure my right strumming finger. I was moving my rafting gear into my garage yesterday evening in preparation for a river trip next weekend. I banged my right hand into the side of the raft trailer. I must have scraped against something sharp, but I didn't really feel it. Then I see blood dripping everywhere, and a a giant gash across my right index finger, across the knuckle and up the side of the finger. Big, nasty laceration. 14 stitches at the ER. I have to keep it dressed & splinted for a few days to avoid any stress on the stitches since they go across the bottom and side of the knuckle. It hurts like hell.

I think I can still strum with my thumb, once the pain dies down, so all is not lost. I'm just glad I did it yesterday & not the day before. My ukulele group played a community concert Friday evening.
 
Ouch! Perhaps you can play air ukulele? Hope you heal fast.
 
Yeouch! Wishing you a speedy and full recovery!
 
Ouch! Get better soon!
 
Definitely wishing you a most speedy recovery. Just reading has me cringing and feeling pain. I strum with different fingers, typically not my thumb. I strum with a backwards flick with any the index or middle fingers or multiple fingers. I hope our suggestions help. I know you know this, please cooperate with your body to heal itself. Wishing you positive thoughts and prayers.
 
Thank goodness it wasn’t your fretting hand! Hope you heal quickly.

I can sympathize with you...When I was a kid, just starting out on guitar, I got a 14 stitch wound that stretches from the tip of my left thumb across the pad nearly to the knuckle. It was a cut to the bone and my thumb has been scarred and has been a constant source of pain ever since. It has definitely affected the way I hold my stringed instruments to a great extent, basically all the time I’ve been playing them.

Hopefully, your wound won’t give you anywhere near so many problems.
 
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I have always liked thumb strumming. I use my thumb primarily when doing chord melodies. I've taken a few baby steps into fingerpicking, but nothing serious. Using my thumb seems to give me more nuanced sounds. Not as much volume though, except on my LN soprano. That baby pretty much screams when strummed with my index finger.

I can definitely thumb strum now. The big bandage & finger splint are in the way, but it's doable.

My rafting friends are trying to figure out how to get me & my raft on the river next weekend, with me being a passenger instead of a rower. They've promised to set up my tent & haul my gear for me. It's a pretty tame stretch of river, so mostly sitting in camp playing music, playing canasta, and spending time with my good friends. We shall see how the next 2 days go. The ER doctor said if it was him, he'd find a way to keep the finger clean & dry, and still go on the river.
 
Best of luck with the trip and the strumming. I hope your injury heals up more quickly than expected.
 
Sorry to hear about the accident. Hope recovery is quick and that you have a great trip next weekend.
 
Ouch! Hopefully you can go on the trip and enjoy it, and get back to playing with all fingers quickly.
Glad you got your community concert in before it happened, but there is never a good time for an injury.
 
Damn that’s no joke. I feel for you. Sending speedy recovery vibes ;)
 
Bad news, but good that you're not letting it get in the way. See if you can find a Goretex mitt with a good cinch strap. Waterproof, but breaths.


This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly West near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 5 acoustic bass ukes, 11 solid body bass ukes, 9 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 34)

• Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
• Member The CC Strummers: YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
 
Gruesome picture alert

As they say ......pics or it didn't happen. I wish it didn't happen.
 

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Get well! 14 stitches on a finger, no joke. If this makes you feel better, I had an index finger slammed on by a tank’s empty shell disposal solid metal trap door. I still have my finger.
 
Painful......I always thought rafting was dangerous. ;)

Speedy recovery.

P.S. You may be able to pluck the chords, still keeping your damaged finger out of the way.
 
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