Locking Pinky Syndrome

Joepie

Joepie

New member
Hey guys,

Lately I've been playing a lot of acoustic guitar (as opposed to electric) and I've noticed that on occasion my left pinky finger tends to lock up at the second joint. It happens when I have to stretch it out to form a certain chord or hit a certain fret. At first I didn't really care much, but when I play a lot it actually starts to hurt a bit.

Anyone else experienced this? Should I be worried about permanent damage or is it just a matter of getting used to?

Thanks for the advice,

Joepie
 
I had something similar once. I never really experienced any pain, but my pinky would also lock up. Not permanantly, but it was like there was a barrier stopping me from straightening my finger to reach where I wanted to reach until I took my hand off the fretboard and straightened it. I never really experienced any pain though, maybe a couple of times. It never bothered me too much and eventually stopped happening. That was right around the time I was getting more technical and learning to shred. My guess would be that its just your finger adjusting to having to reach a little differently on the bigger neck on the acoustic. I wouldn't say 'ignore it, it will go away', but it may just be a matter of getting used to playing an acoustic a lot more. Either way, if your worried, see a doctor. They'll be able to tell you if there's something wrong...perhaps :D
 
My mother had surgery for something like this. I only vaguely recall the details but her issue was that some sort of a sheath that runs over the tnedonsds on her finger(s) was getting snagged somehow. The surgery diod something to effectively file down a barb on the tendon or something and she had flexibility back.

Daav
 
Take a break from using that stretch. You could be doing bad things to your finga. Not a doctor but I play one on tv.
 
I've had issues with pinky locking to straight position, so that I can't bend it.. Not in a while though, been playing more..
 
This is something that gets overlooked alot but some people can really hurt themselves playing guitar! Most of the time, its posture related, or happens when you hang a heavy guitar from your shoulder. But it can happens in fingers, I hurt my wrist a couple of times making difficult changes between chords. Silly as it sounds, I warm up before I play, especially if its cold. I start with chromatic exercises and very basic chord changes, as well as tightening a fist a and releasing it, rotating the wrist. It's really silly, but I mean its like any exercise; you warm up first and build up to it. You dont just lie on a weights bench and press 100 kilos straight up.
 
Hey Telepaul: you are dead on right. Years of hanging an 11 lb (approx 5.5 kilos?) has affected my shoulders (ask my ortho). good posture, realising the effect of sympathetic tension and mindfulness of repetitive motion disorder can help prevent problems. One thing. If it hurts, binds, cramps etc. stop. rest and re-evaluate the technical issue. Be well all.
 
since i strained my pinky in '87 i never regained full use of it. the phenomenon you describe is just one of the unpleasant consequences of the injury besides not being able to move it at all at times, having no force in it and pain pretty much everytime i stress it.

the docters say i permenantly damaged a tendon and that an operation MIGHT fix it. it could also make it worse.

now for the good news! since i've had it for so long now i don't even notice it anymore and i just 'play around' it!!! ;)
 
I am a classical guitarist but I think this advice translates: Try to keep your wrists as straight as possible. Warm up. Also, keep a healthy relaxed curve in your fingers whenever possible.

This should be your starting point: Make a fist and drop your arms by your sides. Then totally relax the fist. Your fingers should naturally loosen up but your fingers will still be half way bent. There should be a space between you thumb and pointer. Fit the neck of the guitar in this space and that should be your median position whenever possible.
 
I also notice when doing finger-style acoustic stuff, the fingers on my right hand will start to "lock up" or feel tight, almost cramped, but no pain.

It sucks because it feels like it's getting harder to play songs. Songs that used to be easy are giving me a hard time. :mad: :(
 
Jouni said:
I've had issues with pinky locking to straight position, so that I can't bend it.. Not in a while though, been playing more..
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That's been my problem, too, but it's happened to most of the fingers at one time or another. I think it's more of a problem related to the joints rather than the muscles or tendons. It's kind of like being double-jointed. The joint just extends farther than it's supposed to, and temporarily gets stuck on the other side of the fulcrum point. Maybe better muscle tone would not allow it to go that far to begin with, though. As stiff as my joints have gotten, I figure that's the least of my problems.

Has this ever happened to anyone else, though? If I play a repetative pattern (what comes to mind is the bass pattern at the end of Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen - three notes over and over) my hands start to cramp really bad in no time at all. And I mean it's really, really painful. Anyone else?
 
danny.guitar said:
I also notice when doing finger-style acoustic stuff, the fingers on my right hand will start to "lock up" or feel tight, almost cramped, but no pain.

It sucks because it feels like it's getting harder to play songs. Songs that used to be easy are giving me a hard time. :mad: :(
Click to expand...

Try the exercise I described earlier. At the first sign of tightness, stop and take a 15 minute break. Good posture takes discipline. Sometimes you have to take one step back before you can take 3 steps forward. You are young so I think it would be worth the effort.
 
ibleedburgundy said:
Try the exercise I described earlier. At the first sign of tightness, stop and take a 15 minute break. Good posture takes discipline. Sometimes you have to take one step back before you can take 3 steps forward. You are young so I think it would be worth the effort.
Click to expand...

Yea I'm gonna do that.

I've been playing for roughly 5-6 years now and I've never once sat down and actually practiced technique, posture, or anything. :o

Thanks for the advice.
 
Any of you guys ever heard of Ron Jarzombek? (Watchtower, Spastic Ink)

I remember hearing of him having the locking finger problem and having surgery, but it made it worse and he had to do it several more times to get it corrected. He was not playing at all for a few years. Not trying to generate a scare, just though it might be a story you wanted to look into.

I've never had the locking finger thing, but there have been times when I felt like I was screwing up something in my hand by moving my finger certain ways. Sort of like an internal resistance that wasn't really painful, just wierd. I would have to pull my hand away from the guitar and squeeze it in and out of a fist a few times for it to go away.
I've also had tendonitis in both wrists. Guitar related injuries really suck.
 
Wow, I'm surprised to hear so many people having finger/wrist/arm/back problems from playing guitar. Seems I need to rethink my posture and technique to prevent problems later on.

Also, I've been looking around the net and the pinky-problem seems to be a well known issue among young violinists and flute players. Apparently, and that's what you guys suggest too, it can be corrected by using the right technique and hand position. I guess, being a self-taught guitarist my technique has always been horrible. I hate to have to try and correct it.... old habits die hard... but I wouldn't want to mess up my fingers.

Thanks for all the info.... keep posting!

Joepie


Edit: I was indeed talking about the finger locking in the straight position, like being double jointed...
 
about wrists..

I had a wrist problem a couple of months back which I posted here for advice.
..That was caused by weird bending of wrist while picking fast.

I ended up using a selfmade leather wristband pulled so thight that my wrist simply didn't bend. :D (Power-lifters use similar)

It helped, lots of rest, and then training with that wrist-lock took away the pains and now I don't bend the wrist anymore. ...Though, I sometimes notice the bad habit coming again, and use the wristband while playing.
 
on this topic of hand problems, I started gigging again which I hadn't done in about 6 months off the road...the first gig my picking hand (i'm a bass player btw) swelled up like a fucking grapefruit. by the end of the set, I could barely hold the damn pick...and after the set I could barely pick up my beer :mad:
I've started to use a slightly lighter pick, and this seems to help, but it's still goddamn annoying...I never had this problem in years on the road. I guess my gigging hand has just had too much down time.
 
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