DAMN! broken pinkie

Concrete Pete

Senior Member
Hey Crew,

Man this is so awful, stupid, and I have no one to blame but myself. AUUUUGH!

I finished band practice with "Loose Change" this evening, had to rush home thru the 60-75 MPH winds and rain that the current thunderstorm has blessed us with, got home, and had 5 minutes to unwind, change into my sparring apparel, and my student/sparring partner shows up. I pounded a brewski in the meantime. (one measly beer)

We continued on our upper-lower body passive blocking technique we've been working on for a few weeks, and he throws a (VERY well executed) back roundhouse kick (SUPPOSED to be LIGHT contact) and I brought up my right forearm to do a grab/control/twist block, and BANG!-- I caught my little pinkie on his pantsleg during the sweep of his delivery.

SNAP! I heard it, so did he, and the real pain didn't set in until a minute or 2 had gone by.
Man, it's fat, half the colors of the rainbow, and is pounding in severe pain. Did I mention PAIN? AUUUUGH!

Damn, I'm wondering if taping it up, just keep soaking in ice, or calling off the next few gigs might be what to do. I'll know in a day or 2, I guess.

Be careful folks,
C. P.
 
If its broken, you'd better make sure it is
a) set in the right place b) not moving .i.e immobilized.

playing drums isnt going to be easy because the hands going to be kinda taped up..

dunno, bud...
 
How spooky. One day everything goes your way and on the next your finger breaks.

In the late 70s I caught a finger on a nail at work and it split my fingernail (big finger, right hand) from bottom to top. I went to a doctor, got it bandaged up and went home. I looked at the drum kit in my room just sitting, calling me and ... I spent the afternoon drumming with some inconvenience along with records :) But that wasn't a broken bone.

All you can do is explain your situation to the doctor and see if s/he has a way of getting you back into it ASAP. Good luck!
 
You need to go to the doctor. If the finger is indeed broken, and it heals "incorrectly", it could lead to complications and you having to go to medical professionals to re-break it, so that it can be set "properly". I know 2 cats this has happened to. And they both said the "second" time the finger got broke hurt worse than the first.
 
I broke my pinkie last year, and immediately went to the ER to get it set. It turned out to be a greenstick spiraling fracture (look it up), so they chose to cast it for six weeks, which ended up immobilizing the entire hand, all but two fingers, and the wrist. Even after I got the cast off, the doctor recommended three more weeks before I started to play drums again, because the vibrations through your hand could cause the bone to heal together improperly. A year later, my finger has about 90% of its range of motion back, and only aches slightly in cold weather.

So my recommendations:
1) Go to the doctor and do what he tells you.
2) Find a good drumming buddy who can cover your booked gigs for now and discuss with your band what they are willing to accommodate while you recover. If they cannot wait for an injured bandmate to heal, they are likely not going to stick with you any other time the going gets rough (tough words, but true).
3) Don't tough it out if you value having a hand that works correctly.
4) Even professionals get hurt, and when they do, they cancel shows or lay on replacement musicians while the hurt guy recuperates.
 
Back from the clinic...

Well, not great news, but not horrible, either. I did break the pinky, not completely through. I also have a slight sprain on the same finger, next joint down. That's causing most of the pain.

The good doc put a "tube cast" (aluminum thingie) over a heavy gauze wrap, and it secures my pinkie to my ring finger, as I refused a partial hand cast. Can't bend those two fingers now, but I can still hold a stick, using my thumb and two fingers.

I'll be banging on the drums later tonight at practice, and let you all know how it went.

Cheers,
C. P.
 
you should consider having the finger/hand on ice for every possible minute that you can stand it for the next 24 hours. It would be best if you had already started.

That, anti-inflammatory meds (Ibuprofen, naproxen sodium or even good old aspirin) and keeping the hand elevated above the level of your heart is the best thing you can do in the short term.

Can you practice without using that hand? Could make for an interesting practice session, Seriously - the first 24 hours are the most critical in terms of how quickly the recuperation process goes. Take care of it now and it will pay you back tenfold down the road.
 
Amazing.

2-1/2 hours of practice tonight, and it wasn't that bad. I dropped a stick twice with my right (the bad one) hand, but other than that I didn't do as badly as I thought I would.
Yeah, I lost a noticeable amount of stick control, but used my left hand more than usual, which I I think I need to work on, anyway. No one else in the band seemed to notice, or maybe they were just being polite, (after being worried) I guess.

Good news is the pain has turned to a dull one instead of that throbbing kinda pain, and cold compresses alternating with hot ones (the 'rice bag' thing you put in the microwave) seem to be helping. That, Asprin and a couple brews when I got home seem to be doing the job.
Got a gig this Saturday, and looks like it won't be a big problem. Cool.... Life is still good!

Cheers,
C. P.
 
Thats good man. I can relate, I broke my toe last week. While its not as important necessarily as a finger, it still affected my playing and balance. I could still play but no hi-hat work or double pedal. I took a few days off, cancelled one practice, and drank water and took vitamins to help it heal. I didn't want to take a break from playing but I knew it would heal faster it I didn't
 
Re: DAMN! broken pinkie-- I DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' PINKIE!

Hey Crewsters,

Yeah, it's late-- about 3:20 a.m. I just got back from our gig at the Studio Inn. Smoked it, kicked it's @ss, and got a future gig or 2 from mingling and jamming. Way cool.

I took the hoakey aluminum cast-tube thing off earlier today, bought some flesh-colored elastic first aid tape, and taped that lil' broken pinkie to my ring finger. No one in the band noticed, and a couple aspirins did the job.
Did 4 hours of hard core rockin' and the pain was pretty controlable.
The last set was kinda wearing me (and my poor pinkie) down, but cruised right through it all, and no one--not audience, nor band mates were the wiser that I'm "temporarily handicapped".

Not too bad for an old fart (52 years old) beat-up, broke-fingered Harley-ridin' dude!

Best part of the whole evening was all but 2 people from my other bands showed up at the gig, and had a blast and met all the musicians in the band. Made my night.

Rock forever,
C. P.
 
Hey Crewsters,

Ahhhhh- just got home from another gig, (about 4 hours) and the pinkie held up well-- still taping it up. That aluminum tube-thing "cast'' was a waste of time and effort.

I'm starting to think that pinkie fingers really aren't extremely necessary for proper drumming. weird- I never really thought about it before now.

Does anyone use theirs much at all while drumming?

Cheers,
C. P.
 
A solid and reliable grip should involve all the fingers on the stick; i reckon the key to solid and even double strokes is using the little finger. That said, it's probably the most expendable, so if you're going to break anyone, make it that one.
 
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