Long shot. Any of you experienced this?

[EndTime]

I’m not the biggest Dr. goer to, but I have had an issue with my fret hand ring finger for about two months now. And at times my pinky has similar symptoms. The symptom is simply pain in the last joint. It feels like if I hyperextended that joint. And of course that’s what I figured I did, but once the pinky started feeling the same way at times, got me thinking this may not be that, but perhaps some type of arthritis or carpal tunnel syndrome I’ve read can affect those two fingers. It is a bit of a downer as it does affect my playing to some degree as the ring finger has pain anytime I flatten it down for a barre chord or 2 string bend.

[BroSlinger]

Have you ever had any bulging or ruptured discs? This can cause all sorts of unexplainable issues in the arms/legs/hands/feet.

That, or it's possibly arthritis.

Make sure to try yoga and a Cervical Spine MRI before you do hand therapy, drugs, or surgeries.

[EndTime]

I’ve treated my health from a wholistic point of view since my mid 20’s after a sorta major, or at least significant, health issue that popped out of nowhere. So I certainly appreciate that point of view. And understand how things in other parts of the body can very much affect stuff that one might not expect. But this does seem very pointed in the joint. I can easily aggravate the joint by squeezing on it. It honestly feels like an injury to the finger, but the time it’s been and the fact there doesn’t seem to be any improvement makes me think it could be something like rheumatoid arthritis which I’ve read turns up in the hands and fingers first.

Can anyone who suffers from arthritis say whether putting pressure on the joint causes pain like it was an external injury like hyperextending or is the pain usually localized to movement of the joint?

[ajaxlepinski]

I had a pain in my left index finger for several months.
It was making it hard to do bar chords so, I finally went to the doctor who sent me to a specialist for a cortizone shot.
The specialist told me that I had a common ailment called, "trigger finger".
The shot did absolutely nothing but, the doctor said that the condition is usually caused by doing something repeatedly like driving a lot or using a tool all the time.
As soon as he mentioned 'driving', the light bulb lit up...
Everyday, I drive 90+ minutes to work and 90+minutes home from work.
I like to rest my left elbow on the window sill and put my left hand on the steering wheel, with the palm side of my index finger knuckle resting on the steering wheel.
I would stay in this position for most of the ride to and from work.
It took about three months for the pain to go away, after I stopped using this position.

You do a lot of woodworking - padded work gloves may help.

One time, I hyperflexed my middle finger while cracking my knuckels - fucking hurt like hell. It took about two months to heal but, while it was tender, it was easy to reinjure it.

[TurboPablo]

If it is trigger finger, all you can do is wait and eliminate what's causing it.

[EndTime]

Thanks for the feedback Ajax. Yeah, it easily could be any and all those like overuse, even from guitar playing. I literally do play pretty much everyday. I’m 41 so not too young anymore, and I am still holding out hope it’s an injury that’s just taking long to heal. I’ve injured my rotator cuff and man, that takes forever to heal. But that’s sorta the nature of that injury.

Anyway, again thanks

[ajaxlepinski]

When my trigger finger started to heal, anytime I used my hand, it got reinjured.
After it started feeling good, it was very easy to reinjure it. I had to be careful not to use the hand, for a few months, even after it felt good.

[Ostinato Rubato]

I'm not sure how much help this is, but it's not likely carpal tunnel. You're right that those two digits are primarily affected by carpal tunnel but pain in the last joint isn't the main symptom. It's numbness and some pain from the wrist all the way up.