functional px finger responses
Lynette Duncan
Description
Collection
Title:
functional px finger responses
Creator:
Lynette Duncan
Date:
1/21/2015
Text:
Thanx everyone, I have a lot of direction now. I'm going to show the
patient the options and let her decide which one might work best for her,
since I do not play guitar or anything musical!
Original post
I have a 39 year old female patient whose left ring finger was amputated at
the DIP joint 4 years ago. She has been authorized for a functional
partial finger PX. She wants to play the guitar again. Does anyone have
any recommendations for a functional and durable partial finger PX.
Cosmetics are not a concern.
Responses
Naked prosthetics.....yes I know the name of the company is cringe worthy,
but there devices appear to be very functional. Albeit expensive.
So you could use a finger protector like used to count money, the issue is
going to be the 'feel' from playing, but there are ways she could modify
her chording to make that not so much an issue. Question then becomes, what
style guitar is she playing, rock, country, classical etc, as the latter
would be the most difficult to overcome style-wise.
That would probably be the most durable using the finger protector, and you
could then fill with silicone to regain the lost length. As noted, it
wouldn't necessarily be pretty, but it would serve the function she's
looking for. Have fun...
I had a similar situation and I used an X finger from Didrick Medical
(not sure off hand about the spelling of Didrick). The patient was very
pleased but I was extremely frustrated with the lack of response from
Didrick. They want the money up front and then you have to pressure them to
do anything. They won't return phone calls either. This was all information
I had from others going into it and I told the patient up front that this
is known to be a problem company and he was OK with the delays. It is a
very interesting prosthesis, only about a million moving parts but it works
well. Make sure you get a lot of extra pins and ke that not so much an
issue. Question then becomes, what style guitar is she playing, rock,
country, classical etc, as the latter would be the most difficult to
overcome style-wise.
That would probably be the most durable using the finger protector, and you
could then fill with silicone to regain the lost length. As noted, it
wouldn't necessarily be pretty, but it would serve the function she's
looking for. Have fun...
Look into the x-finger. You can order from sps or cascade
I've dealt with this issue many times over the years - for guitar players
and violin. Firstly, I'll assume that we're talking about the fretting hand
and not the strumming. Thus, the challenge is to have both pressure and
dexterity with strength to hold up. If it's just at the DIP joint, I have
found that patients did best with a dense silicone finger sleeve instead of
attempting to construct the distal phalanx. Although the patients did have
to alter their positioning for some chords, etc. it was far easier than
struggling with a silicone fingertip that would not transmit the heightened
sense of proprioception required for the task.
M-finger by liberating technologies would probably provide the greatest
chance of success.
Very good luck with Touch Bonics
Advise the lady to listen to Django Reinhardt. He had several fingers
rendered useless from a fire but plays guitar as well as anyone. He
is a huge influence in the Gypsy Jazz world of music.
Jerry Garcia, formerly of the Grateful Dead, also had a finger
amputated. He played without a prosthetic device.
I have made these finger with Otto Bock silicone service out of Canada and
they look and function grossly. I think you will find it hard for her to
like playing the guitar with the device. As a guitar player I can say what
is going to be missing is the touch and feel of the strings and the tone is
going to be screwed up from the silicone. It will also be equal to
sticking your finger into a piece of rubber and try to thread a
needle(since I know you like sewing) The ring finger is very important in
playing the guitar. It does complete most chord. How does she do with
trying to play as it is with the loss at the DIP. She may want to try
lighter weight guitar strings if she is having trouble holding the note
down with the short finger. String height and strobe tuning might be worth
looking into as well. The lower the action of the strings to the fret
board the easier it will be for her to hit the notes without a bad sound.
Acoustic can also have higher action, it might be time to move to electric
guitar which typically have lower action and easier to hold the strings
down.
If it was me, I would adjust the instrument because the prosthetic is going
to fall very short of playability of the guitar. Remember Rick Allen from
Def Leppard. After he lost his arm in his car accident, he didn't use a
prosthetic. Instead they converted his drum kit with foot pedals like a
pipe organ so he could play different tones. The result was their album
Hysteria. They did pretty well with that album.
learn to play in open tuning!
Do a Google search for Tommy Iommi. He is the guitarist for Black Sabbath
and is missing two fingers at the DIP joint on his fret hand.
patient the options and let her decide which one might work best for her,
since I do not play guitar or anything musical!
Original post
I have a 39 year old female patient whose left ring finger was amputated at
the DIP joint 4 years ago. She has been authorized for a functional
partial finger PX. She wants to play the guitar again. Does anyone have
any recommendations for a functional and durable partial finger PX.
Cosmetics are not a concern.
Responses
Naked prosthetics.....yes I know the name of the company is cringe worthy,
but there devices appear to be very functional. Albeit expensive.
So you could use a finger protector like used to count money, the issue is
going to be the 'feel' from playing, but there are ways she could modify
her chording to make that not so much an issue. Question then becomes, what
style guitar is she playing, rock, country, classical etc, as the latter
would be the most difficult to overcome style-wise.
That would probably be the most durable using the finger protector, and you
could then fill with silicone to regain the lost length. As noted, it
wouldn't necessarily be pretty, but it would serve the function she's
looking for. Have fun...
I had a similar situation and I used an X finger from Didrick Medical
(not sure off hand about the spelling of Didrick). The patient was very
pleased but I was extremely frustrated with the lack of response from
Didrick. They want the money up front and then you have to pressure them to
do anything. They won't return phone calls either. This was all information
I had from others going into it and I told the patient up front that this
is known to be a problem company and he was OK with the delays. It is a
very interesting prosthesis, only about a million moving parts but it works
well. Make sure you get a lot of extra pins and ke that not so much an
issue. Question then becomes, what style guitar is she playing, rock,
country, classical etc, as the latter would be the most difficult to
overcome style-wise.
That would probably be the most durable using the finger protector, and you
could then fill with silicone to regain the lost length. As noted, it
wouldn't necessarily be pretty, but it would serve the function she's
looking for. Have fun...
Look into the x-finger. You can order from sps or cascade
I've dealt with this issue many times over the years - for guitar players
and violin. Firstly, I'll assume that we're talking about the fretting hand
and not the strumming. Thus, the challenge is to have both pressure and
dexterity with strength to hold up. If it's just at the DIP joint, I have
found that patients did best with a dense silicone finger sleeve instead of
attempting to construct the distal phalanx. Although the patients did have
to alter their positioning for some chords, etc. it was far easier than
struggling with a silicone fingertip that would not transmit the heightened
sense of proprioception required for the task.
M-finger by liberating technologies would probably provide the greatest
chance of success.
Very good luck with Touch Bonics
Advise the lady to listen to Django Reinhardt. He had several fingers
rendered useless from a fire but plays guitar as well as anyone. He
is a huge influence in the Gypsy Jazz world of music.
Jerry Garcia, formerly of the Grateful Dead, also had a finger
amputated. He played without a prosthetic device.
I have made these finger with Otto Bock silicone service out of Canada and
they look and function grossly. I think you will find it hard for her to
like playing the guitar with the device. As a guitar player I can say what
is going to be missing is the touch and feel of the strings and the tone is
going to be screwed up from the silicone. It will also be equal to
sticking your finger into a piece of rubber and try to thread a
needle(since I know you like sewing) The ring finger is very important in
playing the guitar. It does complete most chord. How does she do with
trying to play as it is with the loss at the DIP. She may want to try
lighter weight guitar strings if she is having trouble holding the note
down with the short finger. String height and strobe tuning might be worth
looking into as well. The lower the action of the strings to the fret
board the easier it will be for her to hit the notes without a bad sound.
Acoustic can also have higher action, it might be time to move to electric
guitar which typically have lower action and easier to hold the strings
down.
If it was me, I would adjust the instrument because the prosthetic is going
to fall very short of playability of the guitar. Remember Rick Allen from
Def Leppard. After he lost his arm in his car accident, he didn't use a
prosthetic. Instead they converted his drum kit with foot pedals like a
pipe organ so he could play different tones. The result was their album
Hysteria. They did pretty well with that album.
learn to play in open tuning!
Do a Google search for Tommy Iommi. He is the guitarist for Black Sabbath
and is missing two fingers at the DIP joint on his fret hand.
Citation
Lynette Duncan, “functional px finger responses,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 2, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/237011.
