Stupid question maybe: Finger cut

[Glacies]

Got a pretty slice on my left index fingertip and I literally can't play anything with it without it opening up. I would hate to miss a week worth of practice due to what is barely worse than a paper cut but I now know how Bryan Adams feels "played it till my fingers bled".

Any of you gurus have a secret method for dealing with something like this?

BTW just in case my man-card is in question, I don't even go to the doctor for most broken bones, but this finger cut is affecting my axing and I just can't have it!

Edit to add: bandaids ain't workin

[Andy]

super glue

[Glacies]

super glue

that's a damn good idea - I'mma try it

[ShortBuSX]

Uh more specificlly...medical grade super glue...AKA "Liquid Band-aid"...you can find it at the drug store. One bottle will last you forever. Your cut will heal from the inside out...and rather quickly too.:

[tunghaichuan***]

I could be mistaken, but wasn't super glue originally invented for closing wounds without stiches?

That liquid band-aid stings like a mofo, though

tung

[warren0728]

I could be mistaken, but wasn't super glue originally invented for closing wounds without stiches?

i think you are right....and i think it was designed for use on battlefields to close wounds before they could get you to a medic....not sure though....

ww

[tunghaichuan***]

i think you are right....and i think it was designed for use on battlefields to close wounds before they could get you to a medic....not sure though....

ww

Found this:

Superglue - Synthetic Glue
Superglue or Krazy Glue is a substance called cyanoacrylate that was discovered by Dr. Harry Coover while working for Kodak Research Laboratories to develop an optically clear plastic for gunsights in 1942. Coover rejected cyanoacrylate because it was too sticky.

I guess I wrong.

tung

[warren0728]

I guess I wrong.

tung

maybe that was it's intended use but like other mistakes (post-it note glue for one) a new purpose was discovered for it....

ww

[SuperSwede]

bah, take it like a man

[Spudman***]

super glue

This works but it's going to burn like crazy.

Why not just let your body heal? Work on some other aspect of music while your finger is repairing. Unless you have a gig to get ready for it's pointless to torture yourself.

[Andy]

It will be sore regardless, but just a tiny film of super glue won't hurt you and it will keep the cut from snagging. or practice without using that finger ..hehheh

[thearabianmage]

Try playing like Stanley Jordan - with your left hand

I don't know why - considering everyone else says it's okay - but the thought of using superglue on an open wound doesn't sound good.

There's a nurse who is staying at our flat, and he says although it was originally used in Vietnam for wounds, etc. he says that the soldiers also had to put up with a lot of other crapolla and that they were on drugs anyways (government testing). He goes on to add that most superglue these days is from China and that you don't know exactly what's in it, chemically-speaking.

I wouldn't risk it dude, but it's your digit after all.

I second Spud's advice. There are so many areas of guitar playing that can be practiced while the all-important index makes its recovery. At the ICMP, we are taught in Accelerated Learning Techniques and it is generally accepted that thorough mental visualisation is just as good as physically practicing when it comes to things like scales and chords and what-not.

Hope that helps.

Joe

[ShortBuSX]

I could be mistaken, but wasn't super glue originally invented for closing wounds without stiches?

That liquid band-aid stings like a mofo, though

tung

Ive used that Liquid Band-aid several times and a couple of times when I should have gotten stiches, I dont recall its stinging though, although those instances I was in more pain than a simple sting.
Liquid Band-aid is medical grade Super Glue, it works quite well and its not going to be thick and plasticy like regular super glue, its more rubber like and supple. You can leave it on for days and even add additional coats if needed. Somebody actually gave me this bottle, I dunno if I would have purchased it on my own, but its cheap, and it works so good that I think most of yall should buy a bottle and leave it in your gig bag.
You will also heal faster, and from the inside out...its kinda strange.

[Glacies]

Wow, thanks for the replies fellas.

I went out and bought some liquid band-aids yesterday and put it on the cut. The stuff is awesome but wasn't enough for this particular cut so I've decided to let it heal and take a rest from practice for a bit. It's such a stupidly tiny cut but it's right through the callous and strings just play hell on it.

I think tomorrow it will be healed enough that I'll be back at it. Liquid band-aids is really healing it fast and coming into work today I feel pretty confident that I'm not going to rip it open again while this stuff is on.

[bigoldron]

Can't vouch for this, but stories I've heard about SRV had him super gluing his callouses back on when they'd fall off - especially at a gig.

[warren0728]

Can't vouch for this, but stories I've heard about SRV had him super gluing his callouses back on when they'd fall off - especially at a gig.

it's true....i know a guy who worked on the set for austin city limits....he talked with stevie and stevie told him he used superglue when his fingers were cut up or callouses fell off (as they were before taping the show)...

ww

[hubberjub***]

I had the same problem two months ago.

I gave it a week and then I used Super Glue. It worked for the first set and then it opened up.

[Glacies]

I had the same problem two months ago.
I gave it a week and then I used Super Glue. It worked for the first set and then it opened up.

oooh, pretty...

this was not quite that severe, although the finger that it happened to was severed when i was a kid and then I did another number on it with an 18" survival knife on an FTX one time...

The small cut I got on my finger tip was actually the result of.... bread. I had baked a loaf of herbed parmesan italian bread and there was a sharp burnt part that I tried to pry off to taste (cuz those are always so good) and it gave me a good 1.5 inch slit through my callous from the nail down to the first "fret"

[Spudman***]

The small cut I got on my finger tip was actually the result of.... bread.

Bread cut? You are lucky to be alive. Just in the US alone every year people die from bread cuts. In 2007 it was...oh, nobody died. Well in 2006...um, nobody died. However, in 2005...oh, I guess nobody died. Well never mind. You're just lucky to be alive.