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skipstone
Arthritic fingers - I have the same problem Keith has. That shit hurts. His is way worse than mine but I do have the knobby fingers, they look like ET's fingers pointing at the stars. I'm 38 and I can only see myself playing professionally for maybe another year at best. It's getting very very difficult to play, especially 2,3 or 4 nights in a row. I can't imagine Keith getting any better - it just gets worse.

Keith's condition is called Heberden's nodes. Here's a tiny piece I found about it. I guess there's both good and bad news here. The good news: The pain often improves, after some years.

Osteoarthritis of the hands
Osteoarthritis of the hands usually occurs as part of nodal osteoarthritis. This mainly affects women, and often starts in the 40s and 50s, around the time of the menopause ('the change'). Most often it affects the base of the thumb and the joints at the end of the fingers. At times these joints become red, swollen and tender, especially when the condition first appears.

Gradually, over several years, firm knobbly swellings form on the back of the joints. These are called Heberden's nodes after the English physician, William Heberden, who first described them. Once the Heberden's nodes are fully formed, pain and tenderness often improve. However, the base joint of the thumb may continue as a persistent problem. Although the fingers are knobbly and sometimes slightly bent, they work well and rarely cause long-term problems.

However, having nodal osteoarthritis in middle age means you are more likely to develop osteoarthritis of the knee, and occasionally a few other joints, as you get into your 60s and 70s. This is why it is sometimes called 'generalised' (widespread) osteoarthritis. Nodal osteoarthritis is mainly related to genes that are inherited and so it runs in families. It is almost completely confined to white people. (See also the x-ray shown in 'What tests can show osteoarthritis?' (Figure 8).)

For those who haven't seen BV's statement in the news section - I suggest you take a look, before speculations take you... to places you don't wanna go.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2009-05-28 22:32 by Addicted.

Hi Skipstone, I am in the same boat. I play for a living too, and am the same age as you. And about a year ago my fingers started to hurt a lot. It is at the base of the thumb; especially the left one. So as a right -handed guitar player, you know how hard that is now. But my fingers have not gotten "knobby". Well, actually my fingers have always been totally ugly, LOL
I was going to ask you - have you found anything like a solution? I even tried acupuncture; then I went to a regular hand doctor. He is like "Deal with it".

I'm not a specialist but imho swollen fingers are the sign of a general body inflammation : too much booze, cigs, red meat. A strict diet (awful word I know...) may reduce the damage.

Yes, less - or no - red meat will help. Cigarettes, however, are worse than any dietary thing, even compared to eating red meat. I smoke but not all the time. I'm aiming to quit so I'll find out how that effects (or is it affect since it's personal?) me. All I drink is a ton of water, beer and various tonic/bubbly waters. I stay away from the straight/hard alcohol like vodka, tequila, whiskey, etc... I'm looking to stop smoking and beer (overall, not completely) next month.

I have been taking MAXGXL 'The Glutathione Accelerator' for a little while. It has helped a lot. The thing is, of course, to keep staying on with taking it - 3 pills twice a day. I've gotten off course. But it does seem to help - it eases the pain somewhat, not gets rid of it.

Then there are my feet and knees...standing on stage for 4-6 hours a night is tough work.

It makes me wonder what all Keith has done, if anything at all, to deal with it.

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dcba
I'm not a specialist but imho swollen fingers are the sign of a general body inflammation : too much booze, cigs, red meat. A strict diet (awful word I know...) may reduce the damage.

May I suggest you look up Heberden's nodes on the net? It's a condition that's in our genes. If we, as guitarists or goldsmiths, carpenters etc use our fingers A LOT, that could get the condition we've already inherited from our parents, grandparents etc, start developing. It's NOT really arthritis - and although the two conditions might look much the same, treatment and development and medication differ a lot.
Please have a look on the internet. I only copied a little, comprimed box of facts about Heberden's nodes, but there's PLENTY out there.

@ skipstone
A friend of mine works in clinic in vienna wich is for alcoholics and he often said to me that drinking beer is worse than drinking harder stuff eg whiskey, vodka ...
yes, it depends on the amount but distilled alcohol is cleaner he said

Mick Taylor is the ONLY answer

There is also another condition that affects fingers called Dupuytren's Contracture. (Keith's problem is probably note related). The link below provides good info. I know about this from first and second hand knowledge, pardon the pun. I've had one finger corrected, but need surgery for two others on my left hand. Nothing serious.

[en.wikipedia.org]

....aaaahh, now I see what all these hundreds of thausends of peoples are talking about in stadiums before Mick and Keef will start the show ...

I could tell you something about my gout, too, but I don't ...

...

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HighwireC
....aaaahh, now I see what all these hundreds of thausends of peoples are talking about in stadiums before Mick and Keef will start the show ...

I could tell you something about my gout, too, but I don't ...

...

I'm not familiar with gout. Is it medically correctable?

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Addicted

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dcba
I'm not a specialist but imho swollen fingers are the sign of a general body inflammation : too much booze, cigs, red meat. A strict diet (awful word I know...) may reduce the damage.

May I suggest you look up Heberden's nodes on the net? It's a condition that's in our genes. If we, as guitarists or goldsmiths, carpenters etc use our fingers A LOT, that could get the condition we've already inherited from our parents, grandparents etc, start developing. It's NOT really arthritis - and although the two conditions might look much the same, treatment and development and medication differ a lot.
Please have a look on the internet. I only copied a little, comprimed box of facts about Heberden's nodes, but there's PLENTY out there.

But how do you know it´s Heberden´s??

Vilhelm
Nordic Stones Vikings

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Chris Fountain

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HighwireC
....aaaahh, now I see what all these hundreds of thausends of peoples are talking about in stadiums before Mick and Keef will start the show ...

I could tell you something about my gout, too, but I don't ...

...

I'm not familiar with gout. Is it medically correctable?

Perhaps this can help you ...
[en.wikipedia.org]
[www.whathealth.com]

I'll tell you more beside the next Stones show ...

...

Can you exercise (walk/run) ok?

After some gout attacs and listen to Goats Haed Soup I'll jump to every Stones concert they will do in Germany and nearby, too ...

...

Cynical old Father Ted here. If past performance is anything to go by (and indeed, the recent releases), I'm not expecting too much from the rerelease of EOMS. A superduper remaster and an expanded L&G DVD with some of the outtakes would be an pleasant, if overdue, surprise.

I think they will tour on the strenghth of the Exile (era) outtake material. A possible setlist will probably look like this:

01. Exile On Main Street Blues (Mick only - on piano)
02. I Ain't Signifying (Mick, Keith and Ronnie only)
03. Good Time Woman
04. All Down The Line (acoustic version)
05. Travelling Man (Taylor guests on lead guitar)
06. Hillside Blues (guitar onslaught with Taylor, Keef and Ronnie)
07. Let It Loose (Instrumental - to give Mick a break)
08. Bent Green Needles (Instrumental - to give Mick a break)
09. Two Trains Running (not an Exile outtake, but who cares, its great)
10. Cant Seem To Get A Line On You (surprise guest: Leon Russell)
11. In And Out (recenty discovered Exile outtake - a special gesture for their most loyal fans).
12. I Just Wanna See His Face (15 minute version, great jam with Taylor & Russell)

Encore:

13. Exile On Main Street Blues (Reprise)
14. Sing This All Together (nothing to do with Exile, but who cares - rousing finale with Taylor back on stage)



Now that would be something! A setlist thats simply taylormade for small arenas and clubs.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009-05-30 14:47 by alimente.

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mickijaggeroo

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Addicted

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dcba
I'm not a specialist but imho swollen fingers are the sign of a general body inflammation : too much booze, cigs, red meat. A strict diet (awful word I know...) may reduce the damage.

May I suggest you look up Heberden's nodes on the net? It's a condition that's in our genes. If we, as guitarists or goldsmiths, carpenters etc use our fingers A LOT, that could get the condition we've already inherited from our parents, grandparents etc, start developing. It's NOT really arthritis - and although the two conditions might look much the same, treatment and development and medication differ a lot.
Please have a look on the internet. I only copied a little, comprimed box of facts about Heberden's nodes, but there's PLENTY out there.

But how do you know it´s Heberden´s??

Easy - it's been discussed here before!
Go to the "search"-service, type Heberden's nodes, and then follow the thread.
Besides, some of his friends might have mentioned it...

X



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2018-08-19 21:12 by UrbanSteel.

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Father Ted
Cynical old Father Ted here. If past performance is anything to go by (and indeed, the recent releases), I'm not expecting too much from the rerelease of EOMS. A superduper remaster and an expanded L&G DVD with some of the outtakes would be an pleasant, if overdue, surprise.

Agreed...

X



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2018-08-19 19:53 by UrbanSteel.

^^Doubt it...more like using a phrase us diehards would know as a marketing ploy...

I'd rather they play You Got Me Rocking all night then butcher Exile material.

also Keith's hairy palms suggest another medical condition I don't care to discuss.