Hands Can Heal

    • northernguitarguy
      February 13, 2013 at 1:07 am

      Got the Blues? There were days I thought these hands might never heal. Mine aren’t the same as they were, but I can still use them for a groove.

      Stay hopeful. :)

       

    • Dawn Kevies mom
      February 13, 2013 at 7:16 pm

      Glad to hear you are still “grooving”

    • Anonymous
      February 13, 2013 at 8:30 pm

      Hi Northernguitarguy,

      my brother is going through this rollercoaster as we speak. His hands are very weak and has a lot of muscle wasting. His grip strength is very low. Grip strength of 15 in both hands (psi) He is at the 1 year mark since the onset of CIDP. From your experience how bad were your hands and how long did it take to get better? He is at the stage where they seem to be getting better, but very slowly. Anything from your experience will help.

      Thanks,

      Larry

    • northernguitarguy
      February 14, 2013 at 3:04 am

      Hello Larry. I’m sorry your brother is still suffering. Very cool that you are looking out for him .

      I had GBS and can’t say that I fully understand the recovery/maintenance for CIDP, hopefully someone will chime in. My friend Rory is dealing with CIDP, but he still plays his guitar.

      My hands may have some permanent disability from axonal damage, or so I am told. Hopefully, your brother will be able to get back. I stretch a lot (I often appear a little OCD about it), therapy putty, squeeze balls. A Planet Waves Varigrip finger exerciser can be bought online or at a good music store. For guitarists they’re gimmicky, but for therapy they work (and they’re much cheaper than the ‘Gripmaster’). Hand-drumming kept me musical when I couldn’t hold a guitar. Massage therapy is wonderful.

       

    • northernguitarguy
      February 14, 2013 at 3:05 am

      Thanks Dawn Kevie’s Mon! Best to you

    • Anonymous
      March 3, 2013 at 4:26 am

      My hands were like claws the 1st year. I started playing with rc stuff and my hands started getting better. It took acouple of years of just not giving up and I was able to start flying my rc planes. I still can’t type but I never could LOL
      Of course I went all the way down to a vent and was a quad for 3 months that was back in 2008.
      I’d say determination and drive is the biggest factor.
      Start by threading nuts on bolts and keep trying to play guitar even if it’s only one cord
      maybe even try slide guitar.
      The point is the more you use them the better you get

    • northernguitarguy
      June 2, 2013 at 12:17 pm

      ‘ The point is the more you use them the better you get’

      Words of great wisdom. I hope you are well Kerwin.

    • northernguitarguy
      October 7, 2013 at 9:36 pm

      I’m still at it. A little Funk track for y’all. Enjoy!

    • wheels15
      March 3, 2017 at 2:22 pm

      I’m a newbie here on this site, but not to CIDP. Was diagnosed 13 years ago. Though my hands are much better, it’s still difficult straightening my fingers and my thumbs don’t have much movement at all. I use my knuckles to type on the keyboard, but if I have a lot of typing to do I use the Dragon Naturally Speaking program. It’s a voice activated program that works beautifully!!
      PS Love the “funky track”

    • jk
      March 4, 2017 at 10:23 am

      Hello wheels,

      Welcome. The thread you have appended to is several years old. It seems that any poster named ‘anonymous’ is given that label because their original account is closed. A great number of posters of old no longer participate here.

      If you have questions it would be best to start your own, new topic.

      If you have neither seen nor tried finger aids look for websites such as

      http://www.rehabmart.com/category/writing_and_reading_aids.htm

      Occupational therapists special in custom fitting these types of devices, if needed. You can order free catalogs from: https://www.ncmedical.com/contact?formtype=catalog or from Sammons Preston. see the website below.

      After my hands became very weak, I was given a grasping cuff by the Occupational Therapist out in California. It was, and still is, very handy (hahahaha) see an example here:

      http://www.pattersonmedical.com/app.aspx?cmd=getProductDetail&key=070_921025334