Practicing with swollen fingertips? Is it a good or bad thing?

[wankimx3]

Hi guys.
I have a concern which has been bugging me for a while.

Apparently today, I did planned to practice the piano. However, before I decide to practice, I noticed that my right third fingertip pad was feeling a bit unusual. It became itchy and uncomfortable. I could see that the padding of my fingertip swelled a bit, and thought twice of whether I should practice or not.

Well, it's not painful. To make sure I am not making an excuse to not practice the piano, I searched online about whether I should practice with a slightly swollen finger but no one said that it's okay to do it. They instead said that I should give my finger a rest and practice tomorrow instead.

Guys, what are your views? Do you agree that I should take a break from practicing if I find any part of my hand or be uncomfortable? I would like to hear from you.

(Psst I had an argument with my mom because of this :'( she said that I shouldn't make a fuss out of such a discomfort and told me that I was making an excuse to avoid practicing......but I did consider to practice today, not that I don't care about it and don't want to practice :/ I only decided not to practice because I can feel that my finger is feeling unusual and a bit uncomfortable....🤦🏻‍♀️

[brogers70]

What you describe seems quite mild. So mild that it's hard to know what the problem might be and whether it is related to the piano. If you practice and it gets worse, it might be easier to know. If you don't practice and it gets better, then that's fine. Seems like it's not a terribly important decision. The problem will either go away on its own, in which case, no problem. Or it will get worse, in which case it will be easier to figure out. Whether you practice or not for one day probably will not make much difference.

[ego0720]

Can you practice mentally? Practice doesn’t have to be physical. Your fingers follow through what your mind commands. I use to emphasize physical practice but I have learned that mental practice can help with the physical stuff.

I use to think like an athlete where there are “no excuses” and one just keep moving forward. However those acute problems can become chronic if not well rested. I find being relaxed, calm, and even tempered increases my longevity and I don’t have as frequent burnouts.

[anacrusis]

Try practicing a little bit and if it gets worse, stop. Ideally though, I'd take a break. Discomfort in our body is it telling you "hello, beloved friend, something is not right in me today, and I need rest to heal".

And as a warning, a friend of mine persisted practicing through an injured or at least inflamed arm, developed focal dystonia, and lost the ability to play many things they could manage before. They have to constantly work around that issue to play at all. It's no fun and you should not screw around with pain and injuries.

[themisconstruedparsnip]

I have had really swollen fingers hands, onset of carpal tunnel from being incredibly eager, I would suggest getting a acupressure hand massager, I have the belmint hand massager, and my fingers and hands have never felt so good, so much so that I tend to use it less often,  when I first had it, I used it religiously for about a fortnight, now it is more a case of once a month, this month being used more due to doing lots of other things but one thing it has done, is enable me to practice more, get more practice in.  The hand massager I have is on amazon and is cheap as chips considering the benefits, but will say that the heat function does nothing and only serves to drain the battery faster, from where I am sitting my Belmint hand massager is a must have accessory, they should come with every new piano imho