I play the Violin and the Guitar, and i'm 99% sure that my left hands pinky finger tendon or ligament or something like that is sprained and has been for a while. It's sometimes had a few seconds of pain every now and then and its been pretty weak for a long time and is A NIGHTMARE for string players like me. I went to the doctor about it and he said just to wait a long time and "keep on doing what you are doing and play to "strengthen" it". It's been a while since that doctor visit and i must say that i'm sure that playing MORE will NOT make it better! There has been maybe a LITTLE difference in strength from when it got this way to now, and not gonna wait and "hope" on it just getting better by its own 7 months later. Now i will ISOLATE it for a few weeks and see how that goes because it seems like nothing will change if keep going on without doing anything to help it.
If I buddy-tape or put on a splint cast thing on the pinky every time i'm not playing (which will unfortunately have to be almost all day because of it except for orchestra and band practices) and then take that stuff off to play maybe 30 mins for approximately every 3-5 days, will it fully work or make the healing really slow or just NOT MAKE IT HEAL AT ALL? I am in the top school orchestra and rock bands and can't afford to miss any shows for these. I've been playing in these groups for guitar and violin with this STUPID injury for too long now and have been coping but enough is enough! Thanks!