Bar None

My doctor thinks I may have made medical history.  On my left index finger, I developed a series of tender raised bumps. They were red, oblong ridges which appear to be infected.  He looked at my other fingers and found no other problems.  He considered the joints, but the inflammed spots didn't conincide directly with my knuckles.

The doctor examined some medical books and found images of raised ridges, but none that really fit my condition. He even dug into his library of antiquarian medical books and looked for descriptions that might fit.

Finally, as you may have surmised from the photo,  I mentioned that I had been playing guitar about a week earlier for an hour.  He asked which hand I used on the fretboard.  Then it dawned on me!  My right index finger presses across the strings when I play a bar chord (as shown).  The inflammed ridges on my index finger fit the pattern of the guitar strings.  Mystery solved!  Unfortunately, this means no guitar playing for some time. 

So it's true -- music really IS infectious--in this case, not necessarily in a good way.  I wonder - has anyone else suffered fret finger infections during chemotherapy?  My research found no other cases!