The last few months I've developed pain in the ring finger of my left hand, my chording hand. I've been playing 15 to 20 hours a week, and sometimes the tunes are fast and sometimes we do medleys, so the hand gets lots of use.

Although there's not much of an arch, I've noticed I can't completely straighten that finger. The pad at the base of the finger is also tender deep inside.

At this point I'm exercising that hand and stretching the fingers before I start to play. After I play for awhile I'm rarely aware of pain- but the next day it hurts quite a bit. Tonight I'll be playing for a four-hour dance- I don't doubt that I'll get through it but I think it's possible that the next few days will be iffy.

Has anyone else had this kind of problem? I'm going south for a couple of months and although I'll make some music then, there won't be nearly the amount that I have here - will the finger get better with rest?