I have a bad middle finger (the top crushed an industrial accident) which works fine but has not much padding at the top so it sags, and when I press down it goes straight to the bone. I think if I had known how much trouble it was going to cause, I would have switched over to left handed guitar (I am left handed), but I guess it is too late now. I have recently started thinking about maybe tiny strips of rubber band or something to shore the finger up, or at least get it out of the way.

Apart from bitching, which Rick is used to, I find that the biggest problem is that since the finger works for some things I cannot fully commit to using it or not using it. That means that for runs and patterns I am constantly having to make decisions that slow me down. It is a sort of half compensation.
Nice to hear these stories.

yours, Peter T.