Would years of piano playing cause slight nerve damage in the fingers?!
Question: ...how about guitar?
Answers: ...how about guitar?
Any musical instrument can cause damage ; usually due to the player doing something incorrectly. I damaged my first finger on the left hand while playing violin ten years ago and it has never healed.
The guitar is notorious for causing tendonitis in the left wrist..
Nerve damage specifically might be a little more rare (I'm thinking of the famous case of pianist Leon Fleisher) but various musician injuries due to overuse seems to be common.
Here's a great article from the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicne. A little old but full text is avaiable.
"The treatment of overuse syndrome in musicians. Results in 175 patients."
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/artic...
Generally speaking, most pianists suffer carpal tunnel or wrist damage than finger nerve damage.
You need to see a specialist rather than depending on a non-professional penis-brain on an answer forum. Try getting real advice on what is wrong before you decide. Chances are you have neither.