Hello!
I searched the forum and read some posts about tendonitus but didn´t quite find the answer I was looking for. I know there are many experienced guitarists on this forum, so I´m hoping someone might help me with some kind of an answer.
The problem is this: About a week ago I was practising "finger-picking-patterns", and I was playing the same thing over-and-over again, for about 20 mins or so. I didn´t feel anything while I was playing, but as I released the "grip" with my fretting hand, I felt a pain in my fretting-arm wrist, going up a little bit into the arm. It wasn´t really painful, but I felt it for sure. I was very alarmed by this so I stopped playing immediately, but the pain lasted for about 30 mins after I stopped. I should say that this was at the end of my practise session so I was well warmed up as I had been playing for about 2,5-3 hrs.
I´ve never felt any pain in my arm/wrist before, in my six years of playing guitar.
After the initial pain went away, the pain hasn´t come back (thank God), but it does feel a bit "funny" in my fretting forearm - sometimes a sort of tingeling and sometimes a bit warm feeling and it feels as though something is not "quite right" but it´s really hard to pin-point. I still play, but I am now very cautious about this and I´m constantly "feeling" how it feels and - there´s no pain, but feels a bit strange.
Now, I´m hoping some of you might have an idea what this might come from and settle my concern and hopefully tell me that this has nothing to do with tendonitus, as that is my worst fear! I´m hoping that it was just some "overload" of some sort at that particular time.
But if it were tendonitus - what can you do about it to stop it getting worse (please, please not "don´t play guitar" - my life would be over!)
I will go see a doctor if it doesn´t change, but I thought I´d check with you lot first.
So, any ideas? I would really appreciate all help in this matter as I´m scared to death right now! So - thanks in advance!
AAAFNRAA
- Electric Don Quixote -
Limber up your fingers/hands/wrists before practicing. Ice down afterward. And if it gets any worse, see a doctor ASAP.
Might want to take a good hard look at picking hand/arm position, as well.
"You can't write a chord ugly enough to say what you want to say sometimes, so you have to rely on a giraffe filled with whipped cream." - Frank Zappa
Might want to take a good hard look at picking hand/arm position, as well.
+1. Closer to "classical guitar" playing position = better.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
Ok - thanks for the tips guys - I will try to comply with them best I can.
But, does that mean that you think these symptoms might be tendonitus, or are they more "general" advices?
Sorry - don´t mean to be pushy about this, but I really don´t have any clue about this sort of stuff...
/S
AAAFNRAA
- Electric Don Quixote -
...does that mean that you think these symptoms might be tendonitus, or are they more "general" advices?
Dr. Ricochet and I would have to see you in our clinic for an accurate diagnosis -- and you can't afford us. :wink:
Perhaps 20 minutes is simply your present limit on how long you can do the same pattern over and over. Mix it up a bit more, maybe. Repetitive stress can be nasty.
On a positive note: I have a history of tendinitis and a bit of arthritis coming on as well. When I picked up the guitar again (after a long layoff), both hands/arms began to feel better quickly.
"You can't write a chord ugly enough to say what you want to say sometimes, so you have to rely on a giraffe filled with whipped cream." - Frank Zappa
"Orthodox medicine has not found an answer to your complaint. However, luckily for you, I happen to be a quack. "
Not the quote I was hunting for, but I like it! :D
A very common problem causing overuse injuries is gripping too tightly with the fretting hand. Someone else posted some good advice today about practicing playing quietly, and learning to fret like you're playing quietly even if you're not.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
Thank´s for your advice and comments! Maybe I´m overreacting a bit about this, at least I hope so. Think I´ll just rest the hand completely for a couple of days and see if it goes away. And if not, I guess I have to go see - a real - doctor, just in case.
But I also think that you good doctors :roll: might have a point about "gripping to tight" with the fretting hand, as that is something I catch myself doing from time to time. Maybe that was what happened and I just held on too long this time. I´ll try to find that post you referred to (can you post a link maybe, so that I don´t have to through everything looking for it - that would be great!
Again, thank you for taking the time to write me an answer!
Ps. I´ll also think about cooling the hand off after practising... why is that though? Is it because, while playing, your hand gets worked up, warm and swollen, and that the icing afterwards should reduce the swelling? (I´ve never heard that before, that´s why I´m asking.) Ds
/S
AAAFNRAA
- Electric Don Quixote -
In general, I pay attention to pain. It's nature's way of telling you something's wrong, so to speak. It's important (in my experience) to find the source and end it quickly, before it becomes chronic. You wrote, "the 'grip' with my fretting hand," which makes me suspect you've strained something with unnecessary tension in your picking limb....
Maybe I´m overreacting a bit about this, at least I hope so.
In that case, the pain and strain stays mainly in the brain. :)
(sorry, couldn't resist)
Ps. I´ll also think about cooling the hand off after practising... why is that though? Is it because, while playing, your hand gets worked up, warm and swollen, and that the icing afterwards should reduce the swelling?
For me, it simply addresses the pain of chronic tendinitis (an old work injury -- I should have sued) and arthritis. Pitchers ice their elbows routinely after a game, and while fingerstyle guitar isn't the same impact as big-league pitching, you're still working muscles & tendons with more than usual rigor, so I figure it's never a bad idea to cool things down.
"You can't write a chord ugly enough to say what you want to say sometimes, so you have to rely on a giraffe filled with whipped cream." - Frank Zappa
I have tenedonitis. it is from an injury and basically I am broken now. I don't get severe pain any longer, but I suffer from chroinic stiffness and weakness. the strength I had all my life is diminished.
what you are exoperiencing, my best educated guess, is not tendonittis, but muscle and nerve strain from long practice and possibly incorrect hand placement.
take a rest. when you start again for sure you will feel some stiffenss. stretch and warm up then have at it. but keep the prtactice to one hour for a while.
a good stretch is to have your arm straight out. then with one hand pull back every so gently on the fingers so you hand makes a right angle. hold for a bit then release. next, bend the hand the other way. keep your fingers staright.
it should feel like stretching pain, but not painful.
these are just two of the exercises my PT has given me.
now of course, if you are geting sharp shooting pains then stop and see a doctor.
Thank you, Crow & Dogbite (and I´m sorry to hear about your suffering from tendonitis, D-bite...)
I´ve gotten some really good feedback on this from you all, and I´m really grateful - it has made me feel much better about this, and I´ve now got some good pointers and "tools" to use, to try and avoid any similar expriences in the future!
Great stuff!
/S
AAAFNRAA
- Electric Don Quixote -
Thank you, Crow & Dogbite (and I´m sorry to hear about your suffering from tendonitis, D-bite...)
I´ve gotten some really good feedback on this from you all, and I´m really grateful - it has made me feel much better about this, and I´ve now got some good pointers and "tools" to use, to try and avoid any similar expriences in the future!
Great stuff!
/S
Yeah, I feel for you buddy, and all of the above. They had you covered.
I have tendinitis, and took it all the way to carpal tunnel? I tended to pound my body alot like a machine, and thought it was forgiving, or at least I hoped there would be a bin of spare parts somewhere down the road. Seriously, I don't recall any guitar injuries. More from lifting, and chopping trees, firewood, chipping ice, hard snow, then digging into gardens, rocks and soil, pounding tree roots, fence posts, pulling those darn engine starting cords, chainsaws, weed wackers, :roll: and a lifetime of changing wheels and tires, pushing cars waaaaay too much - it all adds up. I like to soak in warm water.
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
When I screwed one of my fingers up last year (stupid fast slide on crummy old strings and nasty frets) the doc told me to give it two week's rest before getting back into playing, and take the first few sessions easy. Spent the time practicing picking/fingerpicking with right hand only and it was a bind not being able to play, but I'd rather two week's not playing than any longer than that.
Yes, I see what you mean, Scrybe - I´m also resting at the moment just to give it time to heal as it should, so that I don´t accidentaly make it worse.
Blue Jay: I´m sorry to hear that, sounds tough man! You´ve lived a life of hard labour, where as I´m just an office-slave, you know? But hey, office-nerds nowadays get "tennis-elbow" and "mouse-arm", so I guess it´s not completely safe either :)
Seriously though: Can you play guitar at all with tendonitis and carpal tunnel? If yes, then for how long, and what sets the limit; is it pain or fatigue or...?
Best Regards,
/Staffan
AAAFNRAA
- Electric Don Quixote -
Oh... since you asked, yeah, that was all about yard work, for myself and others, not bushwork but there was plenty of labor involved, working on cars too without power tools - sometimes I can't believe it, looking back.
I don't let the pain bother or limit me, I guess I am so used to it - that's just a part of me, no matter what the activity. I accept it, whether I'm cooking, doing dishes, driving, or playing - it's just there? :shock:
I suppose I went to slightly lighter guitars, but not by much, and I prefer smaller acoustics now, not always dreadnoughts, where you have to sling your arm way over (if sitting) and it changes the angle of forearm, wrist and pick attack/motion.
And now's the time to mention, if there ever was a time, I like thinner necks, preferably C-shape, though I still have some very chunky ones, and the V-shapes hurt. I get acoustics with necks that match my electrics, and with low action, it makes it easier to chord and finger, and isn't a fight. :lol:
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
I´ll try to find that post you referred to (can you post a link maybe, so that I don´t have to through everything looking for it - that would be great!
I couldn't see in the posts above that where anyone had referred to a post. Maybe the comment I made about not finding the quote I was looking for? A cheesy one attributed to Confucius, something like "The physician cannot prescribe by letter. He must feel the pulse." It's on my coffee cup, among a lot of other quotes. I'll go fill it up, get my eyes open and check it in a few minutes. They kept me too busy to do that for a while.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
