Possible CTS or RSI: I can't play guitar for awhile...

I have some minor symptoms of CTS myself, but found it mostly bothered me when I would sleep with my hands in a curled up position usually due to stress. I'd wake up with my hands feeling like they were swollen and asleep. I try to keep my wrists in a relaxed non stressed position whenever posible, especially when I sleep, and so far I am lucky enough it hasn't affected my playing.
That's exactly where my CTS comes from, and a couple of years ago when I fell and reinjured my shoulder, I propped the arm up on my folded-over hand while I slept to reduce the shoulder pain, promptly ending up with really bad CTS that's left my right index fingertip nearly completely numb to this day. Doubt it'll ever get better. Watch that curled up hand stuff at night!

Bummer.

I thought I was going to have problems. I am only about a month into learning, and my left thumb started to go numb. Don't laugh too hard, but it was happening to me on Guitar Hero and Rock Band too :oops:

I went to a specialist, and he wanted to do EMG Nerve Conduction tests. Well, if you're anything like me (live in the US), you know that my insurance company would rather just collect their premiums and not ever pay anything.

So, I went home, picked up the guitar and started practicing like I always did, only this time I concentrated on relaxing, especially my left hand (no more death grip), and found that the numbness never occurred. The next evening I practiced even longer and "harder", but still remembered to stay relaxed. Still, no numbness.

I'm still cautious about whether I have beaten it entirely, but so far, so good. I think anyone who starts to show signs should definitely pay close attention to all parts of their body while playing. It's so easy to tense up when you don't have to.

Best of luck to the OP.

Well, if you're anything like me (live in the US), you know that my insurance company would rather just collect their premiums and not ever pay anything.
Change "my" to "any" and I'll readily agree. Bar stewards.

Vic: Have you thought about using all 8s except for the high E string?

ummmm - no..... :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops:

But wouldn't that involve buying a set of 8's then buying an extra 9 for the top E? One problem is, there's no guitar shop in town - so it costs me the equivalent of a set of guitar strings to go to the nearest town that actually has a guitar shop. Then I usually buy four/five sets at a time, so buying the extra strings would be the equivalent of buying another extra set - and I'm on a very tight budget. Tighter than Mick Jagger's 70's stage pants, in fact.

As it happens, I'm fairly comfortable with 9's - my Tele's got a lovely low smooth action, smoother than melted chocolate flowing over warm glass, my Squier's set up for slide, and my acoustic's got a pretty low action too. It's been a LONG time since I tried 8's - and I always used to get an extra top E! - but I think they'd be a bit too thin for the fairly huge bends I use.

Matter of fact, does anyone know of a top guitarist who uses 8's? I can only think of a couple who use 9's - Jeff Beck (I think!) and Francis Rossi of Status Quo. And Rossi's partner in crime/ twin lead and rhythm guitarist uses 13's!

:D :D :D

Vic

Iommi uses 8's or lighter, I think. 'Course, his fingers stop after the last knuckle, but hey :D

I've had physiotherapy after some problems started. The physiotherapist was specialised in musical injuries and told me that that every year guitarists from the local conservatory needed her help. Some never were able to play again at all. Precisely for that reason have I gotten a violinteacher who also got some courses in physio. She can be pretty tough on details but I won't risk stuff again.

Could you elaborate?

Sure, but could you elaborate on what I should elaborate on? :lol:

I've had physiotherapy after some problems started.

What problems and how did they occur?

Mostly a stinging pain from the elbow to the wrist that would set in pretty quickly after picking up the guitar and would last for quite some time. The 'cause' was pretty complex apparantly and had to do with way more then how I held my arm. I was pretty skeptical when she made me stand on a trampoline and talked about how I balanced myself and how I walked but after a few sessions the difference was huge. Also fixed some, I thought unconnected, issues with my back. But these things are really very much dependant on each individual. For example with violin is that I have a pretty long neck which means I raise my left shoulder and tense it up. On my own I wouldnt have figured out that the pain in my shoulder was because of my neck. Each person is physically different so just have it checked out, preferably by someone who knows about music and posture.

For example with violin is that I have a pretty long neck which means I raise my left shoulder and tense it up. On my own I wouldnt have figured out that the pain in my shoulder was because of my neck. Did you get a proper shoulder rest? I can barely play (screech) violin, but getting an adjustable shoulder rest made a big difference in the comfort level during my screeching.

Yup, I can't play *at all* without it. But my neck is so long that fixing it with the shoulder-rest ain't enough. Soon I'll also receive an extend chin-rest (or whatever it's in English). It's annoying in that I have to remove it every time I put it in the case (which is presumably not as easy as removing the shoulder-rest) but it should make a lot of difference.

Yup, I can't play *at all* without it. But my neck is so long that fixing it with the shoulder-rest ain't enough. Soon I'll also receive an extend chin-rest (or whatever it's in English). It's annoying in that I have to remove it every time I put it in the case (which is presumably not as easy as removing the shoulder-rest) but it should make a lot of difference.

Hope that works for you. Being able to simply start learning to play the violin seems to be all about attaining a proper, stress-free playing position. At first, simply holding the violin and bow was incredibly foreign and difficult. But we learn ...

Hey Corbind- Hope it's coming along well, and coming BACK well.

THree quick things-
One: THis has never happened to me on guitar, but I have some experience of repetetive stress injuries. (Legs and feet, long story.) If this thing has come on gradually, until you isolate the cause, there's a really good chance it's not going away by itself. Do what you gotta to get help.

Two: If you numb the pain to get through the gig, that probably means you're injuring it further, but that you're numbing the pain receptors so you can't feel it. This is a no-win situation. It probably WILL get worse.

Three: What do you mean, "beer to get through the gig?" How the HELL can you play with the alcohol flowing? God, you must be good, and you make me jealous. (I'm no lightweight- but if I drink enough to feel it, in my house, I can hear and feel my accuracy go, and rythm...oh, forget it.) Get better soon so you can get back at it.

Hang in there,
Ande

UPDATE:

I saw the Doctor last week. They took 3 x-rays of my left hand and the doctor looked at them and asked me a million questions. He had me do a series of test as far as exerting pressure by squeezing, rotating, and reverse pressure. He said my right (I'm righty) hand is stronger and my left is weaker and stiffer.

Anyway, he said I have not done long-term damage yet. He said I have tendonitis in my left wrist.

http://orthopedics.about.com/cs/sportsmedicine/a/tendonitis.htm

Cool I don't have long-term damage. :D Uncool I still have pain. He prescribed for me to take 2 Aleve twice daily which is way more than what it says on the bottle. See, I never take aspirin or stuff like that. But I gotta say, that Aleve works better than dulling the pain with beer!

Further, he showed me some stretching exercises (some of which I had been doing for years) to try to elongate the tendon by the pinky wrist bone. It hurts like heck! :evil: But I'm doing them. So we'll see how things go over the next couple of months...

A good shiatsu practitioner can do wonders for tendon stress and strain. Make sure he or she is good, though- get recommendations!

And hang in there!

Ande