repetative stress...is there a cure?

There are several categories to consider for repetitive stress injury from playing guitar.
- Technique: the mechanics of how you play
- Massage and stretching
- Nutrition: Vitamins, Herbs, etc

For technique, you want to consider all aspects of playing.
How you are holding the guitar? (what is you strap height?, do you bend the neck to see the fretboard?, do you practice sitting in a chair?),
Are you tensing up while you play? (fingers, hand, arm, shoulders, back)
How is your left-hand technique? (Is your thumb behind the neck? Are you pressing too hard, or is your hand weak?)
Right-hand technique (How do you hold the pick? Do you strum or attack the strings? Is your pickguard scratched?)
I highly recommend guitarprinciples.com - the email newsletter is awesome!

You can massage and stretch your hands and fingers, as well as your forearms and elbows (to get the muscles).

Overuse can cause the joints to become inflammed, hot and red.
Aspirin is a well known anti-inflammatory that reduces pain.
Turmeric (curcumin), the yellow spice, is a very strong anti-inflammatory herb.
Omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids from fish and nut oils are anti-inflammatory and lube up the joints.
(I recommend Udo's Oil, designed by Udo Erasmus, author of Fats that Heal)
Vitamins B6 and B12, if deficient, can cause neurological problems, including carpal tunnel.
Glucosamine and chondroitin help repair the joints.
Arnica oil rubbed topically is very helpful for injuries.

thanks for the link...it's a good idea maybe it's the way i strum. fast strumming is the worst.

Even though I'm 16, recently I have been going through terrible joint pain, probobly caused by my involvement in wrestling and football, the two worst sports for your body. My friends dad recommended MSM and Glocosamine Sulfate together, which after some research on the net showed up to be clinically proven to be better and healthier than asprin. The two supplements do not cause the liver and digestive track damage that other drugs cause. I'm going to start taking these in low doseage to see if my joints heal up.

thanks for the advice, i'll bring it up to a doctor, if i can find one (there's not many where i live).

i been working on changing the way i stum. i noticed that it doesn't hurt much if i lock my wrist during fast strumming parts. i played "papa was a rolling stone" this way a few times without much pain. it's not easy changing habbits though.

thinking of hiring a guitar teacher to help me with technique as well.

I've had that similar situation in my fret hand for about a month. Just started playing with some guys and we were running through some old Sublime stuff (Date Rape and Ebin). Played each song about 5 times. Back in my teens I could probably play those songs for an entire day, but my wrist just isn't used to it anymore. The next day I couldn't bend my wrist enough to even fret a chord. I laid off for a few days and after about a week I could play again.

Ever since though, it feels like it's sitting there waiting for me to do something wrong. I can almost feel it tweak if I play a certain riff too many times, like if I continue it will stiffin up. Whenever I get that feeling I just play something else.

It's a pain in the a$$.

Could be carpal tunnel syndrome. Get it checked out.

Does the pain stop when you stop laying? If so, then you'll probably live. However, if it doesn't stop when you stop laying then it could be affecting joints and adjacent tissues too. Pains like this are attributable to inflammation and degenerative processes in the overloaded tissues. Anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen) will reduce the swelling but won't cure the condition. I did jear of a guy over at Wholenote.com who needed surgery.

I've got a little bit of info here, but I'll have to research it better before I go into detail as it's based on office workers and repetitive tasks. Once I've done some decent research I'll maybe put it up as an article here for pesterity.

Best,

A :-)

ivankaramazov: sounds very much the same...guess we're not getting any younger :)

Alan Green: carpal tunnel syndrome doesn't sound like fun. either does surgery for that matter. i'll google "carpal tunnel syndrome" and i look forward to reading your artical. thanks for you help.

i'll stop playing till i get a doctor's advice