wrist stuff

[Lexavier]

I went to the doctors they said it may be too late to fix my hand but , i rested it for 3 days and im back to normal with that little annoying pain in my left wrist. maybe if i give it a week and half it might totally go away. they did mention surgery though and i havent been getting the answers i wanted to hear about "how long until i can play again" stuff. i will see if i can get passed the surgery.i cannot imagine not playing for a week man , it will have to be done though , or no guitar at all.

[oRg]

I know what you mean. You have to look at things in long-term. On one hand, no surgery would end up leaving you without guitar for the rest of your life probably but then on the other hand surgery would correct it but in order to recoup you'd have to not play for a week. I would definitely do surgery. Man, that's one thing that I'm pretty sure shred guitarists everywhere would hate hear. I for one am afraid of developing tendonitis. Arthritis doesn't bother me too much right now, mainly becuz I haven't had it for a long period of time. I just recently developed it. Though ym hands do ache after a good ashred session.

[Lexavier]

I know it wouldnt happen but ill always think to make myself feel better "maybe the surgery will turn me into a super guitarist!" aha, hey you never know. you know i thought stretching out before practice was good , to an extent stretching is good, i guess i over stretched, im kind of anal about practicing, i really dont jam too much , ive been playing by myself pretty much for the past two and a half years due to a difficult bitchy drummer and lack of social life, it sucks. i dont really pay attention to learning songs too much.
mostly technique and always my own material. im kind of confused though, i think my wrist may have healed the wrong way , thats why it hurt so much, but about a week ago i threw my hand out of wack again on accident (let me just say....the pain from it was freaking horrible) but i think i may have ****ed it up again but now its healing properly? because now every passing day my wrist is getting better , i think i may have lucked out , ill find out in a week or two if the pains totally gone.

[MattW]

Lexavier, be careful. I had/have RSI and I had to stop playing completely for about 4 months and had a severly distrupted practice regime for 18 months. I was strongly advised by every specialist I saw to try to avoid surgery at all costs as it can make it far worse, even something like a Cortisone injection carries risks but is much more favourable. It took me way too long to realise how to handle the situation, but when I figured it out I managed to get alot better fairly quickly. The most difficult thing is getting a correct diagnosis, if you have tendonitis then maybe some of the stuff below might be of some use, if you have carpel tunnel syndrome then stop playing and see a specialist!

For me the best treatment for tendonitis was a complete rest from playing for a couple of weeks (physios suggest no longer than 2 weeks as swelling generally doesn't improve after that time and the muscles can begin to weaken if left unused for too long) with some physio and then followed by greatly reduced playing, and then over time a gradual increase in playing (with plenty of breaks). Keeping my hands and forearm warm was also a big benifit since I have pretty bad circulation. Trust me, do NOT play though the pain. Make sure you are as relaxed as possible when you practice too, stretch all the muscles in your arms, shoulders and back before you play if you can. Use an ice pack after playing too (no more than 20 mins) then get the circulation going again with a heater or hot water.

If you decide to take a break (which you should initially if you have RSI) then when you begin playing again I would advise using lighter gauge strings if possible. (I used .08s tuned to D) you can start at a lower tuning too and work your way up to normal pitch then put .09s on at lower tuning and repeat until you arrive at the tuning/gauge you want. This way you can gradually build the load back up without aggravating the tendonitis.

Currently I have got my playing back up to about 6 hours a day if I break it up, which is less than I used to pre-RSI but alot more than I did when I had RSI! You can make use of the time you are losing technical practice by learning things that you otherwise would not have spent much time doing, a decent amount of ear training was something I found useful that I would probably have never done if I hadn't had RSI. listening to as much music as possible too, I managed to broaden my musical horizons more in a year than I had in my whole life. I found that gathering as much material as possible and making a list of 'things to do' was extremely useful too, it gave me a ridiculous amount of things to think about as I began to practice properly again.

Sorry if this post is too long, or if you have heard it all before!:cool:

[Lexavier]

trust me , you have gave me alot to think of, i got a doctors appointment this thursday, surgery stuff. i want to avoid surgery but seriously wouldnt it be hard to find a doctor thats not going to try and drain the medical insurance money for all they have? i really dont want to have to get surgery if its not neccesary. thanks again for the information man.

[MattW]

What are your symptoms? I know I can't diagnose it and I wouldn't want to be responsible for trying! but I have heard so much info about it from so many different doctors and specialists that I could probably give you a couple of ideas that you could suggest to the doctor.

Remember to ask about ALL available treatments, do not take their word for it if you think they have financial gain in mind, see as many doctors/physios and specialists as you can.

It is most probable that you have tendonitis, but you may have Carpel Tunnel syndrome which is a fair bit worse. The most likely treatments for tendonitis would be an initial short break from playing (2 weeks or so) then a few weeks of physio (friction massages, stretches & ultrasound on the effected area etc...) if that doesn't work, the next step is usually a Cortisone injection. You can get a maximum of 3 of these I think, as too many can actually weaken the tendons. After that if it still isn't better surgery is a very remote possibility, but I was still advised by Private Doctors, NHS Doctors and Medically qualified friends (no financial interest that way) that it was generally better to try to avoid the surgery route.

[dave111]

Instead of starting a new thread, ill ask my question in this if you don't mind.

My arm has started to hurt. My right arm (That is my picking hand) has been occasionly hurting the last few days. I play standing usually, my guitar is quite high and its comfortable. I pick with a sort of elbow/wrist combo (Thats what I think it is) Any idea why I would experience pain? Am I not warming up enough or would my technique be the problem?

[Tiger Lily]

it depends on hwo long uve been [playing like that. maybe u should try adjusting the strap, and seeing if u can play diffrent.

i know this is harsh, but personaly, wutever pain (bleeding fingers, cramped arm, dropping stuff on foot) i suck it up and deal with it, lol. if it there werer sewruose health issues, i dont think i could give up my axe, i need it to live. kudos to u, if u choose health, that takes a lot of mental strenth.

[MattW]

Instead of starting a new thread, ill ask my question in this if you don't mind.

My arm has started to hurt. My right arm (That is my picking hand) has been occasionly hurting the last few days. I play standing usually, my guitar is quite high and its comfortable. I pick with a sort of elbow/wrist combo (Thats what I think it is) Any idea why I would experience pain? Am I not warming up enough or would my technique be the problem?
Where exactly is it hurting? which exact motion causes the pain?

[Lexavier]

i think it may be that your probably not picking with your wrist. have you been doing any tremolo picking where your arm is all tensed/tightened up to your shoulder so you can tremolo pick stuff, well if it is that i used to do that too until my arm started locking up ( yea im very prone to getting into accidents when i play , sounds fun, no?) try picking with your wrist and not using your elbow, and keep track of it , always watch your arm or feel to see when its tensed and then automatically let loose again until your body can stay on auto pilot making you relaxed, rather than making you tense