Guitar Playing And Physical Issues

[The Pecker]

hey im the pecker. im 13 and have been playing for about 2 years. i practice quiet often, about 3 hours a day, and playing a gig tonight infact. anyways, just today about an hour ago my right shoulder blade has had shooting pains whenever i move it. and even when i move my right arm or move my neck. its like someone jabbing that spot with a million needles. the pain is horrific. when i take a deep breath it hurts horribly too. enough of my wining..

my mom says its from playing guitar because im picking all the time. a repetative montion thing she says it is. she said my shoulder is inflamed and that i should go to a doctor and skip my gig tongiht. hell no! my shoulder has been messed up with a huge knot for a long time, and i tell her that, but now that its horrible she finally notices. anyways, does anybody know if this is related to guitar playing or if its just some other problem. and if it is guitar playing, how would i prevent it? thanks...

[The Pecker]

Also I was wondering if anyone knows how to improve stamina on the picking forearm. Such an example is Paranoid, where you are constantly picking with a downstroke for about 3 minutes. After a while this does a number on your arm. I've been playing this song for about a year and can still barely get through it. Does anyone have any tips to improve my stamina? Thanks...

[E. Lusive]

well I don't know about the shoulder pain, but lifting weights helps your picking stamina. There is this thing in the gym that is like a bar with a rope hanging down from it and you just roll it up. Gets your forearms very strong and might even make for faster picking...or you could just pick more and build up stamina that way

[Los Boleros]

Get in the habbit of Stretching all the time. Stretch your fingers, wrists and the muscles in your forearms as well. As far as the shoulder blades, Are you sure tha you are not spending alot of time in the same position? A good example is watching TV for one hour and sitting in the same chair with your head turned the same way. This is the sort of thing that causes most back and neck trouble. Also too, try to sleep on your back facing up.

[wild_child]

I once had pains in my shoulder blade, i guessed it was from playing guitar, but i suppose it could have been from carrying a school bag full of folders around all day or something like that. Anyway, what helped me was to go circuit training every week, doing dorsal raises particularly helped. I also looked more at my posture while playing, both standing and sitting, I have since avoided hunching over in any way and keeping the back straight. and lo and behold, the pain is gone! give it a try.

[The Pecker]

Thanks for the tips. Normally I do sit up straight and sleep on my back but about a year and a half ago I was with my father up at his property often moving alot of heavy stuff and straining my shoulder. Thats when it started to bother me. I was just wondering if anybody else had had severe back pains from playing guitar. And thank you E. Lusive, I'll starting lifting some more weights to work my forearm. Weve got a weight section in my P.E. class so that should work well. Thanks guys for the replies.