Wrists

[Izzy]

okay, so I have very frail small wrists and my form is not the best...using my THUMB for the top string, this really strains the wrist sometimes. bottom line is I am hurting pretty fkn bad, and i don't like using Advil to cover up. don't want to make it worse, by ignoring the signs.

 

I have a question specially aimed at the veterans...well, not like ancient, I just mean with enough guitar years under the belt to have hurt at some point, though you might not have ever hurt cus you have good form or good genes.

 

What do you do to keep yourself from injuring your wrist. Before practice, after...do you warm up, do you make sure not to do something, ice, heat.....?

 

My grandpa (professional violinist RCA recording artist) said never wash your hands after playing, let them cool off first. Stretch before you play rotating the wrists, hand circles you could call 'em.

 

Thank you for your input, in advance.

[Lowdown]

No pain,no gain sister.

Nah,like anything,it gets better/easier the more you do it. You know what I mean.

Before playing,try splaying all your fingers out,then push down on a hard surface. Repeat 'til it's easier to do and you feel stretched enough. Damn,this ain't going over too good is it:-"

Just try it anyways...

[Izzy]

seriously, no one but me has had wrist pain on account of jamming?

*shock

[Cruznolfart]

seriously' date=' no one but me has had wrist pain on account of jamming?

*shock

 

[/quote']

Izzy, do you play the same guitar every time? Do you experience pain regardless of which instrument you use? Have you tried shortening your strap?

[Izzy]

Izzy' date=' do you play the same guitar every time? Do you experience pain regardless of which instrument you use? Have you tried shortening your strap? [/quote']

 

It hurts more with the acoustic. I have a skinny necked SG I play regularly, and I keep the guitar close to my body (Beatles almost). Played for 15mins today and now I'm heading to the kitchen for advil and I'm taking the entire day off from playing.

 

Might it also be the cold weather?

[Big Bill]

Cruz asked some great questions. A strap adjustment may help.

 

Back the the mid 90's I got tendinitis in the fingers of my left hand. The ortho doctor had me do some stretching exercising before I played, it helped out a lot.

[ShredAstaire]

I get pain in my fretting wrist too...i found that a short strap helps and really focusing on technique can help relieve it. When it gets really bad, i need to take a few days off of playing...which is noooo fun but if I want to continue playing, you gotta make that sacrifice.

 

Could be the cold weather if you're playing outside or don't heat your house too much....many factors could be contributing to your pain.

[Cruznolfart]

It hurts more with the acoustic. I have a skinny necked SG I play regularly' date=' and I keep the guitar close to my body (Beatles almost). Played for 15mins today and now I'm heading to the kitchen for advil and I'm taking the entire day off from playing.

 

Might it also be the cold weather?

[/quote']

 

Definitely cold weather can cause muscle soreness but I'd be concerned it might be something slightly more serious than that. You already said your left-hand form isn't "standard", with wrist under the neck and thumb centered on the back. I wonder how much your form might be contributing to the pain.

 

A couple years ago, I got a case of "trigger finger" in my left thumb. Whenever I'd bend it, it would pop, eventually becoming slightly painful, particularly if there was a bit of pressure...like fretting. It got bad enough that I had to quit playing for awhile. I discovered it was due to my computer mouse, switched hands when "computing" and in a matter of days, everything was back to normal.

 

Do you have a friend/acquaintance who teaches guitar? If they could make some observations of your form it might help you pinpoint some corrections you could make that might bring you some relief.

[Riffster]

I have all sort of issues (note my screen name), if something hurts I adjust my form.

 

I have found that having your elbow and even shoulder in a prosition that works for you helps, we are all shaped differently so it is hard to say.

 

If your strap is already high and you are still using your thumb on the top string I can see why that would strain your wrist. maybe lowering the strap will help.

 

My guitars hang slightly lower than average just because I notice that I tend to loosen my shoulder that way and in turn my elbow and hands are more loose.

[Wild_Rose]

I don't know if I help you, but when I started playing electric (Squier Strat), I had the same problem with my wrist, especially with power chords. (I was playing acoustic before and didn't have problems)

 

What I did was to make sure I had the strap on a satisfying length (as cruz said), and not do very fast moves that made my wrist hurt more. I started playing for about 10-15 minutes a couple of times per day and slowly I found a suitable position for my hand and wrist.

 

I admit I still hurt if I play for a long time, but I suppose I'm not injuring myself. Whenever I feel I can't play anymore because my hands hurt, I just stop.

[deepblue]

seriously' date=' no one but me has had wrist pain on account of jamming?

*shock

 

[/quote']

 

 

I get it too Izzy. I try and do small hand/wrist exercises before any long playing.

I get the pain sometimes so bad I need to ice down my forearms and wrist.

One thing about my style of playing, I grip the neck hard and really use force.

 

Youre not alone my friend.

[swleary]

Izzy.

 

I try to put my hands together and with your elbows pointing out ,bend the wrists. I also take my hand with the other one and bend the hand down and up.

 

I learned both techniques in physiotherapy and they've helped me. Icing the wrist will help afterwards too. Advil should help but just watch your intake of it.

[DanvillRob]

okay' date=' so I have very frail small wrists and my form is not the best...using my THUMB for the top string, this really strains the wrist sometimes. bottom line is I am hurting pretty fkn bad, and i don't like using Advil to cover up. don't want to make it worse, by ignoring the signs.

 

I have a question specially aimed at the veterans...well, not like ancient, I just mean with enough guitar years under the belt to have hurt at some point, though you might not have ever hurt cus you have good form or good genes.

 

What do you do to keep yourself from injuring your wrist. Before practice, after...do you warm up, do you make sure not to do something, ice, heat.....?

 

My grandpa (professional violinist RCA recording artist) said never wash your hands after playing, let them cool off first. Stretch before you play rotating the wrists, hand circles you could call 'em.

 

Thank you for your input, in advance.[/quote']

 

There are so many jokes there....I....Must..... Resist......

 

I get a sharp pain in my fretting thumb, but I've always chalked it up to age. I'm a veteran..... I was in 'Nam in 1970.....what? Oh...you THAT kind of veteran...... well... nevermind....

 

As the others have told you, try moving the neck around to get the most comfortable place for the bend in your wrist...be it higher or lower...... and I DEFINITELY think the weather can affect your joints, (okay...no jokes here either). It snowed at my house today.... I mean I live in the SF Bay Area..... I'm wondering if those guys in Copenhagen have already fixed the "Global Warming" thing!!

 

I do take Advil, (not Tylenol), for it, but I'll die of old age before the Advil does any damage to my body!

 

Bob

[ChanMan]

Hey Izzy... sorry about your wrist pain

 

Thumb centered behind the neck is more of a classical style. Do you play with the pads or tips of your fingers?

[EVOL!]

Sorry to hear about your pain. My wrists, fingers, and elbows are all F'd up, but not from playing guitar or drums. It is from working at a desk all day, typing on a keyboard, and working a mouse. The only guitar related injury is that my left and right shoulders are not square. Is that called guitar shoulder? Like women get purse shoulder?

 

Anyway, I highly recommend checking the internets for repetitive stress injuries and various stretches you can do for your fingers and wrists. A great option for soreness if you don't like popping pills are capsaicin patches. They burn like a MF at first, but then the heat sinks in and numbs it out. Great stuff.

[cwness]

Izzy correct we if I'm wrong but you use your thumb to fret the low E string

(top string). I justed tried that and after a little playing I also felt discomfort.

It is the weird angle I had my wrist in to play that way. Try not using your

thumb. It was worse on my Gibson's and not so bad with my Tele with the

small neck.

 

CW

[retrosurfer1959]

Good luck Izzy and wrist size doesn't matter mine are huge 9 1/2 - 10 inches and they still hurt - stretch em out and warm up is good advice.

 

I've always used booze and eventually surgery but thats not good advice I know. but don't know if you have much choice in the matter seems to be mostly genetic. I've had two surgeries on the right wrist one on the left wrist and nerve reduction/relocation on the right elbow and both hands still hurt. leather wrist bands might help you keep the wrist straight I know i use them on both hands now (redmonkey.com) seems to help the numbness and if nothing else covers all the surgical scars!

[Diatonic_mealworm]

okay' date=' so I have very frail small wrists and my form is not the best...using my THUMB for the top string, this really strains the wrist sometimes. bottom line is I am hurting pretty fkn bad, and i don't like using Advil to cover up. don't want to make it worse, by ignoring the signs.

 

I have a question specially aimed at the veterans...well, not like ancient, I just mean with enough guitar years under the belt to have hurt at some point, though you might not have ever hurt cus you have good form or good genes.

 

What do you do to keep yourself from injuring your wrist. Before practice, after...do you warm up, do you make sure not to do something, ice, heat.....?

 

My grandpa (professional violinist RCA recording artist) said never wash your hands after playing, let them cool off first. Stretch before you play rotating the wrists, hand circles you could call 'em.

 

Thank you for your input, in advance.[/quote']

 

I have had really bad pain associated with carpel tunnel and the few things that helped me are:

bananas eat lots of em!

Stretch and do a little cardio before you plan on practicing or playing for more than a couple hrs. at a time.

I had a large bowl full of sand after i hurt my shred hand I used it for grasping sand and releasing it for about 10-15 minutes a day.

and another thing is don't do marathon practice sessions without warming up and using a gradual approach to your playing times.

Last check this guys warm up out

Good luck !

[FirstMeasure]

If you wear you guitar high (like the Beatles), then you have to hold your Elbow High to use your thumb. That's very uncomfortable for me. Just like trying to use "Proper Fingering" on a Guitar slung low is uncomfortable.

 

Also, you may be Squeezing to tightly. You should just be Feeling the string on the fretboard, not Pressing it down hard. The lightest touch possible, while still allowing the notes to ring true, is the secret to being able to play all night and all your life.

 

So, lower your guitar a bit and lighten up on the strings.

[charlie brown]

And....don't ignore "diet!" Try to keep your body as alkaline, as possible. Not only for joint pain reduction,

but overall health, as well. Most processed and "fast food" is acidic, in PH. That contributes to ALL kinds

of health problems. White flower, and processed sugar, are "poison!" Quite litterally. Slow poisons,

obviously, but they both cause all kinds of problems...some faster, and more severe, than others.

 

Anyway...just my 2-cent's worth.

 

CB

[Murph]

I broke my left radias several years ago, have s stainless plate with screws and a nice scar.

 

Supination was my biggest fear, (look it up, but supination is critical for a guitarist). I had a great surgeon, and told him I was a working musician and he fixed me up. You might also talk to some rehab people, they really helped get me back into shape, then I also had to get the callouses back.

 

Best of luck.

[milod]

Izzy...

 

I damaged my wrists in high school by overdosing on work with weights with the idea of strengthening wrists for fencing. It didn't work. <grin> You don't wanna know what my right wrist can do that it shouldn't.

 

But martial arts, especially "ki do" types and to an extent kick-punch stuff, taught me a few principles you may wish to consider in terms of easing wrist pressures.

 

First, keep the index finger almost always in a straight line with the bones of the forearm, whether it's "straight" as in pointing your finger or whether it's bent as in doing a barre chord. Tipping the wrist so that it angles toward the little finger puts some incredible strain on the smaller bones and less strong tendons in the wrist - and that hurts. It's also a "creeping up on you" hurt when it's never a big hurt, but constant small strains like playing or computer mousing with improper alignment of muscles, bones and tendons.

 

Lead always with the index finger pointing, either hand. Ditto the right hand whether fingerpicking in any style or flatpicking. I've not seen any of the top older pros who don't do that almost by nature. That index finger almost always is in a plane with the forearm whether the wrist is bent inward or outward.

 

It's not that you're using your thumb on the bottom E, it's that you're torquing your wrist toward the little finger when you do so.

 

At any rate, that's my take. Aikido, Hapkido, etc., have many techniques that are designed to stress the wrists of an opponent while gaining maximum strength in the defender's hands with the least effort. The principles above hit the technical side of it.

 

My own problem is with the computer mouse given how many hours I'm on a computer during the day with a poorly designed desk... the same principle, however, is why.

 

m

[Izzy]

Thank you all so much for the advice. I searched the topic before I posted and was surprised there wasn't anything on it. There is plenty now ^^V

 

I knew the "thumb on low E" technique was a big nono, but it became that nasty habit I gotta think about to break. I will work on relearning to play without it. Looks like not many of you ever do that o.o Working on technique will help, just going to take discipline.

 

I do grab hard at the neck and because I learned on nylon. In my early steel days, I always had to compensate when pressing down on the strings. It stuck with me to grab hard and press hard.

I'll try to let go a bit.

 

Chan, to answer your question: I try to play with the tips of my fingers. Pads happen, but I my calluses are on the tips. My nails are wow short just for that.

 

There are times I think I'm just going to play for 15mins and it turns in to a two hour session. I'm going to follow the advice on warming up and stretching every time, just in case. I'm also going to get something like those heat pads (maybe like icy-hot/thermorub?) for comfort afterwards.

 

Glad I'm not nuts for thinking temperature affects joints. Its not cold in the house but I cover my wrists with tennis player wrist warmers, I fear the cold SO much. I wake up with my pinkie numb (fret hand only) now that the temperature dropped outside.

 

The diet thing, great advise. I'm already a healthy eater, so that's covered. Whole wheat, lots of water, and little meat...pretty much low sugar, except in this weather I've been eating chocolate and making coco like mad.

 

Again, thanks to you all for your input. *goes to watch Diatonic's vid

[milod]

Izzy...

 

Note that Merle Travis did a lot of thumb stuff.

 

I got hollered at by Christopher Parkening for it in a cupla one-on-one classes a thousand years ago. "Too much bluegrass" was his comment. <chortle>

 

I learned on nylon too.

 

It's not the thumb, it's the wrist angle. A bad wrist angle with a barre will do the same; ditto any right hand technique.

 

m

[duane v]

I have the same issue only when I play my 50's archtop..... I know it's because of the baseball bat size neck. I get this burning pain where my wrist meets the lower palm about 30 minutes into playing it. Also the lower thumb starts to hurt a little.

 

But since I love the tone of that particular guitar, I just deal.