Need some advice: hands hurt while playing

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sandman

sandman

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I have a little carpal tunnel syndrome in my right wrist. I know surgery could cure that....it bothers me some while picking...but the real problem has been my left hand.
After playing only a couple of minutes it starts hurting. This has been going on for quite awhile. I have tried stretching. One problem with stretching is that I may stretch for 5 minutes...but with 3 kids and a wife...sometimes that 5 minutes was the only time I had to play...and stretching takes up that time.
Doesn't matter what guitar, or how relaxed my hand is, it starts hurting in my joints and palm area.
I suck at guitar but enjoy playing.......honestly...i just have no time for it anyway....but guitar is the only thing that causes my hand to hurt...strange...i figured if arthritis etc...that it would bother me using tools or working doing other things.
My wife is a nurse and I have a friend that is an NP...they both suggested trying Advil or Aleve for a week or so and see how things go.....i'm not very optimistic I admit....i'm not quite 40 yrs old and have enjoyed guitar since i was 16 or so....It is bothering me that I may have to give up this hobby.
anybody have any suggestions?
 
Chiropractic helped me as well as changing my diet. I had an inflammation response to certain foods.
 
I'm actually going through a very similar situation right now. I've noticed a pain in my wrist, at the base of my left palm and into my forearm. It's a sharp pain that I get if I do certain runs. Runs that I have always done. I'm getting ready to schedule a doctor's appointment. I'm nervous about possibility having to have surgery, but the thought of not being able to play guitar scars me even more.
 
If you aren't going to properly stretch and warm up then you might as well stop playing anyways. Stretching is a must at any skill level.

Surgery is an extreme road to take and likely what both of you have is inflammation. Go to a doctor before it gets worse an you do permanent damage. Good luck!
 
fluff191":3edcl0g9 said:
If you aren't going to properly stretch and warm up then you might as well stop playing anyways. Stretching is a must at any skill level.
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I completely understand...It's just hard for me to set aside a time to sit down and stretch and then play guitar. Family takes up 99.9% of my time. They come first...but sadly....there is truth in your advice.
 
jcmlespaul":2zvzocv4 said:
Chiropractic helped me as well as changing my diet. I had an inflammation response to certain foods.
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I have cleaned up my diet a lot the last couple of months but I will definitely pay attention to foods and do some research on this. thanks
 
SFW":2nzeivrj said:
I'm actually going through a very similar situation right now. I've noticed a pain in my wrist, at the base of my left palm and into my forearm. It's a sharp pain that I get if I do certain runs. Runs that I have always done. I'm getting ready to schedule a doctor's appointment. I'm nervous about possibility having to have surgery, but the thought of not being able to play guitar scars me even more.
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hope you get your stuff worked out also....i don't play in a band or anything so at least my worries are just at home hobby oriented
 
The chiropractor release the sublaxation between my discs in my neck. My nerves were being pinched and misfiring and caused pain while I played. I still have to watch my posture and stretch my entire upper body. I think surgery can be avoided. Best of luck to you pm me if you want any more insight.
 
In addition to the stretching, try Glucosamine....really helped me, and my hands hurt constantly.
 
thanks for all the help guys...you have given me good info and ideas to try !
 
if you play standing up, i think guitar position is really important to putting stress on your wrist/hand... mess with your strap length at different heights and find what is most comfortable. over time, i have to readjust my strap because it ends up a little longer from moving and stretching out.. maybe something as simple as this could help a bit :rock: I've noticed i need my guitar at a specific height or else it puts pressure on my first finger too much when i play certain things
 
diet, inflamation, stress, anxiety, all can be causes of pain to be honest.

keep your elbow close to your torso when you play, thats a bad habit that not many people know exists is extending your elbow away from your torso putting strain on your wrist.

massage the forearm daily, and use warm water to warm up for a few weeks along with stretching. do not play guitar as it will only make it worse - take a break from it until comfort starts to come back.

vitamin k found in green foods will help, as will sleep.

been down this road many times - some days its there, others its not. except mine is due to a broken wrist injury back many years that required surgery.

carpel tunnel surgery is only for the extreme cases where its an every day ordeal. it comes from repeated tasks.
 
Slow down before you do damage .... I lost my ability to play without a lot of pain for about 9 months a few years ago. The plus was I worked on my slide playing...
 
steve_k":1h4j8wxl said:
Don't laugh dude.......you need Potassium. Eat bananas!
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+1
And go to a health food store and get some peppermint oil and rub a drop into the area. Works great on the hands for arthritis. May sound crazy but a friends wife was doing that and told his father who has bad problems with his hands and it eased his pain.
 
Try some power putty. If you can't find it buy 3-4 globs of silly putty and put them together. You can just squeeze on the stuff while watching TV or driving but if you do it for a few minutes before picking up the guitar your left hand will already be warmed up. The stuff is used for musicians rehabbing hand injuries and for generally strengthening your had muscles. I used the silly putty trick for years and it really did wonders for my fret hand and alos let me be warmed up pretty much before I picked up the guitar to practice.

You may have something else going on there but I think not properly warming up maybe part of the problem.
 
steve_k":3mxhxq7t said:
Don't laugh dude.......you need Potassium. Eat bananas!
Click to expand...

+1 to this and even more important, drink water, water, water.
 
I have recently started using one of these http://www.powerball-gyros.com/ They work all your muscles in your hand, and forearm. I have one at work, and use it about 3-4 times a day for about 10 min. Work doesn't mind since I am on the computer a lot, and these prevent carpel tunnel. Cheap, and easy to try as well.

Another change I have made recently that had a side effect of less pain, and stiffness is I cut grains out of my diet completely. I now have a lot of vegetables, meat, and fruit. All the carbs from grains is replaced by healthy fats. I have also dropped about 20 lbs without trying as well. Here is a post from the website about primal living, and diet about arthritis. http://www.marksdailyapple.com/arthriti ... z1mw4HYPz6 Check it out. It works for me, and my wife. I originally tried it for two weeks to see if it was junk, or not, and after those two weeks I had more energy, and I dropped 5 lbs without working out, or dieting. I was eating some foods that are considered unhealthy like butter, coconut oil, bacon, lots of eggs etc.
 
Lots of good info. :)

I'll just add one thing that hasn't been mentioned. Neck size. Many of us over at the LP forum will only play larger necks, as it allows us to play not only pain free (or with reduced pain), it allows us to play much longer.

I've had this conversation with many others when my hand started to hurt. We all agreed that a larger neck makes your hand open up, causing less tension on the muscles and joints. I can tell you that after playing thin necks most of my life trouble free, my hand really started to ache when I hit my 40's. Picked up a '58 LP Reissue with a large neck a few years back.... and now have NO PAIN AT ALL (even when playing 3 sets).

Might not work for you, but you might want to try a larger neck guitar the next time you're in a music store. Good Luck
 
I thought that I would come into this thread and say something that hasn't been said already but I was happy to see that a lot of guys covered what I was going to say.

Both of my wrists are screwed up. i cant bend them back very much which makes some things difficult but at one point my hands were hurting really bad and It was most definitely linked to me eating bad foods that caused inflamation.

I fixed the pain problem by not pounding sugary / highly processed foods and I keep pretty hydrated by drinking a ton of water. I have to drink a lot of water because I drink a ton of coffee which acts like a diaretic.

All in all, your diet can be the culprit but you could also have something else going on, so I think that if it's possible that you should get your hand checked out. Even though Ive changed my food selection, I know that ive got something else going on in my wrists that diet wont be able to fix lol. I haven't had them checked out because I can still play and that's the only reason lol.

all the best!

~R~
 
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