Stealthtastic
Active member
How do you guys play through any chronic conditions you have? Obviously this will vary a lot per person depending on the condition but I think it would be nice to see some general tips and tricks here.
blackba
Well-known member
Been dealing with neck, shoulder, and hand issues for the last few years. Been to a doctor on all issues and they helped, but never got completely healed.
I ice what hurts at the end of the day. I am also strengthening the sore areas and that has helped a ton. I figure I can either be sore from weak muscles or because I am strengthening those muscles.
I ice what hurts at the end of the day. I am also strengthening the sore areas and that has helped a ton. I figure I can either be sore from weak muscles or because I am strengthening those muscles.
Stealthtastic
Active member
blackba":2uvqnt6q said:
Does your shoulder hurt because you're extended it out? If it's your left shoulder then I would recommend picking up a headless with a compact overall body. That's how I "fixed" my shoulder.
A
apophis
Well-known member
Just bought a parker pdf for playing rehearsals and out of town gigs. It's about 5 pounds so it should help. Also try MSM capsules to help inflammation issues. If you have wrist or elbow issues you could also look into a thing called Theraband Flexbar. $15 bux in amazon and super helpful.
blackba
Well-known member
Stealthtastic":3p0pfl1f said:
Mostly the left shoulder and it's aggravated by playing a heavy guitar for too many days in a row. As to your recommendation, no idea what you are talking about.
blackba
Well-known member
apophis":1vjzcrpg said:
How do you know hat resistance theraband flexbar to start with?
billsbigego
Well-known member
Here's the deal. Most people don't believe me when I say this, because either you're in the HMO rabbit hole already, or looking down into the Hole. What I mean is, it's easy to get brainwashed by your doctor into thinking you have arthritis and there's no cure. Now that's one persons belief and don't get down on me for my beliefs. I have a side hobby, if you will, reading endless books on all this stuff. Especially diseases that my relatives have had in the past, watching them wither away in their 60's, going to this specialist, that specialist, a M-Sun Pill box and 10 different prescription bottles on the counter.
I decided I was going to educate myself as much as possible, so I am not a slave to the HMO system. A system which, is designed to give you drugs, to mask your symptoms and never treat the underlying cause. I have done remarked things with diet, exercise and supplementation. I am a proponent of eating more of an alkaline diet. I do eat meat, but I do not eat meat 5 days a week. This, plus reading boxes and being aware of all the chemicals they are putting in our foods. It really pisses me off and part of the conspiracy theorist in me actually believes that big pharma and big food are trying to kill us, or at least make us reliant on the medical system.
Now there are lots of folks that say "so and so did this type of diet and they still died." So I say to them, is that just an excuse to give up and continue eating boxed rubbish and continue to be in pain constantly and whither away? It's about figuring out what works for you, and nobody is going to do the work for you. I mean, do you really want to give away all your personal power to a doctor? A friend of mine has a rare blood condition. He's on statins for life. He asked the doctor flat out. Is there a way to get off the pills completely? The doctor said, absolutely, if you are disciplined enough to eat nuts and berries the rest of your life.
I have had a lot of hand and wrist issues from past injuries. This has affected my playing ability. With my band, I do a lot of double thumb blues type shit on the resonators with finger picks. For a while, I would get a clicking pain in my thumb and it shot up my arm. Kind of like when you hit your funny bone. Not fun. So I searched high and low and found a cool guy on youtube, a physical therapist who was explaining hand and wrist injuries and treatments. I sent him an email and described what I was dealing with. He nailed it down to some symdrone with the thumb. De Quervain's is what it's called.
He told me to get this thing called a flextend glove, which I did. The premise is that most of our hand motions are a gripping motion and over time, wear and tear, bla bla bla. What the glove does, is exercise and strengthen your hand and wrist in the opposite direction other than a gripping motion. It also works for elbow and shoulder stuff too with all sorts of attachments. I have worked through a lot of different issues with the Flextend glove. If they weren't $150, I would buy the for some friends that are convinced they have arthritis and there's no cure. I'm an IT guy. I do a shit ton of typing. Whenever I have any issues with my wrist, I use the glove for a week and they're gone. I have used it for elbow issues, finger issues and shoulder problems as well.
I mean, this thing has saved my ass. Otherwise it would have been. Doctor > Specialist > MRI > Specialist > Physical therapy and everybody gets $20 or $50 when you go. Screw that. I got the glove and avoided all that. I'm not saying the glove is going to fix everything, but the thing has easily paid for itself 10x over with the hand, finger, and wrist shit I've dealt with in the past few years.
Supplements I recommend.
Apple cider vinegar. Quality Magnesium complex. Quality MSM. Carlsons fish oil. Green apples, raw ginger, raw nuts. Cut down on sugar and booze. I don't believe meat is bad for you, as long as it's balanced with primarily a whole food diet containing lots of starches, complex carbs and fresh vegetables. Move your body. Daily. Everyone has 15 minutes. Even if you're flailing your arms in a chair for 15 minutes because you can't walk, you're gonna break a sweat. Any movement is good. For those that suffer from back issues, as a result of sitting on your ass for work, I can't recommend enough, this guy. Peter Escogue. He works primarily on the whole body as far as this is connected to that and an improper sitting position for years can result in all sorts of other issues. If your hips are jacked and misaligned, that effects your shoulder all the way to your wrists. He explains how all this works in his books. Anyhow, I don't even know if I answered the original question, but hope some of this helps somebody. Don't just give into the damn doctors and get sucked down the HMO rabbit hole. There's no better time in history to educate yourself and take matters into your own hands whenever possible. Plus, the success of fixing an ailment yourself is liberating and inspiring.
I decided I was going to educate myself as much as possible, so I am not a slave to the HMO system. A system which, is designed to give you drugs, to mask your symptoms and never treat the underlying cause. I have done remarked things with diet, exercise and supplementation. I am a proponent of eating more of an alkaline diet. I do eat meat, but I do not eat meat 5 days a week. This, plus reading boxes and being aware of all the chemicals they are putting in our foods. It really pisses me off and part of the conspiracy theorist in me actually believes that big pharma and big food are trying to kill us, or at least make us reliant on the medical system.
Now there are lots of folks that say "so and so did this type of diet and they still died." So I say to them, is that just an excuse to give up and continue eating boxed rubbish and continue to be in pain constantly and whither away? It's about figuring out what works for you, and nobody is going to do the work for you. I mean, do you really want to give away all your personal power to a doctor? A friend of mine has a rare blood condition. He's on statins for life. He asked the doctor flat out. Is there a way to get off the pills completely? The doctor said, absolutely, if you are disciplined enough to eat nuts and berries the rest of your life.
I have had a lot of hand and wrist issues from past injuries. This has affected my playing ability. With my band, I do a lot of double thumb blues type shit on the resonators with finger picks. For a while, I would get a clicking pain in my thumb and it shot up my arm. Kind of like when you hit your funny bone. Not fun. So I searched high and low and found a cool guy on youtube, a physical therapist who was explaining hand and wrist injuries and treatments. I sent him an email and described what I was dealing with. He nailed it down to some symdrone with the thumb. De Quervain's is what it's called.
He told me to get this thing called a flextend glove, which I did. The premise is that most of our hand motions are a gripping motion and over time, wear and tear, bla bla bla. What the glove does, is exercise and strengthen your hand and wrist in the opposite direction other than a gripping motion. It also works for elbow and shoulder stuff too with all sorts of attachments. I have worked through a lot of different issues with the Flextend glove. If they weren't $150, I would buy the for some friends that are convinced they have arthritis and there's no cure. I'm an IT guy. I do a shit ton of typing. Whenever I have any issues with my wrist, I use the glove for a week and they're gone. I have used it for elbow issues, finger issues and shoulder problems as well.
I mean, this thing has saved my ass. Otherwise it would have been. Doctor > Specialist > MRI > Specialist > Physical therapy and everybody gets $20 or $50 when you go. Screw that. I got the glove and avoided all that. I'm not saying the glove is going to fix everything, but the thing has easily paid for itself 10x over with the hand, finger, and wrist shit I've dealt with in the past few years.
Supplements I recommend.
Apple cider vinegar. Quality Magnesium complex. Quality MSM. Carlsons fish oil. Green apples, raw ginger, raw nuts. Cut down on sugar and booze. I don't believe meat is bad for you, as long as it's balanced with primarily a whole food diet containing lots of starches, complex carbs and fresh vegetables. Move your body. Daily. Everyone has 15 minutes. Even if you're flailing your arms in a chair for 15 minutes because you can't walk, you're gonna break a sweat. Any movement is good. For those that suffer from back issues, as a result of sitting on your ass for work, I can't recommend enough, this guy. Peter Escogue. He works primarily on the whole body as far as this is connected to that and an improper sitting position for years can result in all sorts of other issues. If your hips are jacked and misaligned, that effects your shoulder all the way to your wrists. He explains how all this works in his books. Anyhow, I don't even know if I answered the original question, but hope some of this helps somebody. Don't just give into the damn doctors and get sucked down the HMO rabbit hole. There's no better time in history to educate yourself and take matters into your own hands whenever possible. Plus, the success of fixing an ailment yourself is liberating and inspiring.
blackba
Well-known member
Will check put tat flextend, have trigger thumb and tennis elbow.
I assume this is the correct product? http://www.flextend.com/orderflextend.html
I assume this is the correct product? http://www.flextend.com/orderflextend.html
billsbigego
Well-known member
blackba":7iieddg9 said:
Playing with a heavy guitar, can cause you to lean to one side or compensate, by leaning to the other side, which basically means your whole hip and alignment are off. I'd check out the Escogue stuff I posted about earlier.
"And yes, this kind of therapy is great for guitarists. We've worked with a number of them in the clinic. They spend so much time with upper backs rounded forward and twisted that if they don't provide some counterbalancing motion, they get stuck there."
billsbigego
Well-known member
blackba":3g2td4ag said:
Yep, that's it. I got this one. More money, but it comes with everything.
http://www.flextend.com/orderflextendac.html
I've had the glove for years. The only things I've had to replace are the little elastic bands it comes with.
psychodave
Well-known member
I recently got tennis elbow in my left arm. I train a lot in martial arts and I'm having a hard time twisting my punches and blocks. It gets better for a few days, then I forget and injure it again. It doesn't help that I'm left handed either. It doesn't bother me too much when I play guitar.
JTyson
Well-known member
I've got a really bad shoulder, wrist, both knees and left ankle from 17 years in the motocross wars. Its a problem at times but I do a lot to keep the problems to a minimum. The shoulder and left wrist bother me the most playing, but it works out.
Honestly, I never expected to live this long
Honestly, I never expected to live this long
JTyson
Well-known member
Dave, dont you play right handed??psychodave":10ah1mra said:
Your a rare individual
J
just42dave
Well-known member
bananas and push ups
prsplayer86
Member
Back, shoulder, neck, or knee pain?? Check this out. http://startingstrength.com/ . I've had two torn ACL's and slew of upper back issues. Via starting strength and hard work, I no longer deal with any issues from that. It's strengthened my legs, back, chest, shoulders, and neck. Hanging a guitar around you shoulders for 2 hours is a breeze when you've gotten stupid strong. Even with disc issues, stronger back and core = less pain.
Warming up is key to having a long life playing. Wrists are like any other joint and can take so much shock or stress. Stretching and doing a light warm up before diving into a set or rehearsal keeps me personally feeling great.
Other than the healthy lift heavy weight and stretch stuff.. DRINK Whiskey. I proved this method to myself about 5 years ago. I remember it mainly because I had my second ACL reconstruction that morning and drank myself retarded that afternoon to play that show. Played in a lawn chair with my leg up on a cooler. Not the brightest idea, but a fun memory.
Warming up is key to having a long life playing. Wrists are like any other joint and can take so much shock or stress. Stretching and doing a light warm up before diving into a set or rehearsal keeps me personally feeling great.
Other than the healthy lift heavy weight and stretch stuff.. DRINK Whiskey. I proved this method to myself about 5 years ago. I remember it mainly because I had my second ACL reconstruction that morning and drank myself retarded that afternoon to play that show. Played in a lawn chair with my leg up on a cooler. Not the brightest idea, but a fun memory.
billsbigego
Well-known member
prsplayer86":24y05pdt said:
Correct.
Check this guy out. He also happens to play the brootz on guitar. Guy is a frickn animal.
Now if you get to the point where you can do what he does in this video. A guitar around your shoulder for 2 hours will be like hanging a quarter around your neck with dental floss.
W
worldcatalyst
New member
I get bad carpal tunnel in my left hand. The only thing I do is use a few stretches I learned in school to keep mobility and use ibuprofen to stop the swelling if it gets real bad after a long day of playing. It's gotten worse over the years for me, and I can't play as well as I used to as a result but I keep myself in check and try to not push my limits with my pain threshold and try to just enjoy playing. Damn thing has turned me from a lead guitarist into a rhythm guy...
billsbigego
Well-known member
Watch this video. This guy knows what he's doing.
billsbigego
Well-known member
I also got one of these as well.
Bishop5150
Well-known member
Been dealing with left wrist pain the last year or so. Have had several test on it and it's not carpel tunnel or nerve damage. Ultrasound revealed a big marble sized cyst in the middle of the wrist. My doc gave me a cortisone shot and burst the cyst about a month ago. Been feeling better. Had been a struggle doing big Jake E. Lee type stretches. Also had lower back surgery about a year ago for a herniated disc and sciatica pain. I'm very careful loading and unloading my gear these days. I always ask for help with my cabs now.