| Author | Message | ||
| rockbassist
Intermediate Member Username: rockbassist Post Number: 162 Registered: 8-2005 |
I hope that nobody minds me posting this topic but I am looking for some answers. Several years ago, I was diagnosed with chronic tendonitis in both hands. More recently, the condition has gotten much worse. In fact, my playing is now suffering. My doctor plays cello and understands the motion and stress that playing an instrument can place on your hands. He has suggested that I get rid of my 5 string Epic and go back to a 4 string. This is something that I have been considering since I almost never use the low B string. However, I am right handed and most of the pain and tingling is in my right hand so switching to a 4 string might not help the situation. He also suggested switching to using a pick in order to have less stress on my right hand. I used to play with a pick but I like the tone I get when playing with my fingers and I play better than I did with a pick. I'm not sure if my problem is caused by the position of my hand, the way I play, my age, or the shape of the bass. If anyone has had a similar condition, I would be interested in hearing how you dealt with it. I hate to give it up but when I play have pain and tingling while I am playing and for about 24 to 36 hours after. If anyone thinks that going back to a 4 string would help and is willing to trade a 4 string for my 5 string please contact me. Thank you for your input. | ||
| 2400wattman
Senior Member Username: 2400wattman Post Number: 683 Registered: 11-2005 |
How high do you strap your bass on? I've a friend that hangs his bass so the headstock is pointing @ 2:00 and his right hand falls on the neck p/up. He plays this way to alleviate the pain from a similar condition your going through. This position might help as it will allow your arm to be fully extended when in playing position and blood can flow more freely. Also, some mild stretching BEFORE practicing/playing can help as does.........EXCERCISE. You may not have wanted to read it but it's the damn truth. I'm a firm believer in the whole "hip bone connected to the neck bone" bit so I stretch as much as possible(my whole body) if I can't excercise. Try this before you go off trading/selling /buying/losing on your beautiful basses! Take care and good luck! P.S. I have been taking a product called Zyflamend which is designed to fight any kind of inflammation in the body...not just joint pain! I've noticed a little difference but it's enough to make me keep taking it. It's made by a company called New Chapter out of Vermont and can be found in most vitamin stores, but don't look in GNC they sell their own brand of garbage only! | ||
| dannobasso
Senior Member Username: dannobasso Post Number: 991 Registered: 3-2004 |
Accupuncture and QiGong exercises. No joke sir, it has cured me of many injury related pains including tennis elbow, strained tendons, back pain from strain and car accidents. And as 2400wattman says, exercise. Deep stretching, rotation and increasing bloodflow to the joints, ligaments and tissues. | ||
| lmiwa
Intermediate Member Username: lmiwa Post Number: 156 Registered: 2-2008 |
Keavin, There are any number of traditional and non-traditional physical therapies that can provide a greater or lesser degree of relief. The problem is that what works for someone else may or may not work for you. You may have a try a great number of things to find exactly what works for you. Before you sell your Alembics, at least buy/borrow a cheap 4 string to see if really will make a difference, as I'm not exactly sure why that would affect your right hand. Try some alternative instrument positions. Try anything that people suggest that makes sense to you. Then and only then should you consider relinquishing you Alembics. Just my opinion of course... Loch (Message edited by lmiwa on March 18, 2009) | ||
| olieoliver
Senior Member Username: olieoliver Post Number: 2195 Registered: 2-2006 |
I'm not sure I see where 4 or 5 strings would make any difference in your right hand. I agree with Adam, try changing the angle of the bass which should alter the angle to which you hold your wrist. Try several different angle to see which feels the best. Stretching is excellent advice. Move the wrist and arm in stretching, rotating motions before playing and between songs. Stretch the shoulder too. You may be suprised how much that could affect your hands and arms. It's similar to how lots of back problems can be related to weak abdominal muscles. As Adam said, "hip bone connected..." If you're at a computer much try stretching and taking breaks there too. Sometimes what we do during the day can affect us at night. OO | ||
| davehouck
Moderator Username: davehouck Post Number: 7751 Registered: 5-2002 |
You may even consider changing your right hand technique. Your hand should be comfortable; your wrist should not be in an awkward position. Watch your wrist while you are playing; is it straight, is it angled, is it bent back? The straighter the better. And how about touch? Do you have a light touch or a heavy touch? Are you anchoring your thumb; and if so, are you applying a lot of pressure? The same is true for left hand technique as well. As much as possible, try to keep your wrist straight and flat. And be aware of how much pressure you are applying with the thumb on the back of the neck. As mentioned above, changing strap length will change your right and left hand positions. And as Olie mentioned, other activities, such as extended computer typing, have an effect as well. When typing at the computer, watch where your wrist is. Again, straight is good; angled and bent back, not so good. And yes exercise; and I would add, massage. | ||
| juggernaught
Advanced Member Username: juggernaught Post Number: 267 Registered: 3-2007 |
Check out an "Alexander technique" teacher and get a physical therapist. Tendonitis is cause by two things (not exclusively, of course): bad technique and weak muscles. The Alexander technique will help you figure out how to move correctly as well as work on your posture. They'll be able to focus on any daily activity, like playing bass but also including driving, typing, walking, whatever. It's unlikely that the causes of your tendonitis is limited to one particular activity. The therapist will help you strengthen the right muscles so that your tendons don't do all the work. Most importantly, ease off the activities that give you pain. It certainly sucks to not be able to play anytime you want, but give it time and you can heal. What you don't want to happen is to develop tendonosis. Then you might be looking at months of therapy. | ||
| keith_h
Senior Member Username: keith_h Post Number: 1245 Registered: 2-2005 |
Are you sure it is all related to your bass playing? Your profile indicates you are a mortgage broker. This can involve a lot of time on the computer keyboard. Being a software engineer I am well acquainted with the problems caused by the incorrect use of a keyboard. I make sure to use the correct posture and to take breaks to relax and stretch my hands/arms. I think you need to look at everything you do and make changes accordingly. That might include reducing your bass playing or changing your technique. Once you have the tendinitis under control and know it's causes you should should be able to add playing style variations back into your routine. Keith | ||
| u14steelgtr
Member Username: u14steelgtr Post Number: 99 Registered: 7-2003 |
I suspect that some factors may not have been disclosed or perhaps even identified yet may be contributing to your tendonitis. Identification and subsequent treatment may not be adequate to eradicate the problem but when I went through a similar experience 15 years ago it took a year of medical visits, tests, and analysis of what and how I did things to get to a point where I could get the problem under control and avoid recurrence. * Do you play other instruments? * Which string-spacings are more or less problematic for you? * Do you play standing or seated? * What neck angle(s) do you primarily use while you are playing? * Do you make adjustments to the controls on your instruments frequently or do you primarily set-it-and-leave-it. * Would a shorter distance between the high-string and the edge of the body where it rest upon your leg while you are sitting allow you to have a better (healthier) neck angle? * How much pressure does the edge of the body apply to your forearm on you picking hand? * Do you keyboard, garden, or use hand tools much? * Do you use a PDA & stylus much? * Do you angle the body away from you when you play seated? This reduces the pressure on your forearm from the body. * Do you write or take notes by hand much/often? * Do you play tennis, golf, ski, skate, or shoot rifle/pistol? * Do you do physical warm-ups immediately prior to playing your Bass? * Do you stretch, flex, or otherwise loosen up your wrists & arms between tunes? * Do you use heat and/or cold prophylactically to reduce inflamation and/or improve circulation? * Do you utilize an ergonomic keyboard? * Do you use a wrist rest in conjunction with your mouse. * Do you use large or heavy frying pans when you cook? * Do your vehicles have power-steering? All of the above things are factors which can influence tendonitis and similar disorders. I suggest that you do a web search for "hot" or "heat", and "mitten", and without the word "oven." They make mittens which can be heated in a microwave which you can heat and put on which will increase dramatically the circulation to you hands and wrists. These helped me a great deal while I was working toward a causal diagnosis. It turns out that the specific cause of my wrist problem means that I need to utilize ergonomic keyboards and that I NEED to elevate the rear of these keyboards (which raises my wrists and lowers my finger-tips a bit) and use wrist rests. This might be contraindicated for your particular problem; but my point is that if you can identify which bio-mechanical activities are the the most problematic you can (and will be highly motivated to) make adjsutments. There are specialists that specialize in wrist & hand problems and a consultation with such a person was for me an invaluable and life-changing experience. I grant you that at that time I had health insurance and was better-employed than I am now. I should mention that by the time I visited with the specialist I had made sure that his office had recieved all of the xray, bone-scan, and other test results so that he would have ALL of the data that was required to make a diagnosis. Regards -- Eugene | ||
| keavin
Senior Member Username: keavin Post Number: 1583 Registered: 12-2002 |
http://www.aidyourtendon.com/?REF=GTendon | ||
| keurosix
Advanced Member Username: keurosix Post Number: 392 Registered: 10-2005 |
Keavin, One thing that really helped me that has not been mentioned yet: On my 6 string Europa, I went from the standard Alembic elliptical round wound strings to DR ss round wound "Long Necks". They are amazingly flexible, and I find that I use a lot less force on the strings than before. You may want to try this before going to a 4 string. Also, my Epic 5 string bass has a tighter string spacing than the Europa, so I think you may not realize such a benefit from a standard taper 4 string as you hope. Certainly an expensive alternative to a different set of strings. Kris | ||
| slawie
Member Username: slawie Post Number: 66 Registered: 8-2002 |
Is it your whole hand or just three fingers that tingle? The middle finger, ring finger and pinkie? | ||
| altgrendel
Member Username: altgrendel Post Number: 52 Registered: 5-2008 |
Hit the gym, seriously. Start a weight lifting program. It may take a year or so but you will see benefits. At the very least, do wrist curls. Start out with 8lbs for each hand, 10 reps up, flip the hands over, 10 reps down. I do this 3x a week. This with the rest of my program got rid of all the tingling issues in my hands/forearms. | ||
| u14steelgtr
Intermediate Member Username: u14steelgtr Post Number: 102 Registered: 7-2003 |
Kevin; have you gotten any tips or suggestions not posted here which you think are of merit? If so would you share them with us. I assure you that many of us struggle with bio-mechanical aches. -- Eugene | ||
| h82w8
Junior Username: h82w8 Post Number: 16 Registered: 12-2005 |
Seems Like this is a pretty common problem among us. I use Emu Oil as a linament on my wrists and it helps alot. Available on the web. | ||
| rockbassist
Intermediate Member Username: rockbassist Post Number: 165 Registered: 8-2005 |
Thank you for all the repsonses. I have tried playing the bass in different positions. I have lowered it, raised and even tried playing sitting down. I have more pain in my reight hand but I do experience some in my left which is why I was considering switching to a 4 string. My left hand doesn't bother me as much if I use a pick but I would rather use my fingers. Most of the pain is in my wrist but I get numbness which radites through ny fingers. I am in good shape physically. I lift weights, ride the bike and play ice hockey several times per week. Recently, I the numbness in my right wrist has been so bad that I haven't played my bass in almost one month. It's frustrating. Maybe I'll try acupuncture like Danno suggested. | ||
| juggernaught
Advanced Member Username: juggernaught Post Number: 284 Registered: 3-2007 |
Are you maybe overworking your muscles? It's possible that, given your muscles are weak and healing from all of your activities, that playing bass has overworked your tendons. Also, you may want to evaluate your movements in all of those other activities: they might be contributing to your condition in small yet collective ways. I know that bike riding at least can be hard on the tendons. My personal, nonexpert opinion is you reevaluate *all* of your activities: easing them all back and paying attention to movement. Take whole days off of all of those activities too. My roommate is currently recovering from tendonitis he picked up from playing Salsa piano. It's been 5 months, but he's recovering. At some points it was so bad that he would get shooting pains from basic daily activities. The only thing that helped was dropping Piano *entirely", severely limiting physical activities with his hands/arms, adjusting his posture and movement, and practicing very limited lightweight arm exercises. Now he's experiencing no pain and has even started playing the piano again. Overall it's been a very trying experience, requiring patience, restraint, and consistence. |
