Carpel Tunnel, Cubital Tunnel/Tendonitus

[LightRaven]

What Ails you my friend?

Carpel Tunnel, Cubital Tunnel Syndrom/Tendonitis

The following webpages have all the basic information any musician needs to know about carpel tunnel, cubital tunnel and tendonitus...

http://www.ctsrelief.com/cts.htm

^this webpage also has a link to their CTS cream.... a special cream put on the affected areas when you get CTS, or a repetative stress injury to help heal and deal with it. I use it.


http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic570.htm

[LightRaven]

Bumping to ensure view on main page

LR

[King]

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Symptoms

• A tingling or numb feeling in the hand and/or fingers;

• Shooting pains in the wrist or forearm, and sometimes extending to the shoulder, neck and chest, or foot;

• Difficulty clenching the fist or grasping small objects


HA do i really have to make the joke here?

[billtus]

yes, yes you do

[lifesonguitarist]

im suing hustler magazine for givin my wrist carpal tunnel!

i think i may have that....from guitar playing..are there any ways to treat it? or prevent it?

[FatalBASS]

I have it and im only 14 its like the bassist's plaig.Or it could be from when my buddy brought those magazines to D.C...NO it was bass.*runs to bathroom for unknown reason*

[MNbassist78]

I just got rid of my tendonitis, its ok now but it was really weird, and I couldnt play bass for a few days

[bbbbass]

I have a problem that isn't CTS related. The joints in my fingers kind of lock up. Any solutions?

[Nooneimportant]

Originally Posted by MNbassist78

I just got rid of my tendonitis, its ok now but it was really weird, and I couldnt play bass for a few days

Hey I know what it is like y tendons don't like me playing as much as i do, the "doc' would nt let me play for 2 weeks. .

however "BC powder, arthritis /inflamation" works wonders

[AshesOfHate]

i dont have any of that but 3 years ago(im 14 by the way) i hit my qwrist really hard and i just found out between the 1st and 2 row of bones in my wrist/hand i have torn ligiments i can still play but they say i might not always be able to im really mad

[manual_Combat]

thanks a lot for the info, this is one thing im scared about, does anyone know anything we can do to prevent it? like certain hand positions we shouldnt use?

[Iron Turtle]

Here is a link to a similar topic that came up awhile back in the drummer's forum

http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=272092

I posted a rather lengthy reply on the topic about halfway in. Check it out. Regarding the hand positions to be avoided question, I would say to avoid playing while lounging on the couch because this really puts a lot of stress on your wrist when it really curls around like that. Try to keep the wrist as straight as possible (this is why playing with your instrument around your knees is a bad idea.)

[Naveed Afzal]

Sometimes when i do finger strengthening exercises. I get a Pain, much like a pain i get in my biceps from lifting weights. But his is from my fingers, to my wrist, and thru my forearm. Now my friend says its nothing, that he had to deal with it to. And now his forearms are pretty big( he eventually started doing weight excercise to combat this fore arm and wrist pain) but im not sure if the pains i have are what he has.

Im afraid to ask someone because people think im a hypochondriac, (which im not, just accident prone) What Should i do?

[neatobassman]

I found out that my drummer has mild carple tunnel. I laughed at him, then thought "that sucks" so I hugged him.

[Iron Turtle]

Originally Posted by Naveed Afzal

Sometimes when i do finger strengthening exercises. I get a Pain, much like a pain i get in my biceps from lifting weights. But his is from my fingers, to my wrist, and thru my forearm. Now my friend says its nothing, that he had to deal with it to. And now his forearms are pretty big( he eventually started doing weight excercise to combat this fore arm and wrist pain) but im not sure if the pains i have are what he has.

Im afraid to ask someone because people think im a hypochondriac, (which im not, just accident prone) What Should i do?

If you are feeling *pain*, you are either doing something incorrectly or you are pushing yourself way too hard. Don't do it. You could cause serious injury. What exactly are you doing as finger strengthening excercises that is causing you pain?

[Naveed Afzal]

well I do this thing with Hammer Ons and Pull offs thing up and down each fret board on each strring. Sometimes i switch the distance like tab below for are fingers 1 n 2
sometimes i'll go 1-3 1-4 2-3 2-4 3-4. I got it from a bassline i made and decided to extend it from the 12th fret to the 1st fret as an exercise.
like
G--11h12p11------10h11p10-------9h10p9--
D-12--------12-11----------11-10--------10
A-------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------


trust me im a sticklar for technique my thum is correct positioned it used to move and go sideways when i was playing on the G string, but now its correctly pointing upward

[Iron Turtle]

OK, here are some potential problems and solutions:
1) If you are playing this really fast, you might be tensing up and putting unnecessary stress on your hand/fingers/wrist. Solution: play it slowly - the point with the excercise is to build strength and accuracy so it is not necessary to play it fast (it is in fact, counterproductive to do so.)
2) If you aren't warming up before playing, you might be causing injury. Solution: warm up by playing slowly for about 15-30 mins - (here's a trick - soak your hands in hot water for a couple of minutes before playing.)
3) If you are playing this for a long time without rest, you could be pushing yourself too hard. Solution: take a break every now and then. Get up and stretch -walk around, whatever.
4) You might be playing on very heavy guage strings or with a really high action that is putting too much stress on your hand. Solution: lighter strings, set the action lower.
5) You are not playing relaxed enough. Solution: slow it down and relax.

If one of these sounds like it might be the problem, try the solution. If not, the only other thing I would suggest is soaking in hot water before warming up, and then after cooling down use ice water to reduce any swelling/inflammation. Check out the link I posted above to the reply I posted in the drummer's forum for some more in depth info on general tips to avoid injury. I hope this helps. If not and you are still feeling pain - go see a physician. Perhaps they can refer you to someone who is familiar with sports medicine and has experience treating RSIs. Be wary of someone who immediately suggests surgery as the only alternative though. And if people think you are a hypochondriac, screw em. It's your health. Be safe. Good luck!

[Naveed Afzal]

I think its the action, becuase i dont play it very fast.
Ive been meaning to get it done for other reasons but i will go and get it done tommorow.
And im going to see a specialist about this.

[DrFeelgood462]

If you wear your bass too low, it can also put strain on your wrist.

[Naveed Afzal]

I wear mine pretty high, when i started playing i wore it like that because, it looked like some Jazz players i saw and i didnt know any bassists around me who played like that