Members gitmo Posted July 4, 2010 Members Share Posted July 4, 2010 I'll need to take up stamp collecting or ritual masturbation or something for a hobby - and that doesn't seem nearly as fulfilling to me. I wouldn't take up stamp collecting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tartanlad Posted July 4, 2010 Members Share Posted July 4, 2010 I wouldn't take up stamp collecting. Neither Would A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brindleleaf Posted July 5, 2010 Members Share Posted July 5, 2010 I'm curious about something. Lately I've been experiencing a pain in my wrist (on top, not the underside) on my fretting hand. It reminds me of the tendonitis that I have on the insides of my elbows. If I hold a telephone to my ear too long the insides of my elbows start to ache. The wrist on my fretting hand is the only side that hurts, and it's worse after I practice/play for an extended period of time. I suspect that I've got some tendonitis going on in there. So, does anyone here have any experience with that? If so, what did you do to alleviate the problem? Just a couple of thoughts for you... A few years back I slipped on some ice and apparently broke a tiny bone in the pinky side of my wrist (doc said there was nothing to do about it but wait...). Now I started playing guitar about two years ago, and at first my wrist KILLED me!! I figured that ONE TINY BONE was going to stop me from learning the guitar. As it turns out, I think it was just lack of strength...I pretty much never feel it now... So my question is...do you ALWAYS get this pain? Is it linked to how long you play, or the type of music you play? Do you get it with low tension strings like Silk and Steel? (Sorry if this sounds intrusive...LOL!). Second thing, I did Aikido a few years back (which puts a lpt of pressure on the wrist), and they have a whole series of wrist stretches to prepare the wrist. I can try to find a video explaining this if you like. It turns out my wrists are really supple (too bad the rest of me isn't!), but some people my age really struggled when they first did these stretches.... Anyway just my two cents... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bfloyd6969 Posted July 5, 2010 Members Share Posted July 5, 2010 Second thing, I did Aikido a few years back (which puts a lpt of pressure on the wrist), and they have a whole series of wrist stretches to prepare the wrist. I can try to find a video explaining this if you like. If you can find the stretches video, please post... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bfloyd6969 Posted July 5, 2010 Members Share Posted July 5, 2010 I am a little worried about it because it is occurring in the back/top of my wrist and not on the underside of it - like typists wind up w/ carpal tunnel. Sorry, I misread your original post. I had this pain once (the top side of the wrist) which was caused from a guitar with too high action at the nut. I got the guitar new and the factory action was terrible. For some reason, I forget now, I couldn't get the guitar setup for a couple of weeks so I just continued to play it. This caused the pain on the top of my hand at the wrist area. Once I got the guitar setup, and the action at the nut was lowered alot, the pain went away. Is the nut action on your guitar high? Also, as mentioned, silk and steel strings are worth a try too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JasmineTea Posted July 5, 2010 Members Share Posted July 5, 2010 Might depend on how much you play and whether you spend time doing other activities that cause you to use OTHER muscles in and around the wrist. I play a lot, and sometimes do little els, and I sometimes have wrist trouble. I find the fix to be as simple as doing other things that put my wrist in a different position than when playing, and even out the use of other muscles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brindleleaf Posted July 5, 2010 Members Share Posted July 5, 2010 If you can find the stretches video, please post... Here are some videos which show three of the five (or so) different stretches. I like the way this guy does them..remember to go REALLY slowly and only until you have slight discomfort (especially if you think you may have other trouble with your joints...) DON'T 'BOUNCE' when you do them, just ease into them until you feel the stretch.., hold it for a while (maybe five seconds), ease up, do the same one again a second time or third time, then change hands... Once you've seen the way that guy did them, you can watch this next guy (who does them way too fast for us!), who shows the same ones plus a few other stretches that I think are good for guitar playing (the full palm ones). To give you an idea, I've got virtually NO discomfort with any of these unless I apply full force (which I never do obviously...) You don't have to do all the butterflyish things with your hands between stretches unless you've got kids or drinking buddies to impress.... (on the other hand if were the kind of people who didn't care about impressing kids and drinking buddies we probably wouldn't be trying to learn to play the guitar...right? ) Don't do anything I wouldn't do...hope this helps... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SkippyX Posted July 5, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 5, 2010 Don't do anything I wouldn't do...hope this helps... Wow the first and third videos really hit the affected area - especially that third video. I'll have a go at those for a bit and see what happens. I might just have to make them a regular part of my day. Thank you for that! I dunno about impressing others w/ my playing. Every once in a while I'll play in front of other people. It is always nice to hear positive things from other people regarding my playing. However (as I've told my fianc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brindleleaf Posted July 5, 2010 Members Share Posted July 5, 2010 Wow the first and third videos really hit the affected area - especially that third video. I'll have a go at those for a bit and see what happens. I might just have to make them a regular part of my day. Thank you for that! I dunno about impressing others w/ my playing. Every once in a while I'll play in front of other people. It is always nice to hear positive things from other people regarding my playing. However (as I've told my fianc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SkippyX Posted July 5, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 5, 2010 Well let me know how you get on with them.. And I was just kidding around, I generally only get time to play (quietly!) at night when the kids are asleep, but one of these days I'm giong to rise up ROARING and take the dining room by storm..! And hey! I was raised in New Zealand...and in that great farming and rugby country.......having REALLY supple wrists isn't what you dream of as a kid... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gull12 Posted July 5, 2010 Members Share Posted July 5, 2010 Skippy- Hold off on the ritual masturbation. You don't want to go blind on top of everything else! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brindleleaf Posted July 5, 2010 Members Share Posted July 5, 2010 Skippy- Hold off on the ritual masturbation. You don't want to go blind on top of everything else! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bfloyd6969 Posted July 5, 2010 Members Share Posted July 5, 2010 Thanks for the video links. Very good stretches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SkippyX Posted July 5, 2010 Author Members Share Posted July 5, 2010 Skippy- Hold off on the ritual masturbation. You don't want to go blind on top of everything else! You mean I might not have had to have worn spectacles since I was a teenager? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gull12 Posted July 5, 2010 Members Share Posted July 5, 2010 Contact Lenses!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brindleleaf Posted July 6, 2010 Members Share Posted July 6, 2010 Thanks for the video links. Very good stretches. I'm glad if they help.....I kind of figure it's one more thing to fit into my daily routine that adds up over the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Muddslide Posted July 6, 2010 Members Share Posted July 6, 2010 Man, this sounds familar. Back around 1999-2000 I was having wrist and general left-hand pain so bad I thought I was gonna have to pack it in. I stopped playing my acoustic for some time and went all-electric, but it still came back and got pretty bad. My solution was...to take up the ukulele. I know, I know... But I ended up digging the uke so much I played it alost exclusively for almost 4 years. Nowadays I hardly touch a uke, but I still dig it. In my case the pain ended up just going away, but I figure that if it ever returns and gets real bad I'll just switch to harmonica or something. I'd sure miss playing guitar, but more important to me is just making music on something. I hope the best for you and wish I had some sound advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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