Sidelined !

[Todd Tipton]

I am sorry for your experiences. Just rest and don't use that hand for a while. Let it have a chance to heal.

[CycleBob]

Sorry to hear about this Amy. I hope whatever road you take it’ll lead you back to playing guitar pain free.

For what it’s worth I’ve had the wrapper of my body punctuated twice with surgery. Both were big surgeries, painful and scary, but one almost certainly saved my life and the other greatly improved it.
Good luck

[ship of fools]

amyFB I can feel your pain its been just over a year since I last played my guitars cleanly did not see if you ever saw a rehab doctor. Tingling in fingers well there are only a few things that will do that one being lack of O2 or some nerve(s) being compressed or another possibility is something like Fibro Myalgia either way I would certainly look for something other then surgery or cortisone shot first.
Well what ever you decide I hope that it works out for you not playing guitar for me just sucks after 50+ years but am passing it along to my grand kids along with my limited knowledge ( seems the older I get the more I realize there was so much even more to learn ) best wish's amy

ship

[martingitdave]

Rest will do wonders for your hands. Also, consider a shorter scale nylon string guitar in the interim, if you must play.

[Todd Tipton]

Also, the death grip is not something to easily rid of. After you get some rest, and after the holidays, I'd be happy to take a look via Skype and give you some guidance. Take care for now.

[J.R. Rogers]

Amy so sorry to hear that! Will definitely play a tune thinking of you. Hope you get better and back to playing soon!

JR

[jbeecham]

Hey Amy,
I empathize. I have been having issues with my middle fingers on my fretting hand. I had the same problem in my right hand a few years ago and had two shots. The next step would have been surgery. I was concerned about developing scar tissue afterwards and chose not to do the surgery. I was careful about over using my right hand and not exacerbating the problem. Eventually it cleared up in my right hand and I now have 90-95% normal range of motion.

For my left hand, I recently started acupuncture and cautious exercises. I have been using electrical stimulation and that seems to have relieved the inflammation. I think I see improvement. Time will tell. And that is the lesson I have learned, it takes TIME to heal.

Jerry

[GHS]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

Rest will do wonders for your hands. Also, consider a shorter scale nylon string guitar in the interim, if you must play.

With my pain, ( left index finger, 2nd joint) only activates when using barre chords. Feels like an ice pick being stabbed in there. I can get around most rock,blue grass, and jazz tunes using other position chords but many classical songs use barre chords and even on nylon crossovers with their light string pressure it gives me pain. I'm thinking acupuncture.

[Steadfastly]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

The point here is what I discovered about guitars: frets make a difference. Lower frets seem to be our friend, but in many ways they are not. It takes far more pressure to fret behind a shorter fret than a taller fret. In fact, taller frets DEMAND that you fret with less pressure or they allow you to pull the string sharp with your fretting pressure. Shazam! When I was dealing with my hand and forearm pain, the easiest guitars to play were my guitars with tall frets.

While you consider other options, also consider getting a guitar refretted with medium jumbo frets, or even taller, and seeing how they treat you. I bet you'll find that they force you into the change you are needing.

All the best,

Bob

Bob, that really makes sense. Great idea! We should all change to jumbo frets.

[cotten]

Originally Posted by amyFB

...Accepting virtual hugs of empathy and words of encouragement that this is temporary...

eHug it is, Amy! Don't know if it will help your hand, but I know something that will. I saw a show on TV once about doctors, so I am an expert. What you need is rest. LOTS of rest. No playing guitar at all for at least, well, a long time. I know that will be hard, but I'm here to help. The best possible thing you can do is send me your guitars, thereby removing any temptation fall off the Rest wagon. Do not be afraid of this. I will even pay for the shipping - one way, anyway! I promise to give each one the proper care and feeding it needs to feel loved and appreciated. Since this is my idea, and I am so willing to help, I should be the sole judge of when your healing is complete enough for me to return your 6-string loves.

Meanwhile, I suggest you spend all your waking hours making sure everyone on the AGF is being nice. If that reminds you too much of playing, then perhaps you could join some kind of ancestry research group and learn all you can about every last member of your extended family. Then start on your friends. They'll love you for it.

I know, this is a big sacrifice on my part, but that's just the kind of guy I am, willing to go the extra mile to help a friend any time there might be a chance she will fall for it!

(I sure hope you're smiling now, and not gritting your teeth from the pain of having put your fist through your screen.)

cotten


(Hey, the eHug part was serious!)

[aknow]

Originally Posted by amyFB

All these years I have been using my hands for gardening, guitar, clay, - always activities where I grip something and apply force. Pulled, twisted, overworked, some or all of that has led to pain in the fretting hand, such that I am not playing.

I’ve been noticing it gradually over a year or so, random but happening more often. A week ago Sunday I jammed with some friends for a few hours
And that night my hand started swelling up, pain across the palm like nothing I ever felt; numb and/or tingly pinky, sharp pain in thumb - jeez this is lousy!!!

Have seen the ortho doc and X-rays ruled out a break, then he poked around my thumb and suggested cortisone shot (nooooooooo-wahhhhhh).

Then okay then Rest up with a splint and when it recovers ,work smarter at the way I use my hands.

I have a death grip, it’s been impossible to break the habit, and so I guess it has caught up with me. Time to put the time into correcting that bad habit.

I experimented tonight with not using my thumb to fret, and that just introduced new pains in different muscles running up my arm. I am not sure that’s the right tactic.

Any gripping motion where
My thumb opposes my fingers and force applied will trigger sharp pains , so it’s not just the guitar play that is affected.

I did find a terrific local naturopath/massage therapist who was effective at calming down much of the initial inflammation and I will have at least one more session next week.

Acupuncture was also suggested by a few folks and I would try that before cortisone or surgery.

And there you have it: I’m a sidelined guitarist for the time being.

Accepting virtual hugs of empathy and words of encouragement that this is temporary.

Thanks for listening, play a little extra on my behalf.

I've been treating these things for 35 years, sounds like you irritated cubital nerve/palmar fascia. Buy yourself a pair of Chinese medicine balls (baoding) and use them! 8-10 X a day/between clockwise and counter-clockwise, until it's easy, with relaxed gentle movements. Then utilize rubber bands to provide resistance as you do finger abduction exercises, (in other words) start using the intrinsic muscles you probably rarely use. Good luck! Simple mobilizations of the carpals and wrist can work wonders too.

I won't give any medical advice, but hopefully be encouraging. Over ten years ago I developed a bad (to me anyway) case of tendonitis in my left hand. At first I assumed it was from playing guitar, and like you, that worried me. I did all the doctor stuff with X-rays and it came down to a soft tissue problem. Being a good engineer I set about studying all the things I was doing and when my hand hurt the worst. I had a lot of business travel at the time and noticed two things. One, on the interstate I tended to mostly steer with my left hand - right hand on the coffee cup - and I seldom changed my hand position. I'd actually worn a little notch in the wheel. Two, when I'd get frustrated with work calls (hands free calls on my Sync system) I'd end up with a death grip on the wheel.

I took the anti-inflammatory meds, which helped short term, but the bigger part of the solution was changing the habits that caused the issue in the first place. I steered with both hands as much as possible, lightened my grip and varied it. I'd say it was a year or two before it was gone completely, but it was 50-75% better in the first couple of months.

The point of all that is to examine everything you're doing that could contribute to the problem and don't be afraid to change habits. Oh, and don't be shy about talking to more than one doctor. Things that you can't see, like rashes and broken bones, sometimes get radically different diagnosis and treatment by different doctors. Consider all your options and trust your instincts. Oh, and this can be a good time to catch up on reading about guitars, music, biographies. If you have some books that you just haven't gotten to yet, now's a good time. It will rest your hands keep your head in music from a different perspective.

[John Bartus]

Sorry to hear about your dilemma -- but don't be too quick to dismiss cortisone or a recommended medical treatment. In late September, my trigger finger caused the ring finger in my left hand to more or less totally freeze. Couldn't bend it without considerable pain. I had been playing with pain for over a year, but I finally couldn't play guitar at all. As a working pro, that was unacceptable. As a lifelong musician and guitarist, it was devastating.

I contacted a hand surgeon and scheduled an appointment. While I wanted him to do the surgical cutting of the tendon sheath to solve the problem forever, he recommended a cortisone shot as a conservative first treatment.

It worked. I am now playing without pain for the first time in over a year. I know that this treatment may not be permanent, but right now I am really enjoying playing. I hope your condition eases, and I know where you are right now -- I've been there. Wishing you all the best.

[WHguitarNYC]

Oh no! Sorry to hear that, Amy! Hope you heal quickly and get back to playing that sweet H&D!