Back and neck pain

[Znerken]

Hey

I play a steel stringed guitar, with my legs crossed. Usually I tend to rest the guitar on the left leg, as I like the neck elevated. The last week has been a sad week for me, as I have had huge back pain, which has elaborated in to neck pain. I think the source is a combination of weight training(deadlifts) and a lot of guitar playing. Okay, it will probably be eliminated if I take two weeks of rest, and just do cardio. But, after the two weeks, I would like to remain pain free. I actually think some of the pain can be from me hunching over the guitar all the time. Would a foot rest help with this?



Not to be disrespectful, but don't suggest a chiropractor. Research says this doesn't help significantly with back pain.


Anyone experienced anything similar? It's like the whole back is exhausted. Both the spine and the muscles around it. Of course, doing heavy deadlift for weeks could be the source here.

[Red_Label]

I have a similar issue, and believe that it's due to hunching over the guitar. I also get knots in the muscles behind my shoulder blades that can radiate up my neck if not dealt with. I take soma (muscle relaxer) and use a racket ball, rolling it around between my back and the wall to work the knots out (like a massage therapist would do). I find that footstools make it worse. After Saturday night's gig (where I used a footstool), I had back and neck pain for several days.

I also get issues where the ulnar nerve in my right forearm goes numb if I play too long for too many days. It forced me to abandon my heavy classical guitar studies and repetoire about 20 years ago, and it forced me to quit gigging my latin, flamenco-inspired gig about four years ago. I've since resumed that last year and so far so good. But I have to watch the pain closely and back off if I feel it coming on.

So I literally feel your pain brother.

[dkstott]

I used to play steel string guitar all the time, but within the past 2 years have migrated to nylon strings.

I tried placing the guitar on my left leg in the classical style & hated how it felt and went back to playing with my guitar on my right left. Next, I tried using a foot rest and just couldn't get accustomed to it.

The thing that works for me is the DeOro guitar support... It can be used on either leg and gets the guitar neck up to a height that is comfortable for me.

Some people complain about suction cups releasing at inopportune times.. Mine has never released on me. I don't leave it on my guitar with nitro finish when not playing.
But I leave it on my poly finish guitar all the time. Any suction cup marks wipe off easily with a damp cloth during cleaning.

[Turp]

This subject is very close to me as I recover from neck surgery and have fought neck and back pain from stress, an active lifestyle, and playing long gigs.

My advice is based on listener/reader not having a medical condition requiring a physicians care. You probably know these but here's my conservative treatment I use.

That said:
1. Rest

2. Anti-inflammatory as directed by the medication instructions if you can take them.

3. Alternating Heat and Ice therapy (ice with a TENS unit if you have one)

4. MASSAGE. It is one of the more critical treatments I'll recommend for flare-ups and maintenance.Yeah I know some people are hesitant, but it is incredibly therapeutic and helped my systems that were severe and maintained alleviated serious spasms.

Now for playing:

1. Take time to stretch some before playing and take breaks to stretch occasionally.

2. The first red flag I picked was playing with legs crossed. Use a foot rest or prop instead like a Guitano (my preferred). Or, set the guitar between the legs similar to a classical position. I change the guitar position occasionally between songs or take a break and walk around and stretch lightly.

3. The second red flag: Hunching over the guitar is bad on the neck. A larger guitar can make this worse if not positioned well. Secondly, A deeper guitar requires the player to stretch their arm over and compound this with a wide lower bout, it can cause shoulder pain as well as the neck and back.

4. There are more probably, but posture is important. You can check your posture by setting up in front of a mirror or knowledgeable friend. You need to check that your spine and neck are in alignment as possible and your shoulders square.

Hope this helps and good luck!

[Znerken]

Thank you for the answers.


What I am thinking now is to get a footstool and change between these two positions regularly:
1. Legs crossed with guitar on the left thigh
2. Footstool under the right foot with guitar on right thigh



By changing between those two positions, it seems to me that it would somewhat give a balance. People who work in front of a computer are always told to change sitting positions frequently, so I guess the same would apply to guitar.

[GHS]

I too suffer from lower back pain from time to time while playing my Cordoba Fusion for long sessions. I place my guitar on my left leg with a foot rest in the standard classical position. However I have found that the elevated foot rest was the culprit in back pain. I now use a Levi cotton strap attached with a suction cup on the passenger side of the neck, stuck on the side of the guitar body. Heel looked a little too thin to drill safely into. The rough cotton fiber of the strap keeps the guitar elevated so the head stock is at left ear level, both feet flat on the floor, straight back chair. No more back pain. The Cordoba, ( and I would guess any other lightly built classical guitar) is light enough so there is no strain on my neck. Win/win for me.

[chas5131]

Have had no problems since I started putting both feet on my guitar case.