Not so much worse than losing your hand

[flaviu]

Hello guys

I was wondering if some of you guys ever had Tendinitys problems? ( I don't know the right spelling)

I'm on my second time and it really sucks not being able to play.

Anyone knows some miraculous solution for this problem? (There's always hope)



See ya and let's discuss this stuff!!

 

[Erik Tiwaz]

It is called tendonitis , or inflammation of the tendons.

There are some steps to help prevent the occurrance of that.:

Adjust the shoulder-strap so that the bass is in the same height when you sit as when you stand.

The bass should be positioned in a 40-45 degree angle i.e the headstock (the nut) should be in the same height as your head.

Shoot the neck-part of your bass a tad bit foreward , and push it somewhat towards your right (dependig wether or not you're a right or left-handed player).
The bass should now be in a position that you can hold quite effortlessly.

Make SURE you don't bend your right-hand wrist , instead push you elbow a little bit forewards , so that your wrist is no longer bent. Awkward at first , but that will quickly pass.

There are no muscles in your hand and fingers that you would use while playing bass. There ARE some muscles there , but they are only for support of the tendons and skeleton.
The muscle-group you use while playing is located just beneath your elbow-joint , at the front and back of your forearm. These muscles pull and release the tendons that are attached to your fingers.
The most common tendonitis problem is the one on the wrists , they occur because of playing with bent wrists. When you bend your wrist you tighten the joint , the blood-circulation that passes through your hand decreases and the oxygen-level lessens in the muscle-group that supports your tendons in your wrist and hand.
This causes a high level of stress to your tendons on the front and back of your palm and wrist. Waste-products such as dead cells and tissue aren't caught up in the circulation , and bacteria starts gathering around the sore points of the tendons. That's tendonitis.

And warm up! I usually start the warm-up by doing push-ups (on the knuckles)and sit-ups etc , this increases the blood-circulation.
You don't have to do many of each , just do it for like ten minutes or so before you pick up your bass and start doing other warm-up exercises.

Well , hope that helped , good luck.

Tyr

 

[Occam's Razor]

I am actually undergoing some kind of hand-problem and I'm just wondering if anybody knows this, since it is not tendonitis. I feel a certain pressure if I stretch out my hands and arms, as if the tendons and sinews were too short for the length of my arm. Moreover, both my small fingers keep getting numb regularly, especially, whenever I sit or lie down. The specialist-doctor said that it would take some time and get well again, yet I am so impatient because I can't play though I have plenty of time - it really galls me...well, musicians are fond of self-mutilation sometimes, aren't they? If you hear that Billy Sheehan and Yngwie Malmsteen had to be treated by surgery and masters like Adrian Davison can't play anymore at all, there must be something to it...? Perhaps we al have that kind of masochistic gene within us?!

 

[Erik Tiwaz]

@Occams Razor:

You should go to a neurosurgeon/specialist , have him measure the electric-current in the nerve-paths in your arms.
That way you might be able to map out the problem thouroughly enough to start proper terapeutic treatment.

 

[yourdeadgroom]

Originally posted by flaviu
I was wondering if some of you guys ever had Tendinitys problems?

Hehe time for everyone to compare battle injuries

I have a compressed disk in my left wrist (pinky side), which can't be fixed, but it's managable, I only ever have problems if I don't warm up and then play lots of chords or something (ie I know in advance if I'll hurt myself ). I do have some issues with my forearm muscles aswell, but that's more a strength/muscle tone issue I think. All this came about from a bad technique on classical guitar, pressing too hard and suchlike, and having my wrist on an awkward angle (put your fret hand in position to play, then tilt it inward about 30 degrees. Do that for 10 years, and you too can have a compressed disk ). I think I also have lower back issues from my classical days (playing with one leg raised is not a natural way to sit. Funny that......).
Now I play only electric guitar, haven't managed to find a way to hurt myself yet...

 

[Occam's Razor]

Originally posted by Tyr
@Occams Razor:

You should go to a neurosurgeon/specialist , have him measure the electric-current in the nerve-paths in your arms.
That way you might be able to map out the problem thouroughly enough to start proper terapeutic treatment.

I've done so, already...it's just my inpatience that it takes such a long time to recover. Moreover, they have found out that I have some bones in my forearmwhich are too short by birth, so I am very sensitive towards arm/hand injuries. Hope I'll get it even somehow...

So long "Dr." Tyr.

 

[Erik Tiwaz]

Originally posted by Occam's Razor


So long "Dr." Tyr.

Well , I hope it works out for you

Tyr

 

[Higon]

Humm.

3 Years of guitar. 1 Month of Bass. No pain yet. Great for me

I think that the "miraculous solution" is to warmup before playing.

 

[flaviu]

I guess bending my pulse is not a real problem because I use the bass in a good (high) position.
It all started when I tried to play some keyboards, and used a very bad position, that fucked me forever : (.


And what about this Billy Sheehan stuff? I've never knew about this...

Other thing that fucked my tendons is getting really tense while playing, that's something I gotta work out. (non stop prog style bands gets you really concentrated)

Does anybody know some stuff about medicins that worked or something?

 

[Unregistered]

Is it your left hand that's injured? If so, your strap is likely too low. If it's your right hand, then your strap is too high and your arm is cramped up.

A good middle ground is have the top curve of the basses body right up against the bottom of your rib cage, that's about where it would be when you sit. I keep mine a little higher. The first Billy Sheehan video covers the topic pretty well.

Sorry I can't help with medicines though. Maybe try finger warmups (some low to medium pace scales, or whatever) and stretching them to loosen things up before serious playing.

If it's your left hand, maybe raise your stap alittle on the high side, to prevent any real wrist bending. It may make you look like a jazz bassist, but it could help your condition from worsening (and that's whats important).

 

[Occam's Razor]

I think what started it all off was a six week job doing 8 hours before the PC-keyboard a day. My fingers hurt each evening and now that it is over, the thing's really broken out...so no more hacking on the board - I'll shut up now

 

[Unregistered]

I read your first reply, and Yngwie had a bad car wreck and suffered nerve damage years ago from it, Billy I think was from too much playing until he corrected his playing form and strap length (he's very long winded on the subject on his Billy on Bass video). I'm not sure of Adrian however.

If you lose feeling in your fingers (perhaps poor circulation from tension or poor flexibility) and feel pressure, perhaps look into certain hand and wrist stretching exercises and set up a regular routine. You can probably do some of those rehab type exercises on your drive to work, since ya have nothin better to do but listen to the radio. Hopefully its not nerve problems. If it's muscles and tendons you can work on that with stretching and strengthening.

I'll see if I can dig up a web site with some pointers.

 

[Unregistered]

http://catalog.com/global/wristsol.htm

Try these, they seem simple and easy to do.

 

[Occam's Razor]

Hey thanks man, would be great!
I think it could probably be something with the nerves, since my doc told me that due to my short forearm-bones, the nerves are rather unprotected on the elbow. I'm going to him again next weeks, so we'll see...

 

[flaviu]

There's always the hope of existing some stuff that you do that will cure you in a sec...
.

I'm drunk so don't make fun of me : )

I want to play and I can't, LOL, i'm sad
auehuaea
just kidding

see ya

 

[flaviu]

another thing

I think my strap is cool, I really don't know what my problem is, but I use it in a really good height : P

 

[FractalUniverse]

I think the best way to avoid it is to have a good technique in your left hand

(think this works)
http://www.adamnitti.com/lessons/bassplyr/bp03/bp03.html

and another important thing is to make yourself more strenghtfull, so you'll don't have problems with your back.

 

[Unregistered]

Ya, he's right. Just like in sports, good technique helps keeps your movements within your range of motion so as to prevent injury, and stretching help to increase that range of motion to further safeguard against injury. The physiology behind it all is very sportslike, alot of people don't care to bother with those issues, but those people have more injuries to deal with and have a lower musical longevity.

Plus the warmup gets the muscles and tendons pliable.

So, it's definitely a good thing to take precautions (especially if you already suffer injuries).

 

[FractalUniverse]

I once had a lot of problems with my hand, i had to use lots of creams and medicines, because there was lots of pain.... since then i made concious of it.

Another important thing, if you live in cold places, like me that i live in the @ss of the globe(Chile in south america), you should be really carefull, try to not start playing fast or complicated chords in the first minutes(when you practice), because i think the cold was the main reason of my "tendonitis"....

My arm has never hurted again, because i have taken lots of preventions. (using better straps (like the "comfort strapp" that you can find in some stores in the states) and.... like the unregistered user said:

"A good middle ground is have the top curve of the basses body right up against the bottom of your rib cage, that's about where it would be when you sit. I keep mine a little higher. The first Billy Sheehan video covers the topic pretty well."

"If it's your left hand, maybe raise your stap alittle on the high side, to prevent any real wrist bending. It may make you look like a jazz bassist, but it could help your condition from worsening (and that's whats important)."

Otherwise i think i can make more "acrobatics" with the bass at that height, and i can play better.

 

[Unregistered]

That's just where it's comfortable for me, I can't play with it low. If it's too low, my left hand feels retarded. I live in Louisiana, so cold isn't a problem here.