Hand pain (fretting hand)...

[sixesandsevens]

So I've noticed that if I'm playing more than usual, I'll start to get some pain in my left hand, sort of behind the "webbing" where my index and middle fingers meet.

It's the kind of thing that doesn't bother me much while I'm playing, but I'll notice it off and on throughout the rest of the next several days.

Based on this picture, I guess it's near the outward ball end where the metacarpals meets the proximal phalanges. It's sort of in between the fingers, and it's intermittent, so it's tough to pin down whether or not it's the middle finger (which I suspect) on the index.

Anyone else have pain like this? Any idea if there's exercises I can do to help avoid this or what I should be changing with my posture to prevent it?

Thanks in advance!

[tbonesullivan]

well, there are some muscles in the hand that can be strained, but most of what's in there is tendons, ligaments, and the joints. could be any number of different things.

[gtone]

I used to get the same thing playing my '93 Special FM. It had a thin neck and used to give me cramping and chronic pain in that same area and in the way you described. Problem went away when the guitar did, unfortunately, because it was a winner in every other respect.

[murkat]

welcome to my world.

double CTS.

double radical stone age cts surgery (1990?)

double ulnerve displacement, un resolved.

military right shoulder bercidius dis articulation.

Recently, right shoulder roter joint going out.

For your hands, wrists,

your carpol tunnel may be inflamed

causing lack of everything going to fingers, wrists, etc.

B complex vitamins, bannas can help.

Keeping your wrist straight with a restraint can help, improve, repair, while sleeping.

Shop around for a better neck profile that will ease the areas in question.

I have had to do some radical changes in my choices recently in order to continue

while managing pain, discomfort.

Luckly, I became a lil bit of ambradextris while my right wrist was healing from the CTS sugery

and now with right shoulder going to shit (VA will take care of me, when I get in.....)

I re learned how to wipe my ass again lefty

Do not fuck around with this.

See your Doctor asap, get a referal to a top shelf neuologist pronto.

[rj2858]

I'd quit "jerkin' my gherkin' if I were you.

Oh, and this...

[carfish7]

Agree 100% that this needs to be treated carefully. I wound up basically destroying my left wrist and have pain all the way up to my elbow, because I was working out a tough segment of a tune for an audition and ignored the pain. I cannot play like once did and after many trips to the sports med dudes and PT, I'm pretty much let with "this is how it is". Don't mess around, and don't try and "power through".

Best of luck with this!

[Thundersteel]

My Jackson Soloist caused my fretting hand to cramp up about 15 minutes after playing it, due to its wide-thin neck. Because of this, I had to let it go.

Have you tried different necks to see if it makes a difference?

[murkat]

^ totally oppisite for me.

Had to go thinner.

[Tres Aardvarks]

I actually experienced some pain and swelling in my fretting hand last night while playing. Now, I was playing jazz chords on my Californian with teeny tiny little frets, and I suspect that was what contributed mostly. I'll try a different guitar tonight and see if it changes anything.

I've never had anything like that happen playing bass!

[gtone]

My Jackson Soloist caused my fretting hand to cramp up about 15 minutes after playing it, due to its wide-thin neck. Because of this, I had to let it go.

Have you tried different necks to see if it makes a difference?

The wide/thin neck gave me lots of trouble. Ironically, the narrow but fuller necks on the Norlin-era SG's don't give me any trouble whatsoever. A lot of it probably has to do with how we're built and our individual playing styles as well.

[Ting Ho Dung]

I've found that smoking pot works wonders. But it's all still new to me. Like a new steady. We'll see when the nine-and-a-half weeks are up. YMMV

[sixesandsevens]

Thanks for the advice (and warnings).

I guess I was hoping one of you had been-there/done-that with enough similarity that I could piggy back on a warmup routine or something.

I had an ortho look at it maybe a year or more back and his CTS tests (including an X-ray, if I recall) came back negative. Because it was intermittent, I left with a simple "if it gets worse, come back" prescription. Fortunately if I give it a day off, I'm fine the next day, so it's not untenable at this point.

Because I don't seem to have any other CTS symptoms, I suspect it's a tendon thing of some sort, probably from the two-fret stretches in some of the three-note-per-string modal fingerings I use, but I'm not sure.

For now, maybe I'll try to switch to all no-stretch scale fingerings for a week and see if it comes back based on play-time alone or if the specifics of what I play (or more likely how I play it) is really the issue. That and maybe I should actually find a warm up routine if I'm thinking about "pushing it" for that session instead of just goofing off at a leisurely pace.

[Ting Ho Dung]

There is also this

[murkat]

There is also this

not if you have nerve damage.

no no no

[Ting Ho Dung]

There is also this

not if you have nerve damage.

no no no

I'm not a doctor. Thanks for setting me straight. I guess I am thinking preventative.

[gtone]

Don't laugh, but there's dietary changes a person can make to help relieve/reduce chronic systemic inflammation. Much of it has to do with reducing intake of food/drink/behaviours that cause our systems to go acidic while increasing things that promote the alkaline side of things in order to achieve a more balanced state than our modern diet/lifestyle tends to provide us (highly acidic). Seems to have some merit.

Good luck and hope you find some workable solutions that bring relief.

[sixesandsevens]

Don't laugh, but there's dietary changes a person can make to help relieve/reduce chronic systemic inflammation. Much of it has to do with reducing intake of food/drink/behaviours that cause our systems to go acidic while increasing things that promote the alkaline side of things in order to achieve a more balanced state than our modern diet/lifestyle tends to provide us (highly acidic). Seems to have some merit.

Good luck and hope you find some workable solutions that bring relief.

Is this a return of the gluten-free thread, or is it something else?

Any links?

[jaberwock]

Thumb texting on smart phones is also responsible for a lot of repetitive strain injuries in the wrist, and thumb; I know it's a different problem to yours, but I always text with my index fingers whilst my phone is on a flat surface now, and my wrist is a lot more comfortable after playing the guitar for long periods.

I know it's not very " rock n' roll " but I've got to agree a healthier diet could help, but who knows you may be a macro organic, vegetarian already.

Good luck Jaberwock

[sixesandsevens]

Thumb texting on smart phones is also responsible for a lot of repetitive strain injuries in the wrist, and thumb; I know it's a different problem to yours, but I always text with my index fingers whilst my phone is on a flat surface now, and my wrist is a lot more comfortable after playing the guitar for long periods.

I know it's not very " rock n' roll " but I've got to agree a healthier diet could help, but who knows you may be a macro organic, vegetarian already.

Good luck Jaberwock

Good point about texting. I've definitely had some thumb discomfort before from trying to hold a smartphone in one hand and navigate the screen with the same hand that's holding it. That's often even just using a browser and not maniacal texting.

Regarding diet, let's just say I don't have a diet that's that far beyond reproach.

I'm down about 50-60lbs (to ~185 lbs now) from my peak several years back through old fashioned calorie counting and hard work (running + weights), but my diet is still slanted towards smaller portions of "standard american diet" food rather than large amounts of rabbit food.