Playing Injury

[ned911]

Friday night during a gig in the middle of a song my right hand started to hurt. Back side of my picking hand, between middle and ring fingers about halfway between knuckles and wrist. Played the rest of the set (final set) and was OK until I started to drive home when it really started to hurt. Woke up Saturday and there was a knot on the back of my hand.

Took aspiran and kept ice on all day to get ready for Saturday night's gig. Gig went OK hand was sore and I had trouble with some fast runs and the pick kept rotating in my grip which is new.

Woke up this morning and my hand is swollen, sore when I make a fist but other wise doesn't hurt. No pain when you press on the area, no discoloration.

Wife thinks I grip the pick to hard and this is what the cause is.

Any one else have anything like this?

Ned

[exhaust_49]

I've never had anything like that but give it a few days rest. Play till it hurts and you give yourself irrepareable damage.

[ned911]

Headed to the doctors this morning will report back what they find.

[bluesdoc]

I'm curious as to what they'll think. I've done a lot of hand orthopedics in my time, but I sure don't know what you have. Hopefully you'll be seeing someone who KNOWS hand ortho. Otherwise they might just be winging it. What you're describing must be quite uncommon.

jon

[ned911]

Tendonitus in my hand. I must be doing something unconscience with my ring and pinky fingers on my picking hand because that is where the tendonitus is located. Put me in a splint and a prescription anti-inflamatory to reduce the swelling.

[Kaiser]

take care of that hand

[Cap'n Fingers]

Ouch!
I hope that's all it is. Keep us posted on your recovery.

[spencerbk]

Be aware that anything you're doing with your wrist causing this tendonitis could be a result of overcompensating for another posture problem. Take this time off to evaluate everything you're doing.

BTW- I had severe forearm tendonitis. Acupuncture helped relieve the pain - taking more breaks and stretching relieved some of the problems.

[Mr.Hanky]

Originally Posted by ned911

Headed to the doctors this morning will report back what they find.

Smart man, take it from a guy that just had surgery on his right hand due to a Staph infection. Never ever wait on something like that. By the time I went to the hospital it was up to my elbow, scary stuff.

[PlexiBreath]

We are atheletes from the elbows forward, injuries are very common. Always stretch and warm up before playing, and back off when weird little pains start to come on.

[ned911]

Recover seems to be going well. Worked on scales Tuesday night for 15 minutes with the splint on - forced me to hold the pick loosely. Last night ran some scales and played a few tunes without the splint - no pain. Concentrated on playing lightly with both hands.

Believe I'm keeping my right hand (and left as well) to tense and not relaxed enough so will focus on that going forward. Did some research on stretching excersises and will incorporate those into my post load-in/pre 1st set routine. Got a gig tomorrow night so hopefully everything will go well.

[EADGBE]

Cut back on your playing. Give your hand time to rest and heal. No pain, no gain is a lie. Pain is a warning. It means that you have reached your limit. So take it easy for a while.