Tendonitis

[big e]

Anyone who is suffering from pain would do good to read Dr. Sarno's book "The Divided Mind". He is a pioneer on the study / practice of treating people for pain relating to Psychosomatic Medicine. He challenges the entire medical community on it's dismissal of the connection between brain and body. It's one of the most important books I have read. Please check it out, for some it will be life changing!!!

[Phineas]

guitar principles by jamie andreas saved my life. i'd be a harmonica player if i didn't adhere to his principles years ago. stretch, warm up, posture, breathing - it's very important.

[martyhk0]

Isn't it funny, or sad actually, that these problems are starting for all of us right around that magical age of 50. For those of you who have not gotten there yet, I liken it to slamming into a brick wall!
Anyway heres what you do for tendonitis not in any specific order:
1.REST
2.STRETCHING
3.ICE/COLD COMPRESS
4.CHANGE IN POSTURE
5. motrin/naprosyn/celebex (celebrex is the best, then naprosyn then advil/motrin)
6. MASSAGE-A GOOD MASSEUSE CAN WORK WONDERS!!
7. GOOD QUALITY ELBOW BRACES (futuro, neoprene)
8. TIME AND PATIENCE

TRY EVERYTHING LISTED ABOVE BEFORE YOU EVEN CONSIDER STEROIDS. THEY ARE PROBLEMATIC AND CAUSE OTHER PROBLEMS AS WELL. IF ITS REALLY BAD, STOP PLAYING IF YOU CAN AND GIVE IT TIME TO HEAL. IT HEALS SLOWLY.
ALSO, ITS TRUE THE COMPUTER IS OFTEN A MAJOR CULPRIT. IF YOU CAN, USE YOUR OTHER ARM/HAND TO USE YOUR MOUSE. ALSO, FELLOWES MAKES A GREAT AND RELATIVELY INEXPENSIVE HAND HELD MOUSE THAT CAN HELP BY YOU USING A DIFFERENT HAND AND DIFFERENT MUSCLES.
I HAVE BEEN THRU THIS AND THE ABOVE ADVICE WORKS AND IS TIME TESTED!!

I ULTIMATELY HAD TO TAKE MONTHS OFF FROM PLAYING DUE TO ELBOW/FOREARM TENDONITIS. I TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THE TIME OFF TO LEARN TO PLAY KEYBOARD SO I COULD STILL MAKE MUSIC. ITS WHAT KEPT ME SANE DURING THAT PERIOD AND NOW I CAN PLAY ANOTHER INSTRUMENT.

[gtrchris]

_______________________

Well I have to say I'm glad to see you got relief from some rolfing and massage work. As a therapist, I can tell you that the area of the pain is almost never where the root dysfunction is. The problems you are experiencing are due to compensations in the muscle due to a root dysfunction. In my case the shoulder pain was due to a hip level dysfunction.
I am now training in this because it does address the root dysfuntion which is in the musculature of the body. The muscles hold the bones in place and massage will help and rolfing due to its postural assesment and intent will help more. The Egoscue therapy empowers YOU to fix it. When it comes right down to it only you can, with the help of a good therapist. My shoulder pain was gone in two sessions. We had a couple of people who had been rolfed by disciples of Ida Rolf herself and they said Egoscue took them further than the rolfing had. In fact they were reccomended to seek out a Egoscue therapist by their Rolfers. Closest clinic to Florida is GA.[/quote]




hi Phloored, I think I have something similar to what you're describing-i've had problems due to twisting my spine playing classical guitar hours on end-it became chronic and threw my hips out of allignment-i believe all my neck,loss of hand strength and headaches mostly stem from this problem(well i did have a serious car crash as well and suffered trauma from whiplash-but that's another story!)
I'm in Canada do you know of any Egoscue clinic near Toronto?

thanks for your help
Chris
p.s. Isn't guitar playing supposted to be effortless?

[trap]

rolfing, deep tissue work, chiro, homeopathic remedies, like arnica, all seem to keep my body going . but my tendonitus isn't from plaing guitar .it's from being a ceramic tile contractor for 30 years. pushing ,lifting ,squatting, kneeling,reaching etc. i'm tired just thinking about it.

[scottlaned]

I stretch my wrists every couple hours or so (I don't even think about it, just natural to me now) because I have some pretty severe carpal tunnel at age 23. Don't let it get too bad. My friend who has been playing in a successful touring band for several years got some nerve damage and hasn't played a guitar in a year now because he didn't address the issues in time.

[Third Stone]

Here is a stretch that has helped me and many other pro musicians. I learned it from a great bass player who's brother-in-law is a physical therapist. Stand next to a wall, arms lengths away from it. Place the palm of your hand against the wall...your hand should be level with your head, arm straight from your shoulder. You should feel the stretch in your hand, wrist and up your whole arm. Do this before, during and after playing. The brother-in-law said once he teaches people this stretch and they do it regularly, they don't ever come back for more treatment. Hope this helps, it does me.

[Clifford-D]

Originally Posted by Ray Gianelli

I've been having what I believe is tendonitis from playing guitar; it may be something else, like carpal tunnel syndrome or simply age ( I just received an application from AARP... like I need the reminder that I'm turning 50 this year). I ice my wrist 20 minutes on, 10 off and wear a wrist brace while I sleep when it flares up. I've found that if I raise up the strap on my guitar it helps to keep my wrist straighter, and I tend to have less trouble, but it still occurs.
Anyone have this trouble or have any tips?

Thanks, Ray

Do you sleep on top of your wrist?

What guitar do you play? Style?

Do you warm up or just jump in.

What about technique, do you play big block chords with bars
or do you know how to play "economically" ie; 3 note chords?

Hope you answer back

[imschur]

Originally Posted by e-z

Most of those reporting problems have them in their fretting hands but I've been having problems with my picking hand. I've been playing for 25 years but started playing classical almost exclusively at the beginning of the year. For the last 6 weeks I've been getting pain and swelling in my right forearm and wrist. I went to the chiropractor, who has helped me with my back before, but that didn't make it go away. I tried deep tissue massage but that hasn't helped yet either. Stretching before and icing afterward seem to help the most.

Me too! My pinky knuckle and the bone before it are also hurting. Additionaly major pain in the top center of my wrist. I dread hand shakes

[GrecoVee]

I've had several bouts with tendonitis over the past about 8 or 9 years and I'm 45. I've been to PT in the past that has helped in some cases but with age I've been wondering if it might be some thing more than just tendonitis. A close friend of mine has Fibromialgia (not sure of the spelling) and told me that it can develop in just certain parts of your body not just all over like my friend has it and the way most people have it. I haven't gotten diagnosted with it yet but my last bout with pain in both forearms was a result of a repeditive motion injury at a job I had that I ended up quiting because of it. I went to PT but never really got cured of the pain in my forearms completely. Now the pain comes and goes depending on how much I use my hands and muscles in my arms in any sort of repeditive fashion. This has been terriable for me on a work stand point! I have worked very little in the past two years beause of this reoccurreing pain and have been forced to try and fine a job in a completely different feild than I'm qualified. The only good news is that as long as I keep it in check and don't play guitar more than about an hour or so a day for more than about three days in a row I won't get any serious flare up of unmanagable pain.

[PRNDL]

Tendinitis can be difficult to resolve since it is usually related to inflammation and repetitive stress. Inflammation is often systemic and has many causes, including infections, which means that it will get worse with a cold or flu.

Several people have mentioned some great natural therapies, including
- Glucosamine and Chondroitin for connective tissue repair
- MSM, which reduces pain

Here are some others to reduce inflammation
- Turmeric (Curcumin)
- Bromelain
- Picorhiza and Boswellia

Carpal tunnel syndrome has been related to a deficiency of vitamin B6 in over 20 scientific studies. A high quality B complex is recommended, especially if you're blood type is O.

Amount is very important, especially for glucosamine and MSM. Both need at least 1,000 mg twice a day.

Product quality is also important. I recommend only physician's quality products.

I've found several things are helpful, including:
- massage
- light strings and lower action
- how you hold the guitar, the position of your wrist and fingers
- releasing muscle stress while you play

I found a lot of great tips in the newsletter and articles at guitarprinciples.com

FYI, I'm a naturopathic physician that plays guitar and builds tube guitar amps. Research is my specialty. Check out my new web site:
http://www.naturobase.com

[Tramp]

I had a terrible bout of tendonitis from too much keyboarding in my mid 30s, some 15 years ago. Buying a Kinesis ergonomic keyboard helped immensely, and I still us them today. But there are a couple of other things that help me:
regular strenuous exercise, which (as many have noted) helps the body's ability to repair itself and cutting down on salt. I've only seen this last bit of advice a couple of times, but it's been very helpful for me. YMMV. Good luck!

[Mark Wein]

I had many of these problems a few years ago....my doctor start "Active Release" treatment( much like "Rolfing" and suggested I get a parrafin wax bath for my hands...the deep heat of the parrafin was has helped me the most of everything I've tried...I wrote about my problems and subsequent solutions in my blog:

http://premierguitarlessons.com/inde...d=35&Itemid=31

[Secret Ingredient]

Originally Posted by Ray Gianelli

I've been having what I believe is tendonitis from playing guitar; it may be something else, like carpal tunnel syndrome or simply age ( I just received an application from AARP... like I need the reminder that I'm turning 50 this year). I ice my wrist 20 minutes on, 10 off and wear a wrist brace while I sleep when it flares up. I've found that if I raise up the strap on my guitar it helps to keep my wrist straighter, and I tend to have less trouble, but it still occurs.
Anyone have this trouble or have any tips?

Thanks, Ray

I developed severe carpal tunnel and tenonitis from too much work on the computer. I've managed to get it partially under control. First, I went to physical therapy for about 6 weeks. After that, I did things at home to find some improvement:

Icy Hot gel from elbow to fingertips at night before I go to bed. It works much better if done shortly before bed. Yeah, it smells, but it feels great the next day. The gel is easier to use on hairy arms like mine.

Keep your hands warm!! I use a heating pad when I can sit down, or gloves when I can't.

Elastic compression gloves also help. The ones that are fingerless, and have a cuff that goes around the wrist.

Cut down on repetitive stuff. I had to cut back on work, and take a major cut in pay to get the pain under control. I work on the computer and I just can't type 15 hours a day anymore.

If you must type a lot, try speech recognition software like Dragon Naturally Speaking (Windows) or iListen (Mac) Also check out some of the ergonomic and adjustable keyboards that are available.

Strengthen your arms. Sounds counter intuitive, but I have found that lifting weights has really helped bring back some of the function in my hands. I am referring to VERY CAREFUL lifting, and I only do exercises that keep my hands/wrists in a neutral position. I still can't do pushups. Applying force to my wrist joint when the hand is at an angle is a recipe for agony, and I don't do bar dips or anything that puts a hard compressive or tension force on my wrists.

If it hurts, don't do it. Ego be damned, if something is too heavy to lift safely, or a task is too painful, I figure out how to get it done without further injuring myself.

I'm slowly getting better. Still can't play the guitar for very long without feeling it a few hours later, but it is improving.

Best thing would be to see a doc and get a referral to a good physical therapist. The massages felt real good