Guitar Injury - my story - my advice.
Aug 11, 2017 14:42:50 GMT
Phil Taylor, brianr2, and 1 more like this
Post by dawkins on Aug 11, 2017 14:42:50 GMT
I have been away from playing for over a year because one day I suddenly noticed my 'm' finger felt fatigued and almost uncooperative whilst fingerpicking. Within a week I had to completely stop and it was gutting because I had been making huge progress on my classical studies with several teachers - one of whom was incredibly expensive but his knowledge was awesome.
I did one thing that I would strongly advise against: going on you tube and google to self diagnose and treat. I was convinced I had either, carpal tunnel syndrome; ulnar nerve entrapment or thoracic outlet syndrome. I started doing all kinds of stretches and so called nerve glides in an attempt to fix myself but it got worse and worse. I threw thousands of pounds at private therapists to no avail. I had mri brain scan to check the neck; three sets of nerve studies and nothing came back. Also, neurological experts could not explain my worrying symptoms that had now spread to both arms and hands.
I started getting very sore elbows and as a last ditched attempt I went to a physio and quite firmly said that I wanted to talk for as long as it takes to explain my predicament. This young lad was superb and said I had golfers elbow in both arms plus finger symptoms because of muscle imbalances through bad technique. I have been seeing him for 4 months with considerable progress. Bizzare as it seems I'm pulling some heavy weights with specific exercises and its working.
Advice.
There is a difference between tendonosis and tendonitis - self-diagnosis can see you doing the wrong work to correct it.
Nerve glides are popular but incredibly dangerous if you do them wrong. Nerves take extremely long time to settle.
You can easily overstretch - repeat - you can easily overstretch and injure nerves and fascia.
I am now playing with massive attention to posture.
I make huge efforts to keep shoulders from tensing.
My right arm is neutral and fingerpicking incredibly light.
My left hand hardly presses the strings and left thumb never grips
I have worked doggedly on fretting accuracy.
I take regular breaks.
I was helped immensely by a classical player called Jack Sanders who is incredibly generous with his knowledge.
I have re evaluated my expectations but what I am finding is that playing 'easier' pieces or songs 'musically' is better for me.
I am not yet 100 percent but I can play.
I did one thing that I would strongly advise against: going on you tube and google to self diagnose and treat. I was convinced I had either, carpal tunnel syndrome; ulnar nerve entrapment or thoracic outlet syndrome. I started doing all kinds of stretches and so called nerve glides in an attempt to fix myself but it got worse and worse. I threw thousands of pounds at private therapists to no avail. I had mri brain scan to check the neck; three sets of nerve studies and nothing came back. Also, neurological experts could not explain my worrying symptoms that had now spread to both arms and hands.
I started getting very sore elbows and as a last ditched attempt I went to a physio and quite firmly said that I wanted to talk for as long as it takes to explain my predicament. This young lad was superb and said I had golfers elbow in both arms plus finger symptoms because of muscle imbalances through bad technique. I have been seeing him for 4 months with considerable progress. Bizzare as it seems I'm pulling some heavy weights with specific exercises and its working.
Advice.
There is a difference between tendonosis and tendonitis - self-diagnosis can see you doing the wrong work to correct it.
Nerve glides are popular but incredibly dangerous if you do them wrong. Nerves take extremely long time to settle.
You can easily overstretch - repeat - you can easily overstretch and injure nerves and fascia.
I am now playing with massive attention to posture.
I make huge efforts to keep shoulders from tensing.
My right arm is neutral and fingerpicking incredibly light.
My left hand hardly presses the strings and left thumb never grips
I have worked doggedly on fretting accuracy.
I take regular breaks.
I was helped immensely by a classical player called Jack Sanders who is incredibly generous with his knowledge.
I have re evaluated my expectations but what I am finding is that playing 'easier' pieces or songs 'musically' is better for me.
I am not yet 100 percent but I can play.