guitar elbow (tendonitis)

TECHNINOT

Member
Hello Everybody!

HAPPY SPRINGTIME wherever you may be.

I'm sure that some of you have experienced "guitar elbow", otherwise known as tendonitis.
Has anyone a good idea as to what to do about it? Especially natural means of reducing the
discomfort and eventually reinforcing the muscles and ligaments involved?

Thanks for any and all ideas.
 
I have (and do still) suffer from tennis elbow and carpal tunnel. For the elbow I use the brace that has a bump in it that presses up against the tendon in question. It eliminates the pain for me. The issue with tendons and ligaments is that they don't get good blood flow so they are hard to heal and take a long time doing so. So you would need to wear that brace for quite some time to get permanent relief.
 
I would always, always strongly suggest getting medical advice before embarking on "self medication" but then I do enjoy free health care.

Not a guitarist but I did have pain in my right forearm and that was diagnosed as "tennis elbow" a game I have not played since the kids were little and are now in mid and late forties!

The doc suggested a mild exercise which consisted of holding a weight, 0.5-1kg in right hand and setting elbow on an easy chair arm and the weight allowed to pull the hand down, then you gentle pull it up to near horizontal. The idea being to stretch the tendon. Worked!

Dave.
 
Hello Techninot,

With respect to other commenters, may I urge you to address your playing technique with a well-trained instructor who teaches a conventional approach to playing.

When I played (before a slicing nerve injury of the thumb of the pick hand), I had never had any difficulty with inflammation except once when departing from playing in a conventional manner, briefly experimenting with a twisting forearm movement. However, I surmise improper technique that causes strain of any sort may also produce inflammation that is not suppose to ever occur at any juncture in playing, as a beginner or otherwise.

Even growing up, those I played with then in our teens were sound in pick-hand technique; no physical issues occurred and no one did special exercises. (My formally educated instructor never employed physical exercises; there wasn't any need because there was no stress whatsoever placed on the arm/hand while using proper technique.)

I would ask of you to consider the similarities in the following musicians known for their technical proficiency and compare their playing to your approach, in terms of any forearm twisting on your part or other playing oddities in form. Les Paul & Jeff Beck: YouTube. Please note that nothing of the forearm is involved in their playing.

I think it fair to say that a conventional technique evolved that not only allowed for desirable tonal production and consistency in accuracy but also did not cause inflammation or strain. Years before Les Paul was playing duets with his wife in the 50's Jazz, Swing, Big Band guitarists commonly used the elements of a conventional technique that present day can be seen used by many long-standing renowned guitarists in various genres--proper technique translates across styles.

Of essential message, however, please do not try to play through the pain in an effort to overcome strain by somehow building up ligaments that aren't suppose to be used in playing: It is not a natural occurrence with guitar players. (Again, I believe that proper training can help you in this matter unless there is some other physical activity that is causing the issue or both.)

Best of health in contributing joy and peace and understanding to those your music touches--JeffF.

To forum members and visitors, I placed the YouTube link in my post but the video came up in the text. It was such a great shot of two great players of different generations I hope no one minds, rather enjoys. If visiting or not logged in, simply click on the title at the top of the video and it will open the YouTube video, or login and click on the video to play.
 
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Apart from all the other great answers, I recommend when you play standing up, not playing with your guitar slung really low.

It looks cool, but it will cause all sorts of issues as you bend your wrist to access the frets. Raise it up, until there isn't such a big angle needed for you to fret the notes comfortably.
 
Conanthewarrior makes a very good point.

If I may add, positioning of the guitar while sitting, once properly learned, should easily be applied while standing. If there is too much variance in which the guitar is positioned while standing, proper technical playing dynamics will be altered.

Since you'll likely be practicing mostly while sitting, it is important to have instruction on proper placement of the instrument for playing while sitting (to avoid pick- and fretting-hand issues as well as to obtain consistent tonal production and pick-hand accuracy)--again, something a formally trained instructor can help you with.

Best of health--JeffF.
 
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