Discomfort in both arms

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chamelious

www.thesunexplodes.com
This has made me give up guitar a couple of times but now im in a band i cant really afford to give it up again. But its really becoming a problem.

My left, fretting arm gets sore, sore is perhaps an overstatement its more like really real quick fatique that makes it hard ti play, seems to be when ive got my thumb on the back of the neck, especially around the first frets. Discomfort seems to come from the left hand side of my forearm as i look down at it playing guitar.

My right arm gets sore in general when picking fast, and especially when palm muting.

I've tried for months to lighten my playing technique but its not just having any effect and i dont think i play with much tension to begin with

What on earth could be causing this?
 
There are a lot of factors at play here - how old you are, the physical structure of your wrists, how long you've been playing, what injuries you've had in the past, how you hold your guitar while playing..

Years of repetition of physical activities, depending upon all these factors, can take a toll on your ability to keep doing them.

I have ongoing issues with my right (picking) hand that sound similar.

It becomes a management issue if you can't actually "cure" it - there's heaps of stuff on the net about what you should and shouldn't do and how to manage these types of conditions, plus it'd be worth a trip to either a doctor or a physiotherapist if it's not going away, just to get their opinion.

Rest works well, but sounds like that may not be an option for you.

Check your stance - if your guitar is slung really low you might look like Jimmy Page, but you'll end up with lots of unnecessary strain on your wrists and forearms as they bend into positions that aren't sustainable.

Good luck.

DON'T ignore it, however.
 
carpal tunnel? Doesnt that affect the arm too?
 
Armistice is right -- try raising the guitar, even if if makes you look like buddy holly.

Warming up can help, too.

edit: (and oh, yeah, your subject made me want to say "hang up and call 911 now!" :D)
 
Im 22, been playing for a few years but not as many as a lot of guys. I've never played my guitar low, i still cant play it properly with the strap as high as it'll go, i still dont understand how people manage it withour hurting their wrists. Like i said i've spent the last few months looking at every aspect of my technique and just cant see whats making my arms so shit
 
What's your general build?

I'm quite thin, and have correspondingly thing forearms and wrists which have done a lot of manual repetitive work apart from guitar playing over the years. As a consequence, it's no surprise that I have pain in my wrists, because the carpal tunnel is naturally small, and all the activity tends to inflame the various tissues that go into my hand.

So that's me.

If you're 22 you probably haven't had the opportunity to do extensive long-term stuff to the extent I have, so there really shouldn't be any long-term damage at this point. I'd very strongly recommend you head to a physiotherapist who specialises in hands, or your doctor, who undoubtedly can recommend someone for you.

If you don't want to do that, or can't, then resting them, using heat packs on your wrists and arms(wheat packs are good) when you're chilling out, "nerve glide" (google it) exercises and general stretching exercises and maybe some low-level anti-inflammatories might be useful, however they should be used merely to see if you get a positive response, rather than as a long term measure.

Good luck....
 
When I was studying guitar in college I used to be wound up like a spring when I played. One day my guitar teacher noticed this while I was performing in guitar workshop--it was really fucking me up--and he simply walked over to me and put his hand on my back while I played. The presence of his hand calmed my entire body and I actually felt every single one of my stiff muscles grow loose.

When I'm playing now, I often get a tiredness in my right forearm if I'm fastpicking palm-muted notes. But whenever I notice it I make a conscious effort to loosen up, and the pain/exhaustion goes away almost immediately.

Have you wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/priest (whatever) gently rub your back while you play a for a little while. It will go a long way to realizing you can actually stay completely loose and still play fast.

Come to think of it, it's exactly like sprinting. My football coach, when we were practicing in the summer, made us run with pebbles in our fists. The idea was for you to feel the pedal bouncing around in your hand. If you weren't clenching it, it meant your upper body was loose enough to really run.

All that said--keep in mind that nothing worth doing was ever painless.
 
Hmmi i'll give all this a whirl, but i've never really experienced any problems in my hands, just my forearm on the fretting hand and bicep/shoulder on the picking hand. I'll get my gf to help me out.
 
chamelious said:
Hmmi i'll give all this a whirl, but i've never really experienced any problems in my hands, just my forearm on the fretting hand and bicep/shoulder on the picking hand. I'll get my gf to help me out.
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Give it a shot, you might be surprised. At worst, you've just finagled a backrub. Never a bad thing.
 
I feel your pain

I have arthritis in both shoulders, neck and carpel tunnel in both wrists. I use DMSO on my shoulders and neck and it relieves my arthritis pain and reduces the carpel tunnel affect in my wrists. Google it and learn about it. It's quite controversial. Any doctors who have researched it and recommend it get put on quack alert.
 
chamelious said:
This has made me give up guitar a couple of times but now im in a band i cant really afford to give it up again. But its really becoming a problem.

My left, fretting arm gets sore, sore is perhaps an overstatement its more like really real quick fatique that makes it hard ti play, seems to be when ive got my thumb on the back of the neck, especially around the first frets. Discomfort seems to come from the left hand side of my forearm as i look down at it playing guitar.

My right arm gets sore in general when picking fast, and especially when palm muting.

I've tried for months to lighten my playing technique but its not just having any effect and i dont think i play with much tension to begin with

What on earth could be causing this?
Click to expand...

I'd say 99% is your posture, and having the guitar in the wrong position, which prevents your hands and arms from being in the right positions. I'd scrape up the money for a single guitar lesson and have them show you how to position the guitar correctly to minimize fatigue.
 
Have you tried playing different guitars? I've noticed that when I play a guitar with a thin neck my hand gets tired (sometimes cramps) much faster than when I play on a thicker neck. I suppose this could be the opposite for other players. Body shape and weight could also have an affect on right hand fatigue. There are lots of little bones, nerves and tendons in the hands and wrists, they all need to stay aligned propperly to continue working without discomfort.

I don't advocate running to a doctor for just any little ache or sniffle but in this case I would recomend having this checked since it seems to be affecting both hands. It could be an indication of a circulation problem or other serious condition.
 
Dani Pace said:
Have you tried playing different guitars? I've noticed that when I play a guitar with a thin neck my hand gets tired (sometimes cramps) much faster than when I play on a thicker neck. I suppose this could be the opposite for other players. Body shape and weight could also have an affect on right hand fatigue. There are lots of little bones, nerves and tendons in the hands and wrists, they all need to stay aligned propperly to continue working without discomfort.

I don't advocate running to a doctor for just any little ache or sniffle but in this case I would recomend having this checked since it seems to be affecting both hands. It could be an indication of a circulation problem or other serious condition.
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Like i said niether hands are affected. Its my arms, in the fretting arms case my forearm and the picking hand, the bicep and shoulder mostly.
 
How much would you spend on a wicked new pedal that made you sound that much better? How much would you spend on a killer new amp that gave you killer new tone? How much would you spend a dream guitar that made playing more fun than it's ever been?

I'll bet a visit to a doc is cheaper...
 
I'm getting a trip to the docs arranged. But i've never, ever seen a GP and had them give me any helpful advice. I fully expect them to tell me to rest it for a few weeks and see if that helps. Which A, wont help and B, i cant do.
 
chamelious said:
I'm getting a trip to the docs arranged. But i've never, ever seen a GP and had them give me any helpful advice. I fully expect them to tell me to rest it for a few weeks and see if that helps. Which A, wont help and B, i cant do.
Click to expand...

I see an osteopath. Even as a GP, osteopaths (mine at least) seem to be more in tune with muscle & bone issues--and more ready to approach them as problems with real solutions.
 
Join the club! I'm right handed and around 20 years ago I parted company with a motorcycle, horizontal breakdancing down the road! I did a lot of damage to the tendons in my left wrist, had to wear a brace a couple of months, physio etc, doc said I'd probably have been better breaking it! Anyway, the injury is coming back to haunt me now, after playing I need to wear a support on my left wirst and there are days twisting my wrist round to finger the strings is just too painful. I suppose I'm lucky in that I only play for my own amusement.

All my GP suggested was taking anti inflammatory meds but who wants to be popping them for the rest of their days!
 
Did a test with my girlfriend and she noticed with her hands on my right bicep (the worst culprit) moves in time with my picking, should i not be using my bicep at all could that be the issue?
 
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