numb thump

[ksnyder77]

I was just curious as to what would cause this? While playing a gig I was in the the middle of a song and all of a sudden my thumb locked up and I could not move it. This happened once about 3 years ago but has never bothered me since. I do not feel any pain in the fingers or rist, elbow or neck at any time since the first incident. During this second incident I just shook my hand while keeping the beat with the other until feeling came back to my thumb which only took two seconds and was able to finish the song. For the rest of the set I took it easy with the fills and watched how tight I gripped the stick. I am thinking that since my sticks were cracked at the time and I was gripping them harder that might be the cause. I have read up on carpal tunnel and do not have any other symptoms explained in any thing I have seen. No sharp pains, no other fingers cramping or any thing like that. I am the idiot who forgot to grab new sticks and every one of them cracked on me that night. I usually do not go through sticks that quickly it takes several months for them to break. I guess it was just an unlucky night, although the show was a huge success. I was just wondering if any one new about this or had an experience similar. If your smart though you would make sure you rotate out your old sticks.

 

[Warhead]

Sounds like a strained muscle? When I was gigging a few years ago I had problems with my calves getting locked up...ouch! Especially in the middle of something like "Hero" by Foo Fighters...not good.

I wouldn't worry, sounds like a bad night and you were having to overcompensate your grip.

I'm not a big stick breaker either, but nowadays I jam in my studio! Live gigging sucks unless the pay is top notch, and around here it's not!

War

 

[applejax]

Losten up ur grip a hell of alot man lol!! Ur probably pushing to hard on ur thumbs. You just need to relax, even if u hit really hard.

 

[mrface2112]

that's one of the reasons i stopped playing drums regularly. i'm a systems engineer during my "day job", which finds me hammering away at a keyboard and mouse pretty much constantly. when i'd play drums, the thumb on my right hand (hihat/ride cymbal hand--i'm a righty) would lock up and occasionally i'd get a shooting pain up my arm (from my thumb) and it'd cause me to drop my stick. i can only attribute this to carpal tunnel or something similar.

needless to say, you need to revisit how you're holding the sticks, your overall technique (namely how you're striking the drum and cymbals) and how hard you're hitting everything. you might also want to experiment with different head types (single vs 2ply, clear, coated, pinstripe, etc), stick materials (maybe maple instead of oak) and even different tensioning on the heads.


cheers,
wade

 

[Supercreep]

It sounds like a compression injury. Cartillage when compressed bulges and puts pressure on a nerve. Imagine squishing a jujubee - it's the same effect. Sometimes you get pain, sometimes you get numb. Since bloodflow to cartillage is pretty minimal, these types of injuries can take a long time to heal.

You may have injured your wrist in a non-drumming related incident and are just feeling it when you drum. Go get some xrays.