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  • Thread starter Thread starter MessianicDreams
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MessianicDreams

MessianicDreams

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hey,
i've been playing guitar for about 7 years now. these past few weeks, i've been expiriencing pains just below my right elbow (i'm right-handed and play guitar right-handed). i'll try and explain where the pain is. place your right palm flat on a table. straighten your arm (by moving away from the table). now drum your fingers ont he table, and with your left hand-fingers, wrap them around your right fore-arm just below your elbow. move your left-hand fingers around until you can feel your tendons moving. that's where it hurts. my tendons are hurting, and its kinda like a burning sensation. i';ve talked about it to a friend who plays tennis, and she says that it sounds like what she calls "tennis elbow". i've been thinking it might be tendonitis, but i'm not sure.

has this happened to any of you guitarist/bassists?? how did you get rid of the pain?? because it's stopping me from playing guitar, and just typing this post is hurting my tendons. any suggestions???

cheers,

MD
 
I get the pains - but it's actually from spending so much damn time at the computer - but still I do get some cramps from time to time playing.

That elbow cramp though - maybe try either raising or lowers your strap a little bit to try and change the angle of your elbow some. That may help.

A couple asprin and a beer might help it to. :)
 
Hi it could possibly be that you're trying too hard. Tennis elbow happens to people who have the wrong technique and I think maybe it's the same with guitarists. You should always be relaxed when you play. I guess you already know that but I'm just replying lol. Try stretching exercises in between playing to keep your arms alive. Hope you find a remedy because I would hate not being able to play though everyone else thinks it would be a good idea :P
 
Don't stretch yet, but include it in your routine once the injury improves. The pain your experiencing could very well be tendon related. An understanding of the inflammatory process which would include a histamine release and build up of prostaglandins at the area will cause some inflamation and pain because nerves are being crowded, in essence.

Ice, always good even with old injuries, not to long- 20min max, don't use heat after and rotate them with inflamation. Don't stretch when cold.

Ibuprofen-advil-motrin consistant usage with the higher dosing first time. Helps with those prostiglandins.

Immobilization yup rest it a little.

Joint maintenence yeah vits some omegas for get glucosamine and chondroitin there are no definate studies on them and if anything unless you have arthritis no gain.

Cigarette anyone, I want one right now and will be smoking as some as I'm done typing this, but it dehydrates your joints, drink water, I think it makes me feel better in my own mind.

Man can I babble, nothing else to do I guess... oh yeah gotta smoke, later.
 
ok, thanks for all the help guys. i've learnt a couple of things about my case: i've found that i tend to "crisp" up when i'm playing guitar. so when i'm playing i'm gonna try and relax a little more, and try not to be so tense
i don't normally stretch much before playing guitar, although i do go through a period each winter (when it gets damned cold here) during which i do stretch a bit, just to get some juice flowing through my body. so from now on before playing i'm gonna do some nice lil' stretching exercises.
i'm gonna start icing my elbow for 15 mins every night for a little while.
i'm gonna stop playing guitar for 2 weeks (*gULp*) and see how my eblow is then (i'm never going to make it - 2 weeks without playing guitar???pff forget it)......or at least cut down on my playing a bit :S

so thanks once again for all your help - i really appreciate it!! :)

MD
 
I have been trying several of the suggestions that I got from my thread that I started in November. B6, warm-up exercises, strength exercised, Glucosamine, lots of rest to the hand/wrist/thumb. I have slacked off of the playing too. I too tend to tense up and play too hard. I grip the neck very hard. The situation has improved but there is still something out of place in there. This has been going on for 3 months now. So I think it will take some time for this kind of thing to completely heal. It is hard to quit playing altogether - just can't seem to make myself stop. I don't want to lose the hard-earned calluses. But don't overdo it. If you get permanent damage, ----- bad bummer. I hope your elbow gets well soon!
 
MessianicDreams said:
ok, thanks for all the help guys. i've learnt a couple of things about my case: i've found that i tend to "crisp" up when i'm playing guitar. so when i'm playing i'm gonna try and relax a little more, and try not to be so tense
Click to expand...

If by saying "crisp up" you mean your muscles are tightening from strain, then the problem is with your technique. First of all, you need to spend about 5-10 minutes doing slow warm-up exercises before you play. The exercises should increase in speed as you progress. Unfortunately, most warm-up exercises place more emphasis on the fret hand, but you definately need to do exercises for the pick hand so that the muscles have the flexibility to handle small amounts of strain and release. One method is to play certain picking combinations on the lowest strings at a slow tempo and gradually increase in speed. My usual approach is to warm up my fret hand, then start on sweep picking and move to more complex picking patterns like gallop-style (down-up-down, down-up-down), then onto tremelo picking, string skipping, and then on to pure downstroke picking.

Even when doing really intensive picking, there should only be minor amounts of strain on the muscles in your right arm, and this strain should also be allowed to release often. If you can't play alternating 16th notes at 120 beats per minute without an increasing strain in your arm, then your technique is suspect. The feeling in your arm should be similar to rhythmical strumming done on an acoustic guitar (if that makes sense), the only difference is you are doing it in smaller motions on one string.

Cy
 
When all else fails you might have to get a cortizone injection, I have had a couple over the years, warning, if your doctor isn't too experienced this can hurt like hell, but usually fixes the damn thing.
 
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