Wrist hurts after playing guitar for a couple hours

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monkie

monkie

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Hey all,

Well, I was playing my guitar last night for about 8 hours standing up cause I don't want to play sitting down and develop a habit of always have to sit down in order to play. This morning I got and twist my left wrist a little to see if it hurts; oh yeah, it did..... quite painful. I was just wondering if all you guitar players out there ever had the same problem? What did you do? How far do you let your guitar hand down? Before I used to carry my guitar high on my chest but then I looked at myself in the mirror and thought that it look ridiculous so now I'm letting it hang down further. But then the further down it hangs the harder it is to play and hurts more even thought it looks cooler. Can this lead to any disorders in the future? Can you develop carpal tunnel if you keep this up? Are there any medications to help decrease these symptoms and disorders? Should I warm up my fingers and forearms or do some therapy before playing the guitar? Any ideas?

Thanks:D
 
Make a choice. You can optimize your playing position for an efficient, effective technique that will helping your playing and your comfort. Or you can slouch and hold the guitar low and look "cool." I have no intention of looking cool or being popular because of my music, so I go for comfort and proper body alignment.

Cheers,

Otto
 
legionserial said:
Stop worrying about looking cool.
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Hey, thanks for the quick reply. Well, my guitar doesn't hang down as far as other guitar players I've seen. It's just right below to my belly. Before it used to be right above my chest. I play rock music. C'mon, part of it is looking good. :D
 
When I was 17, trying to look cool got me a really bad case of tendonitis -- it hurt like crap, and was excruciating if I tried to move or if there was a slight breeze. I would have to quit playing for three weeks to reset the wrist, and that sucked - happened a few times.

1) raise the guitar
2) warm up before doing the 32nd note runs and raking arpeggios
 
... 8 hours

before everyone gets really excited, you can have the same symptoms after any 8 hour long playing session.
 
Play up higher like the jazzers do (they're pretty cool in my book) and the angle of the wrist will be a more gentle. Playing g. down by your ankles doesn't work for most players - unless you happen to be that guy from Led Zeppelin - I forget his name.

K.
 
JustAboutReal said:
before everyone gets really excited, you can have the same symptoms after any 8 hour long playing session.
Click to expand...

Good point. Make sure you warm up before and cool down after playing for days at a time. :D

Alternate muscle groups by day too.
 
VomitHatSteve said:
Good point. Make sure you warm up before and cool down after playing for days at a time. :D

Alternate muscle groups by day too.
Click to expand...

What kind of warm up exercise is good before and after playing? How long should the exercise be?
 
also nothing wrong with looking like the Beatles. i am not a beatle-fan, but they had a cool look in my book.

those who look cool get wrist surgery while they're young.
 
monkie said:
What kind of warm up exercise is good before and after playing? How long should the exercise be?
Click to expand...

I actually really don't know. I was being half facetious and applying general rules of physical training and exertion to guitar specifically.

I would assume that you'd warm up by stretching out your wrists and then playing slow, simple scales for a few minutes. I'm sure there are regimes for this outlined somewhere on the internet.
 
monkie said:
Hey all,

Well, I was playing my guitar last night for about 8 hours standing up cause I don't want to play sitting down and develop a habit of always have to sit down in order to play. This morning I got and twist my left wrist a little to see if it hurts; oh yeah, it did..... quite painful. I was just wondering if all you guitar players out there ever had the same problem? What did you do? How far do you let your guitar hand down? Before I used to carry my guitar high on my chest but then I looked at myself in the mirror and thought that it look ridiculous so now I'm letting it hang down further. But then the further down it hangs the harder it is to play and hurts more even thought it looks cooler. Can this lead to any disorders in the future? Can you develop carpal tunnel if you keep this up? Are there any medications to help decrease these symptoms and disorders? Should I warm up my fingers and forearms or do some therapy before playing the guitar? Any ideas?

Thanks:D
Click to expand...

The lower you sling your guitar and the lower you point the neck, the sharper the angle that your wrist has to bend to reach over to the low strings. That can cause real problems for you. Forget looking cool and play in a comfortable position.
 
Ever notice how high Tom Morello's guitar is?

If you want to see proper form, watch classical guitar players play. That is the correct way to hold a guitar.

But then again, Nick Arson from the hives looks pretty fucking cool with that telecaster on his thigh...

cool... i was flipping through spin the other day... all these bands are so fucking cool. rock and roll is an industry of cool. but cool is fickle. just when you think your cool... you've got the right sneakers, the right t-shirt, all that shit... cool changes on you and suddenly you wonder why these 19-year old self-taught guitarists skinny like holocaust survivors with the huge 1988 reebok pumps start singing songs about their inner sensitivity and you wonder whatever happened to melting someone's face off and then suddenly poof prog rock is back and bauhaus reforms and you're cool again...

i'm not cool. no one in any band i've ever played with was ever cool. because if you're cool, you have cool friends. cool people don't want uncool friends, it injures their cool. but there is something cool about being uncool. it's the non-participation in the cool that makes you really cool, because everyone loves artists who don't give a fuck what you think.

BUT IN THE END, having wrist-pain is uncool. i think you should adjust it to where it feels good.

i find there are two other abstractions that are WAY better to worry about... those words are "TIGHT" and "SLICK."

IMHO.
 
starbuck26 said:
If you want to see proper form, watch classical guitar players play. That is the correct way to hold a guitar.
Click to expand...

Correct. Also strive to maintain proper alignment of your head, neck and spine. Your head should be balanced on your neck without a lot of muscles straining. It's amazing how much more comfortable and relaxed you can be when you do that.

Cheers,

Otto
 
monkie said:
What kind of warm up exercise is good before and after playing? How long should the exercise be?
Click to expand...

Something that involves steady rhythmic movements of the wrist, starting out slow then building up to a peak, and feels good would be ideal.... :D
 
starbuck26

I thought your post was way cool. Prose, tight as a mouse's asshole and slickly written, too.

Cool has always been a wristy business! But as they say, the angle of the dangle is proportional to the heat of the meat!

So... strap that geetar on up round your chest fella and play some chops to make us drool.
Hot guitar - now that IS cool!

K.
 
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