Wrist hurts after playing guitar for a couple hours

  • Thread starter Thread starter monkie
  • Start date Start date
K Road said:
starbuck26
Cool has always been a wristy business! But as they say, the angle of the dangle is proportional to the heat of the meat!
K.
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Indeed.

How's the weather in Berlin? I miss it... the only place in the world where things make sense...
 
8 hours?
no frikin wonder.

and pull the guitar up a little, it is possible to permanently hurt yourself.
 
ggunn said:
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.
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It have worked well for Zakk Wylde for almost 20 years now :p
 
Mish said:
It have worked well for Zakk Wylde for almost 20 years now :p
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More power to him, but that doesn't mean that he hasn't damaged his wrist or that someone else won't if they do the same thing.
 
ggunn said:
More power to him, but that doesn't mean that he hasn't damaged his wrist or that someone else won't if they do the same thing.
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I'm sure it's more a matter of which way you practice playing. When you first start - you damage your wrists and fingers regardless of how high your guitar is. I actually had gotten an really bad infection on my right pinky coz I just kept cutting it with strings, until I developed a mammoth skin on it :cool:

I always practice on feet and I have my guitar really really low. Had it this way for 2 years, and now it's harder for me to play while sitting down.
 
giraffe said:
8 hours?
no frikin wonder.

and pull the guitar up a little, it is possible to permanently hurt yourself.
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I would definitely go for 10 or more hours if I have time. But for now, it's a good practice time. I did however, raised the guitar up a little. It sure feels a whole lot better though it doesn't look as cool. I don't really care anymore. It's more about the good music than the good looks.:D
 
try to find a balance of looks and playability. how high up on the neck do you need to go? if you rarly go above the 12th fret, you can have it low enough to comfortably reach everything below 12. if you play very high alot, you must have the guitar high enough to comfortablly reach very high. it all depends on where you play.
 
tbone88 said:
try to find a balance of looks and playability. how high up on the neck do you need to go? if you rarly go above the 12th fret, you can have it low enough to comfortably reach everything below 12. if you play very high alot, you must have the guitar high enough to comfortablly reach very high. it all depends on where you play.
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Again, depends on the way you practice.

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They all play mind-blowing solos.
 
I had surgery on my left hand several years ago. Since I'm right-handed this was a serious blow to my guitar playing. I was sent to a physical therapist who specializes in treating people who play fretted instruments. I found out that the lower you sling you guitar, the more stress it puts on the tendons in your wrist. I had always slung my guitar kind of high so this was in my favor. I was able to get back in the game relatively quickly.

Interesting to see that EVH has his instrument slung at the least stressful height, as far as physiology is concerned. I'm not saying the other people pictured are slouches by any stretch of the imagination. But it might be interesting to see what, if any, effect the others' playing positions have on their shelf-life.
 
Mish said:
I'm sure it's more a matter of which way you practice playing.
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I don't agree with this. The lower you sling your guitar and the lower you point the neck, the more you stress the tendons in your left wrist. Stress over time equals potential injury; that's what CTS (carpal tunnel syndrome) is all about. Some peoples' tendons are more elastic than others; as in the old doctor joke, if it hurts when you do that, stop doing that.
 
ggunn said:
as in the old doctor joke, if it hurts when you do that, stop doing that.
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Haha, most people would never start playing guitar in the first place then! Or girls would never have sex :eek: :D

Thing is, with my playing style, I can't play with high-held guitar at all. I do alot of slides and it's just totally uncomfortable for me to do it this way - my neck is as vertical as Zakk's. It was hard to play on high frets at first, but that was so ages ago that I wouldn't think of playing guitar otherwise.

plays41 said:
Interesting to see that EVH has his instrument slung at the least stressful height, as far as physiology is concerned. I'm not saying the other people pictured are slouches by any stretch of the imagination. But it might be interesting to see what, if any, effect the others' playing positions have on their shelf-life.
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EVH has radically lowered his guitar since Balance tour. Here's some pictures from his 2008 tour -

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I guess it really boils down to what your comfort zone is. It has always felt unnatural for me to sling my guitar low. There are obviously many players this doesn't apply to. Different strokes for different folks. :D

BTW - thanks for taking the time to post some great pics!!
 
Mish said:
EVH has radically lowered his guitar since Balance tour.
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I don't think his guitar is actually lower. It just sits differently due to having a shorter horn than his strat style guitar.
 
ocnor said:
I don't think his guitar is actually lower. It just sits differently due to having a shorter horn than his strat style guitar.
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Yeah you're probably right - it looks pretty much on the same hight with his Wolfgang from 1995 era -

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plays41 said:
I guess it really boils down to what your comfort zone is. It has always felt unnatural for me to sling my guitar low. There are obviously many players this doesn't apply to. Different strokes for different folks. :D

BTW - thanks for taking the time to post some great pics!!
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Speaking of the great pics - THIS is the greatest pic of them all!!

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Zakk and Eddie. It doesn't get better than this :D
 
This is a common ailment among people that grew up watching self taught rockers murder the instrument and one that could end your career.
Hold you axe a a 45 degree angle and place your thumb in the middle of the neck. Allow your wrist to relax and hang naturally. This will relieve the strain and also help you play faster. You will be able to cover the neck with less arm motion. It will also help you avoid tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome. Over the years I have had to re-educate a number of guitar players who didn't understand that most rockers don't know how to play. Now they are believers.
 
If you can look cool holding it up high, then you are really cool. I don't think many people make fun of BB King, for example.


I agree that relaxing your hand and wrist is very important. And don't play for eight hours without stopping for awhile in the middle to take a break.


Also, you need to build up your left wrist -- many great right-handed guitar players spent countless hours jerking off with their left hands in order to equalize the strength of their wrists.
 
LI_Slim said:
Also, you need to build up your left wrist -- many great right-handed guitar players spent countless hours jerking off with their left hands in order to equalize the strength of their wrists.
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I dunno if it's true or not, but this is frigging hilarious :D
 
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