Dealing with Arthritis,Carpal Tunnel,and other Hand Aliments

J

Joust

Inspired
I was recently diagnosed with minor arthritis in my left hand,no big deal(for now) but sometimes I cant play like I normally do.If anyone else has these problems how do you deal with it?Other than taking medication(which helps immensely)Do you have any special exercises or therapy?
 
Joust said:
I was recently diagnosed with minor arthritis in my left hand,no big deal(for now) but sometimes I cant play like I normally do.If anyone else has these problems how do you deal with it?Other than taking medication(which helps immensely)Do you have any special exercises or therapy?
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I've have big time issues. Tendinitis, a bit of arthritis and weakness of my left hand from 2 herniated disc, one that's already been operated and the 2nd not.
The first thing is to carefully warmup before you play for at least 30min.
Set up your guitar so it's easy to play and you don't have to struggle with it.
I also do a lot of icing.
 
Would love to hear more about this. Going on 50 and been having joint pain . My hands feel like they won't do what my brain is telling them sometimes. Had surgery on locking thumb on picking hand. That's ok now. Now the fretting hand thumb is locking up. Getting old sucks.

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Try the V-Picks,they are great for all around playing and also injured hands.

I have had a bad case of Carpel Tunnel Syndrome since 2008,I use a range of their picks.
There are some specifically made for injured hands,which I haven't tried but using them has made my
life easier. My hand is much better now but I've had many sessions with a Chiropractor but yes those
picks make life easier.

Good luck man.
 
Along with arthritis and a bout a couple of years ago with a numb pinky and ring finger on my fretting hand that thankfully went away on its own, I also have Dupuytren's Contracture in the same hand. That is causing my ring and middle finger to bend in toward my palm. Going to see a doctor about that soon. There's a new procedure that supposedly helps.


It's getting tougher and tougher to play. :( Can't stretch for notes or some of the more adventurous chords.
 
xlb3x said:
Would love to hear more about this. Going on 50 and been having joint pain . My hands feel like they won't do what my brain is telling them sometimes. Had surgery on locking thumb on picking hand. That's ok now. Now the fretting hand thumb is locking up. Getting old sucks.

Sent from my iPad using Forum Runner
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Yes it does ! I have I warm up for almost 1 hour to be able to play fast. The difference in my playing before and after warming is like night and day.
I also have to baby my left hand avoiding things that will affect my playing. If I start playing fast right away I run the risk of blowing my wrist for a week!
 
FWIW, my wife had really bad carpal tunnel syndrome after many years of being a photographer, carrying too many cameras... her hands would tingle and burn, go numb, the whole thing.

She tried Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy, which involves injecting your own platelets into the affected area. Her results have been amazing! In about a day and a half just about all of her symptoms were gone and rarely return (this was about 3 months ago). I'm considering getting the therapy for one of my ribs that keeps getting pulled out of alignment due to years of guitar playing and mountain biking having weakened one of the ligaments that should hold it in place.

Not affiliated at all, just hoping this suggestion may help others. Look into it and see if it could work for you.
 
both of my parents were arthritic and a couple of years ago I started to notice a bunch of joint pain.
Went Gluten free and the joint pain vanished in about 6 weeks.
We are all too happy to treat the symptoms instead of the causes (much more profitable business model).
A lot of people are "sensitive" to what gluten has evolved to and don't know it.
 
jefferski said:
FWIW, my wife had really bad carpal tunnel syndrome after many years of being a photographer, carrying too many cameras... her hands would tingle and burn, go numb, the whole thing.

She tried Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy, which involves injecting your own platelets into the affected area. Her results have been amazing! In about a day and a half just about all of her symptoms were gone and rarely return (this was about 3 months ago). I'm considering getting the therapy for one of my ribs that keeps getting pulled out of alignment due to years of guitar playing and mountain biking having weakened one of the ligaments that should hold it in place.

Not affiliated at all, just hoping this suggestion may help others. Look into it and see if it could work for you.
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I heard about this from my late Father's wife and maybe I should try it because I running out of options. My doctors said that I might need another surgery on my neck which I refused to do because it has a 40% chance of working
This type of surgery could make the adjacent vertebrae weaker since they get fused. Not good at all!
 
I did several courses of cortizone on my L wrist (De Quervain syndrome) with diminishing benefit. I eventually had surgery on my thumb tendon. It no longer aches/binds but when I play alot I can feel some arthritis. It helps to wrap it at night to keep it warm and to somewhat immobilize my wrist. Good luck w your treatment.
 
I developed tendinitis in both hands (repetitive strain injury from too much typing). I tried every therapy available and visited physiotherapists, chiropractors, acupuncturists, etc and tried every treatment under the sun. Nothing worked for me and I started to think that I would never be able to play guitar again. I finally came into contact with a doctor who thought shockwave treatment combined with laser ultrasound would be helpful. This treatment did the trick for me! Anyone else with tendinitis or joint issues may want to look into this.

All - good luck with your recovery.

Jared
 
I've had inflammation of the tendon sheath (tenosynovitis) for most of this year which badly affects my right wrist and to a lesser extent my left hand. I've had a course of steroids and am waiting to get an injection. Then it seems like I need to go on medication indefinitely. I don't mind that so long as it works. The pain is unreal and unbearable at times.

How does it affect my playing? I can't begin to describe, but it's bad. Take care of your hands kids.
 
Jefferski,PRP theropy was suggested to me by my doctor.I know as I get older the arthritis will worsen.:cry...Its tolerable now and I can live with it.I may one day go for PRP,at this point only time will tell.
 
eljodon said:
I heard about this from my late Father's wife and maybe I should try it because I running out of options. My doctors said that I might need another surgery on my neck which I refused to do because it has a 40% chance of working
This type of surgery could make the adjacent vertebrae weaker since they get fused. Not good at all!
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Yep. A good friend of mine is a professional massage therapist (in a ski town - he works on lots of top level athletes). He sees lots of cases where about a year or two after the fusion, the person is in worse shape because of what you said... the adjacent areas have to take up the strain.

Coldsummer said:
I've had inflammation of the tendon sheath (tenosynovitis) for most of this year which badly affects my right wrist and to a lesser extent my left hand. I've had a course of steroids and am waiting to get an injection. Then it seems like I need to go on medication indefinitely. I don't mind that so long as it works. The pain is unreal and unbearable at times.
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This is the same my wife had, afaik. The doctor described it like having rust on a bicycle cable, and it can't slide back and forth like it should. Be very careful w/ anything related to steroids... long-term use can be especially dangerous. Not just to the athletes who take heavy doses, but to regular people who just want healing. I had a bulging disc in my neck a couple of years ago, that was causing tingling in my left thumb and first two fingers... not good for a guitarist... I found that chiropractic and massage therapy from my friend (to relieve the muscle spasms around the area) helped it to heal. But even the chiropractor suggested steroids. I'm glad I said no to that... I hadn't really heard of prolo or PRP at the time.

Whatever you all do, do it carefully... and good luck in your healing!!
 
Do finger stretch exercises for just a few minutes a day and you will notice a difference within a week, just be careful to not over do it.
There are some natural things that help some people, for example a vitamin D deficiency can cause some types of arthritis, taking fish or cod liver oil can help or even cure the the problem. Sam-e is good for joint health and there are others.
 
I'm sure that all of use that suffer from some type of problem with our hands which affects our playing can be quite infuriating when one day you can play perfectly an other days is like you can't at all.
I remember one time my band had a New Years gig and my right hand was totally numb, so I bought a bag of picks and put it right by my side because I kept dropping my picks on the floor!
 
I developed a problem with my left index finger first joint , barring short chords and playing off them. This gets much worse whenever there's a new FW issue, which I realised last time was because I go through all the patches playing the same damn licks without thinking....
 
I have got psoriatic arthritis which is pretty much like rheumatoid-joint swelling, disfigurement and lots of tendonitis. I find exercise-hand, wrist, forearm really helps. Keeping those muscles strong really helps me.

Mostly now the only real issue is the long stretches like someone mentioned above.
I have not tried-I am working up the courage-but I believe big time in the "gluten free" approach. For my arthritis and my psoriasis. I am almost ready but I know folks who have done this and the results were amazing. Takes a lot of discipline-gluten is everywhere.

When I finally get the nerve I will go for it-I am not far away-just eliminating foods slowly.
I have pills but they make me stupid (er) I also have taken Enbrel for 7 years but have just recently stopped-dangerous drug-works great but .................too many side FX for this old guy. For those 7 years I was pain free-completely and no progression of the joint disease.
Stopping for a host of reasons and taking the Gluten train home..............................
 
Besides diet, there's posture and all. I don't recall hearing a lot of classically trained players have issues, I think because they have better overall posture, as well as are more relaxed with their hands. And playing lots of different kinds of things, like inferred above, I would imagine helps. Especially hand strength goes away with age. Try squeezing a ball, crushing a block of wood, etc, when watching a game or something.
 
CLassical players have the same problems. Many have to give up their instruments early - from RSI, and then from all these problems.

Stratman might find it useful to take a look at low-carb, which gets you off bread, pasta etc. I've been making bread for the last few years using almond flour and various nuts and seeds, which got me off my daily croissant. I must be closet French, as until the nut bread discovery the croissants kept me going. Try this site for info: Low carb diets: supplements, recipes, advice
 
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