Finger Health - Whats your methodology?

Excellent feedback and recommendations in this thread.
Thank you all for your contributions. I love this community.

I need to find a local instructor to guide me into proper positioning and technique so that I can continue playing pain free.

Brother Slee, your description of the self taught student could be me - although I've shifted away from my classic rock guitar slung low strangle fretting to a more acoustic guitar finger style / strum.

Back to basics, fundamentals & mechanics.
 
This morning I had my 1st appointment of Active Release Techniques to help me heal the tendonitis in my elbows.
from the ART website:
"ART is a patented, state of the art soft tissue system/movement based massage technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves. Headaches, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, shin splints, shoulder pain, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, knee problems, and tennis elbow are just a few of the many conditions that can be resolved quickly and permanently with ART. These conditions all have one important thing in common: they are often a result of overused muscles."

Active Release Techniques: A.R.T.


There will be a series of appointments before I am back on the guitar and keyboards, but already I feel amazing relief from the sharp pains and dull throbbing elbow aches.

Luckily for me, this "local to me" master active release practitioner is the brother of the developer of the active release techniques. Fantastic!
 
Thanks for the video, cragginshred. So you mentioned not to extend beyond the point of pain when stretching, so is it important to get to almost pain, or avoid it altogether?
 
BreadTooth said:
This morning I had my 1st appointment of Active Release Techniques to help me heal the tendonitis in my elbows.
from the ART website:
"ART is a patented, state of the art soft tissue system/movement based massage technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves. Headaches, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, shin splints, shoulder pain, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, knee problems, and tennis elbow are just a few of the many conditions that can be resolved quickly and permanently with ART. These conditions all have one important thing in common: they are often a result of overused muscles."

Active Release Techniques: A.R.T.


There will be a series of appointments before I am back on the guitar and keyboards, but already I feel amazing relief from the sharp pains and dull throbbing elbow aches.

Luckily for me, this "local to me" master active release practitioner is the brother of the developer of the active release techniques. Fantastic!
Click to expand...

I'm really excited for you that ART is working so well. I completely believe in it. We do similar stuff at the clinic I work in.

I also do two tablets of curcumin (don't have the dosage handy) and 1000 units of fish oil (boswellia is another good one) which seem to generally reduce the inflammation response; particularly noticeable at night when resting. I have cut back on both and one at a time; and verified that at least they seem to really make all the difference. My hands feel more relaxed sleeping. And I always make sure I take one of the magnesium powders that get put into hot water to dissolve. This is assimilated way better than pill form magnesium. Magnesium is key to helping me with both playing dexterity and recovery. If you take too much it loosens the stool, but I rarely have that problem. I take it twice a day or three times a day, about a slightly heaped teaspoon each time.
 
UPDATE - healing the tendonitis in my elbow

As of today, the tendonitis in my elbow is a non issue. No pain, no soreness.
I am back to practicing guitar, playing 2 hours per day broken out in 30 minute sessions with stretching in between.

After a series of seven (7) Active Release Techniques (A.R.T) sessions, coupled with LED Light therapy and rest, I am back in the saddle!!

No steroids injections!

Here I am with the light therapy.
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And here is the light therapy machine.

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I am so happy to be back playing guitar, and enjoying my AxeFx!!


PS - This thread is really a reminder for us all to be mindful of our fingers & hands, and the entire mind and body.
May we continue to play guitar, make music and have fun doing it!!
 
2 hours of playing guitar per day? I'd say you should tune down on that a little... especially if you already have a history of problems with your muscles and practice every day. Give your fingers time to rest and when playing longer sessions (2+ hours), then at least grant your fingers a whole day off to recover.
Or at least, change the focus of your practice every second day to something that is less demanding on finger strength. Maybe some rhythm guitar for a change or right-hand-technique training?

It's the same as going to the gym: you don't train the same muscles every day.

As soon as your muscles give you signals of pain, stop doing that exercise. Like ... seriously, folks! There is a biological reason why mammals feel pain. It's because your body is trying to tell you something...
 
my practice protocol is now closely monitored and varies each time I pick up my guitar(s) throughout the day.
The 2 hours is throughout the day, not all at once.

In addition, each of my guitars are set up with light gauge strings, with action as low as possible (ALAP).

I use stretching techniques throughout my day as directed by posters earlier in this thread, as well as directed by my health practitioners.

Finally, my style of guitar playing is gentle rhythm and light finger style. I'm not a fret burner or prog master, so a noncconcurrent 2 hour per day practice regimen is totally doable at this point in my healing.
 
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