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Posts: 1156
Joined: Dec. 6 2006
From: Hamilton, ON
Wrist pain?
Lately whenever I've been practicing, after some minutes my wrist will start hurting a bit. I'm not sure if the position I play in is particularly bad (it's just resting on my right knee, arm at a ninety degree angle or so to my body), any idea what could be up?
I don't know about your particular situation but try to position your guitar in a way whereby the left hand stays more or less in a straight prolongation of the left forearm itself. Avoid bending the wrist; avoid bringing it too much into a pronounced angle with the forearm - or at least when and if it is at all avoidable - Much depends upon the location on the neck you're working on but all in all, positions of the fingers, wrist and forearm should remain flexible assuring agility and mobility, keep it loose!
Pain is an absolute no-no; actually any form at all of physical discomfort is a warning which should be heeded very seriously - think lasting injuries like in the sports-world.
Pain comes from stress, or strained activity, fatigue - and by fatigue I mean a phenomenon which can actually have been built up in the past, not necessarily within the last five or ten minutes, and now, all of a sudden surfaces each time you pick up the instrument as if it came out of the blue - it's a signal that tells you to stop and forces you to analyse your situation, here and now, and rest.
But pain can also come from accident or unconscious injury, like moving a refridgerator or knocking your wrist onto a doorknob, or whatever...
A possible conclusion: you might need to simply rest for a while - a few hours, days, weeks.... see a medic, consult with teacher, etc...
You can also dip your hands and wrists in basins with ice-cold and very-very hot water - alternate every so many seconds between the two - it relaxes the hands and is a great stress reliever.
Try some organic ointments to rub onto the painful areas - SRL is particularily good.
I had a bout of tendonitis a while back (you may remember my moaning)
The best thing I did was ditch my chair and get a decent one, or a better than the one I had. The chair was dictating my whole body shape and it wasnt a good one for playing.
since I've had no real trouble the pains cleared up.
Perhaps its not the case with you but a new chair/position may be worth considering.
your body is telling you that you are doing something wrong. and it probably isnt just your playing. maybe you type funny, maybe you lift too much. guitar is where you notice the stuff that happens in everyday life.
stop playing for a little, re-examine your technique in a mirror, and look for things that may be stressors in the rest of your life.
Thanks everyone. I asked my teacher about it on Sunday and apparently my wrist is way too bent when I play, so he helped correct my position - it's a bit uncomfortable for now but I'll get used to it. Apparently he used to have similar problems...
my situation is slightly different, i dont get pain often, but when i do its in my left wrist, and its usually just there in the morning when i wake up, but its not often at all. its happened today which lead me to find this thread
the advice here helped, so thank guys, im going to spend most of today just doing open string pulgar stuff and give it a rest
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