I get this from my job. I work with my hands heavily and do repetative work so they get pain in them and sometimes it's unbearable. I know I need another job but for now it's all I can get for the money I make.

Ok, I'm done about my job. I have a gig tomorrow night but every time I play my bass up on my E or B string I get that same sharp pain right there by the base of my thumb.

Anyone know of either a stretching technique or an over the counter pill I can take that really takes care of the pain long enough to play for a couple hours? Any advice would be appreciated.

This helps me:

Rest your hand on a table, open, palm up. Then, very, very slowly begin to close your hand into a fist. Once in a fist, clench it until it's as tight as it will go, then very, very slowly open your hand again and then stretch it when it's open, as if you're trying to pus your fingers the other way. Then repeat.

A professional pianist who I have the honour of being friendly with taught me this a very long time ago, and it helps me a lot.

You might also want to try something like Aspercreme (an analgesic ointment), which helps me gig with moderate arthritis in both hands, and a left hand that's sustained more than its fair share of mangled bones and flesh-rending injuries over the years.

Aspercreme is no miracle cure, but it helps when I apply it about an hour before the gig starts, and as needed thereafter.

Good luck!

I get this from my job. I work with my hands heavily and do repetative work so they get pain in them and sometimes it's unbearable. I know I need another job but for now it's all I can get for the money I make.

Ok, I'm done about my job. I have a gig tomorrow night but every time I play my bass up on my E or B string I get that same sharp pain right there by the base of my thumb.

Anyone know of either a stretching technique or an over the counter pill I can take that really takes care of the pain long enough to play for a couple hours? Any advice would be appreciated.


I think Jazzdogg and Jimbob's suggestions are both valid. I'm not sure what you do but for a long term solution have you reevaluated what you do at work or more importantly how? We pay so much attention to proper form while playing bass (or drums!), but a lot of people lose sight of how normal everyday activity can lead to injury if not done with a certain form.

Massage is great. I highly recommend trying Rolfing- structural integration. Just tell them what your specific problem is, and you may get reliefe even in the first visit.

I think Jazzdogg and Jimbob's suggestions are both valid. I'm not sure what you do but for a long term solution have you reevaluated what you do at work or more importantly how? We pay so much attention to proper form while playing bass (or drums!), but a lot of people lose sight of how normal everyday activity can lead to injury if not done with a certain form.

Yeah, I understand your point. We do have certain things we do at work to prevent further injuries such as carpel tunnel and tendonitis. I think the problems I'm having are more from overworking my hands. I do use proper form when I work, especially with my hands. People laugh at me when I use gloves to do certain things that most don't. I just tell them I'm a musician and I have a better life outside of my job and I'd like to preserve it. I work 10-13 hours on my feet every day and I'm very active with my hands so I'm extremely careful to prevent sudden injuries but not fatigue injuries. I really can't stop those unless I quit my job and I can't do that or I won't be able to buy any more new basses. :D

I bought an instructional DVD from piano player Chuck Leavell last year. One of the sections of his DVD was him going through a number of warming up stretches for his hands and explained the virtues of spending at least 10 minutes of doing these stretches before playing.

There will always be time to do these stretches while waiting for your guitar players to tune up...and you can do them anywhere.

Here is a link to some piano warmup exercises which are just as valid for bass players as they are for pianists:

http://teoani.blogspot.com/2007/07/piano-warmup-stretching-exercises.html

We might be able to help more if you tell us what sort of work
strains your day job is providing.
I used to work in a shop and did a ton of sanding with a palm sander and got white finger from holding tools improperly .

I work a lot with my hands too, but I don't have any problems with pain. I'm constantly stretching and flexing my hands to keep them loose. Nothing obvious or extreme, just spreading the fingers, rotating the thumbs. It's more a nervous tic than anything lol.

We might be able to help more if you tell us what sort of work
strains your day job is providing.
I used to work in a shop and did a ton of sanding with a palm sander and got white finger from holding tools improperly .

I work in an automobile manufacturing plant. We don't make automobiles, we make the seats. You wouldn't believe the technology and safety measures that go into something as simple as a seat but there's like 200 parts in one seat. I'm an evaluator. I check the entire seat, function it, pull and push on them, fix them, etc. It's a very fast paced job since I evaluate 420+ seats a day. I believe that my problem lies with the repetative nature of my job. I use certain parts of my hands over and over again, bending and pulling different parts of the seats, making everything perfect for our customer, which happens to be a MAJOR Japanese auto maker. If you know anything about Japanese companies you know that they're VERY demanding in quality as well as keeping prices as low as they can in order to push out more seats. That means more work and more pain on the hands. I hope that helps give you an idea of what I do.

a cream as recommended and ibuprofin as necessary to reduce inflammation of the carpal tunnel..i've suffered severe carpal tunnel in both hands, in my right on two separate occasions..also severe tendinitis in my left elbow which thank god, seems to be going away after 14 months of steady pain and aggravation. i used both of the above after even 2 cortizone shots in my elbow wouldn't do the trick. surgery with a 70% rate was my next option. i was amazed how much the cream helped but only when i applied it daily for months..and also took frequent breaks when playing guitar or working on the computer. sounds like frequent breaks may not be an option for you. have you looked into a splint for your forearm/hand? i have an adjustable one i got over the counter at a drug store for 30 bucks that works terrific..when i feel some strain coming on my wrist/hand/forearm at work, i always have it handy.

Wow that's a tough one , it sounds like your doing something similar to re/upholstering ? , that's not easy by any stretch.

ibuprophen is a good suggestion , it supposedly turns off pain receptors in the brain.

good luck man

I had the same problem a while ago. It progressed to where I had no strength left in my whole wrist. I began massaging the muscle that is in the 'v' between thumb and hand. This will hurt like a muthah, but wince and bear it. It is a very important acupuncture point and massaging it can free up the flow of 'chi' through this area. Also, on the top of the forearm near the elbow, on the inside and far outside of the elbow (between the two bones). Work these areas too. But between the thumb and hand, this should help a lot.

But the thumb on which hand? Left, or right? I don't know if this has anything to do with stretching, because the pain is from after your work and before you start playing the bass. Stretching could worsen your condition if the muscle in your thumb is injured. :\ I suggest you see a doctor before doing anything else on your own...

Anyway, if you would like some stretches/warm-ups, here's something I got from Grooving for Heaven by Norm Stockton (For your fretting hand). Form your hand as you would around the neck of your bass, then lightly tap your fingers in an alternating fashion on your thumb. Tap your finger 1, then 2, then 3, then 4 on your thumb, then backwards and whatever pattern you like. Do that for about 5 minutes, then using your thumb, pull down your first and third fingers towards your wrist, then your second and fourth, and your first and third... and so on. yep. It warms up the muscle at the base of your thumb for your fretting hand.