Aching hands in the palm

[Mike151]

I have recently picked the bass back up after 18 years of not playing more than a few days here and there. I have been practicing for around 2 months at 2 to 5 hours a day. Caluses are perfect but both my hands ache really bad. If I press on the thick part of my palm/thumb area the pain is more intense. I was thinking it might be inflamation due to my age (43) so I've been taking advil and ibuprofin but that doesn't help at all. Anyone know what might be the most common issues that I'm explaining along with possible solutions for me? I am NOT going to stop playing again so lets not go there.

Thanks,
Mike

[ErebusBass]

Which hand hurts?

If it's the left, you may be fretting too hard/pushing too hard on the back of the neck with your thumb.

If it's the right, I can't see any real reason unless you play with a pick. Sometimes I get pain on the padded part of my hand by my thumb from gripping a pick too tightly, but I've never had any pain from fingerplucking.

[Mike151]

Both hands hurt equal. I don't use a pick. Maybe it is an issue that is not directly related to playing and I just notice it now that I'm thinking about it. I suppose that could be possible but I would think that I would have noticed this level of hurt on my pads prior to this. If it is inflamation, then soaking in ice water is a thought to see if it goes down.

[jruberto]

Mike, that's a lot of practicing! Nice!

Frequent breaks are imperative. Especially if you are doing drills or exercises. I go five minutes on, five minutes off.

Left hand. Are you playing up on your fingertips or on the flats of your fingers? The "claw" as described in the Rufus Reid book (it is geared toward doublebass but it applies to electric) is a great way to think of it. Playing up on your fingertips, then letting the weight of your arm and your back & shoulder muscles do the "pushing down" of notes takes a lot of strain off your hands. Can you play without your thumb on the back of the neck? That's a good test. Of course, you don't usually play with your thumb off the neck but that's how you can tell if you are building the good relaxed technique. If you are doing a "vice grips" with your thumb & fingers, you are going to experience fatigue and muscle ache.

On the right hand, keep it relaxed as possible. Turn your amp up louder and don't play as hard. That, in addition to allowing you to play cleaner, faster and longer, gives you access to much more dynamic range. Also, try adjusting your strap slightly up or down until your right arm is really really relaxed.

Stretch your hands, arms & shoulders before & after you practice, also during your breaks. Drink lots of water! I never paid much attention to hydration until I moved to Colorado, and I'll tell ya, it makes a huge difference. In a five hour practice session I'll drink a gallon. All those trips to the head will give you a good break too. When I'm practicing intensely like that, I'll usually wind up taking ibuprofen too.

While you are practicing, pay attention to your shoulders. They should be relaxed and you should have the distinct feeling that your arms are hanging from your shoulders.

Cheers & Health, j

[Fetusyolk]

+1 to STRETCHING. it helps incredible amounts. stretch your single fingers, palm, forearm, wrists.

You stretch for running to avoid injury, do the same for your hands. theyll be running around quite a bit anyway

[newbold]

Don't grip with your hands...

...grip with your fingers. The palm of your hand should never have to press your bass' neck.

If your thumb's in the middle of your neck you won't have to worry about your hands tiring out.

[Mike151]

Thanks everybody for the great responses.
I play with the tips of my fingers with my thumb in the center of the neck.
Since I put it down for so long, I was really hitting the exercises really hard. All kinds of really rough half step up and down the neck in every pattern I could manage to think up.
I just tested as suggested and found that I'm practically trying to shove my thumb through the back of the neck. Definately not relaxed. I haven't been drinking much water lately and that makes alot of sense so I'll be increasing that today. My daughter is a student trainer for the high school football team and treats injuries. Most of the time it is inflamation and she thought that may be the case with me so I got a small pan of ice water and soaked my hands on and off last night. That was tough to do but I do feel some relief this morning. I also didn't practice at all yesterday and will give it a rest today also as you have suggested. I figured a multi vitamin couldn't hurt either so I'm going to be taking those too. I have been stretching my hands almost constantly over the past few days but that doesn't seem to be helping at all. Feels like I have a couple UFC gloves on all the time. LOL Looks like the source is the agressive non relaxed exercises.
Thanks everyone again!

[TFunkadelic]

Originally Posted by Fetusyolk

+1 to STRETCHING. it helps incredible amounts. stretch your single fingers, palm, forearm, wrists.

You stretch for running to avoid injury, do the same for your hands. theyll be running around quite a bit anyway

I guess I don't have any definitive information for either side of this, but I'd jump in to any stretching with caution.

Stretching for physical activity like running has not been proven to prevent injury, and in some studies it has been shown to increase injury risk. The reality of the situation seems to be that a lack of long term research and statistics makes it impossible to say that stretching has a positive or negative impact on performance and injury risk, which to me suggests it's a very case by case thing.

Humans and other animals have a built in stretching instinct already, so it should be considered that any intentional stretching may not be beneficial and could in fact be harmful, like many exercises in general (in the long run).

Speaking from experience, I can say there have been times when my hands ached, and stretching made it worse. It just seemed to agitate further what was already festering. The best fix I've found, personally, was to refine my technique, and to let my hands rest when they need to. Your bass/setup might reinforce improper technique as well, so you should check to be sure that everything is set up ideally.

[jruberto]

TFunk, that's pretty insightful. It's true, pay attention to a dog or cat and you will see that 5 minutes doesn't go by that they don't do some kind of stretching. Most humans, however, have largely extinguished that instinct (just like most of the other health & survival instincts we have) in the interest of "not looking dumb". Glad we're so intelligent.

"Do stretching", without more clear instructions is probably pretty bad advice. I think the natural tendency without guidance or instruction is to stretch too hard, push too far and for not long enough. All these things risk injury and don't really give you the benefits of stretching.

The better advice is probably to visit with a physical therapist to develop an appropriate regimen of stretches and exercises. RSI is no joke, and can be a career-ender. Listen to your body. Take care of yourself.

Cheers, j