bad arm pains

[Corwin29]

I have no idea what the matter is but all of sudden, starting today i have really bad left arm pains around my elbow area when ever i move my pinky and my ring finger. Can someone please help to try and correct this?

[Fergie Fulton]

Originally Posted by Corwin29

I have no idea what the matter is but all of sudden, starting today i have really bad left arm pains around my elbow area when ever i move my pinky and my ring finger. Can someone please help to try and correct this?

You show symptoms of a cubital tunnel problem. This is a problem with your Ulnar nerve which serves the little finger and ring finger.
The fact you say that you have problems in these areas means you need to see a doctor and get it checked out.....this could be serious and no one here, myself included, can give you any other advice other than seek medical attention. Did i mention that this could be serious and seek medical attention.....if i didn't then please seek medical attention.

[OPBASSMAN1994]

I've been feeling numbness in my plucking arm after a long set if I stretch it out really far or fast. It feels that way, too, when I start strumming really fast with my hand (all fingers out and back into a fist: geddy-ish strumming: I don't use a pick. I can't do it to save my life, and I don't really care for taking a guitarists route while playing, just in my opinion.) at the end of a song. Is this carpal Tunnel? I hope not. We've got a gig coming in less than a week....

=(

[bassplayerbob]

100% on getting to a doctor. Another thing to look into is a pinched nerve. I had that quite a few yrs ago. I was playing one night and my right hand cramped up into a ball! That sucked. My doctor sent be to a chiropractor and found out my spine wasw pinching a nerve that controlled my hand.

[markkoelsch]

Go to a Doctor, preferably a hand specialist. Do not play until you see the Doctor and they give you the ok. If they tell you to stop playing for a while listen to them. Seriously, if you do not diagnose and treat a condition like this correctly you could end up not being able to play at all...ever.

Good luck.

[markkoelsch]

Originally Posted by OPBASSMAN1994

I've been feeling numbness in my plucking arm after a long set if I stretch it out really far or fast. It feels that way, too, when I start strumming really fast with my hand (all fingers out and back into a fist: geddy-ish strumming: I don't use a pick. I can't do it to save my life, and I don't really care for taking a guitarists route while playing, just in my opinion.) at the end of a song. Is this carpal Tunnel? I hope not. We've got a gig coming in less than a week....

=(

You too need to go to the Doctor. Feeling numbness at any time is a bad sign.

[OPBASSMAN1994]

Well crap....

[OPBASSMAN1994]

It hasn't been happening the past few days, so should I still see a doctor?

[markkoelsch]

Originally Posted by OPBASSMAN1994

It hasn't been happening the past few days, so should I still see a doctor?

As a matter of drill I think it wise. You could give it a few days, and try again but if it happens again you need to get to the doc.

I would also ask you to take a close look at your technique. A straight wrist is your friend. Also, I would try to not rest my right forearm heavily on the bass as you could be pinching an artery (causing reduced circulation and numbness), or you could be puting direct pressure on a nerve.

[baileyboy]

ice and trigger point therapy.

[jedgargroover]

I had the same thing happen to me recently. I learned some stretches and started going back to yoga, which helped me rebuild strenght and flexibility. The biggest thing is that after 20 years I had to switch to playing with a pick. I had always played with my right wrist resting on the body and my wrist very bent. No teacher ever corrected this, which kind of pisses me off now. So I'll play with a pick until I re-learn my right hand technique for pizz. Not much I can do other than that. Oh, and I also got some of those rehab exercise rubber band/tube things (TheraBands I think.) That's helped.

One thing to note: I work on a computer a lot. If you spend a lot of time on a computer you need to be very careful about your hand position there too. Computer work and then playing a lot of bass with bent wrists is a recipe for tendonitis/carpal tunnel. I'm getting better now but it's been a real bitch.