elbow pain

Mofo-Kang · #1 07-02-2007, 08:06 AM

I've got a case of tennis elbow in my left arm...anyone who's had it knows that it gives you a nasty ache when you supinate your hand (turn it palm up). This makes it difficult to play a bass or guitar, as you can imagine. Anyone ever had to deal with this before? Any advice?

Fezzey · #2 07-02-2007, 08:19 AM

I had tennis elbow in my right arm and it was aggravated when playing bass. I'm right-handed and pluck with my right hand as you would expect and the action of plucking with my index and middle fingers really hurt. I went to a sports medicine doctor and got a cortizone shot in my elbow. The shot hurt a lot more than the tennis elbow, but it did relieve the pain and I have not had a recurrence of tennis elbow since.

Now, I have a muscle/tendon strain in my left thumb (the result of bad left hand technique playing bass!) and I'm considering getting a cortizone shot in that thumb.

Mofo-Kang · #3 07-02-2007, 08:48 AM

Fortunately, I work in a hospital (I'm an x-ray and CT scan technologist), and have access to some doctors I can hit up for treatment advice. I was wondering if anyone's done anything to modify the way they play to accomodate the injury? It almost seems like I'd have to hold the bass upright and rotated to my left, like sitting on my left hip...and that just ain't gonna happen.

JKT · #4 07-02-2007, 09:03 AM

Two suggestions for the elbow pain.

NSAIDS- non-steroidal anti-infalmmatories such as Aleve (Naproxin, Naprasol) can have a good effect after several days of regular use. A doctor will often Rx a higher dose of these drugs than available OTC. My Orthopede Rx'd me 500 mgs per day and now I just buy it OTC and take that dose vs the 250 mg rec on the label.

Suggestion number 2 will require a bit more dough:

www.barkerbass.com

Both of these suggestions have worked for me.

JKT

Cristo · #5 07-02-2007, 09:38 AM

Is it from bass or tennis?

At any rate, in addition to NSAIDS and ice, you could try acupuncture.

oldrocker · #6 07-02-2007, 08:46 PM

It's called tendonitis. I had it last year. Sucks to get old.

Cutting back on practice, Aleeve before playing, Icy/Hot pads while playing and plenty of ice after playing. But it took several months before I was back to normal.

Ice after playing is very important.

The Aleeve and Icy/Hot pads allowed me to play in pain, but it didn't start healing until I started applying ice.

Good Luck

scottbass · #7 07-02-2007, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JKT

NSAIDS- non-steroidal anti-infalmmatories such as Aleve (Naproxin, Naprasol) can have a good effect after several days of regular use. A doctor will often Rx a higher dose of these drugs than available OTC. My Orthopede Rx'd me 500 mgs per day and now I just buy it OTC and take that dose vs the 250 mg rec on the label.
JKT

+1. My doctor has me doing the same thing - 500 mg of naproxen per day. I buy the generic stuff and take two 250 mg tblets every morning. It takes a few days for the effect to build up. It has really reduced my pain level. Also, I use a grip exerciser during my commute. It keeps my hand and lower arm muscles in good tone. I added the sharp, ridged caps so I can also keep my caluses in shape between gigs. Yeah, I know, practicing 3 hours a day would accomplish the same thing, but I don't choose to spend all of my week nights playing bass.

bikeplate · #8 07-02-2007, 09:52 PM

HI

Exactly what oldrocker said. Not really much u can do

Rob

Poop-Loops · #9 07-02-2007, 11:50 PM

NSAIDS help, but also try an elbow brace. Might help.

justabass · #10 07-03-2007, 12:41 AM

I get it from playing racquetball...Get you one of those straps that wraps around your arm right below the joint kinda on your upper forearm. I was amazed at how much better it felt...

http://www.take-care.com/elbo/banditelbow.html (just an example)

Mofo-Kang · #11 07-05-2007, 02:51 AM

thanks for all the replies, guys. I got one of those elbow brace things (not that exact one, but similar). I've also started taking some anti-inflamatories and icing it every evening...if I don't see improvement by next week, I'll make an appointment to see my doctor. This kind of sucks--got a new Geddy Lee Jazz Bass, and I can't play more more than a couple of minutes at a time!

Mofo-Kang · #12 07-07-2007, 11:09 PM

I talked to the ER doctor where I worked, and he didn't seem real enthused about the elbow brace thingy. Basically, he said it might give some extra margin for error in making it worse or re-injuring it (since it adds extra support, it means you can put a little more stress there before you reach the point of making it worse), but it's not going to help the problem heal any more quickly. His advice is anti-inflammatories and ice, ice, ice. I told him I ice it every evening when I'm sitting at home, and he said that's not going to be enough...ice it even at work, when I'm sitting around with no x-rays to do. He also said this sort of tendonitis takes a long time to heal, a few weeks at least.

It feels a little better now than it did a couple of days back when I made the original post...hopefully, that means it's on the way. The brace, the ice, the ibuprofrin, and me going out of my way to take it easy on my left arm...that seems to be the way to go.

Poop-Loops · #13 07-08-2007, 12:52 AM

I see. Did he say how big of a dose of Ibuprofen? I've been taking 400mg whenever I can remember (usually before bed) but haven't been icing it. I should start.

Mofo-Kang · #14 07-08-2007, 03:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poop-Loops

I see. Did he say how big of a dose of Ibuprofen? I've been taking 400mg whenever I can remember (usually before bed) but haven't been icing it. I should start.

He wasn't specific about the dosing, he just asked if I was taking any anti-inflammatories, and I said I was taking ibuprofen, and he said "That's good." I assume he thought I was following the dosage instructions on the bottle, which is pretty much what I'm doing (200-400mg every 4-6 hours).

Poop-Loops · #15 07-08-2007, 03:54 PM

Cool. I'll do the same and start icing it.

Bass Aficionado · #16 07-08-2007, 05:57 PM

I had a problem with my elbow that seemed to get worse the more I used my right index finger. A couple of doctors told me it was tendonitis and did all kinds of things that didn't help. They even talked about surgery.

Jump forward a bit to when I was living in the UK, where physical therapy is tried more extensively before the heroic surgeries we try here in the US. This therapist figured out I actually had a pinched nerve on the left side of my neck that was showing its symptoms in my right elbow.

I a few weeks she had it freed up, showed me some exercises to help stop it from happening again and I've been pretty pain free since.

Mofo-Kang · #17 07-08-2007, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bass Aficionado

I had a problem with my elbow that seemed to get worse the more I used my right index finger. A couple of doctors told me it was tendonitis and did all kinds of things that didn't help. They even talked about surgery.

Jump forward a bit to when I was living in the UK, where physical therapy is tried more extensively before the heroic surgeries we try here in the US. This therapist figured out I actually had a pinched nerve on the left side of my neck that was showing its symptoms in my right elbow.

I a few weeks she had it freed up, showed me some exercises to help stop it from happening again and I've been pretty pain free since.

yeah, this is why they sometimes order x-rays on the neck for pain in the arms. The doctors ought to be examining you more closely, asking more questions, checking the range of motion in your arm and what specifically hurts before deciding what it is, though. But working in a hospital will quickly teach you that what they OUGHT to be doing and what they ARE doing is often two different things!