Fretting hand wrist discomfort

[hrodbert696]

Hey y'all,

I've been looking through the stickies and ChrisK's site but thought I'd throw the individual situation out for any feedback. I've been playing for a year and change, self-taught and working hard to catch up (I'm already 40), practicing about an hour a day on average. About a week ago I started noticing a low-level pain in my left wrist, only about a 1 or 2 on the 10-point pain scale but enough to worry me that it might get worse. Right hand is fine so I assume it's something to do with my fretting technique.

I took a couple of days off and it's still there. There isn't any of the tingling or numbness I would expect from a nerve thing so I'm wondering if it's some kind of strained tendon. Practicing again this morning, I noticed it's distinctly worse when fretting a note with my ring finger, so I'm wondering if I just pulled something there.

I went and lowered the action on my basses to see if I could work towards a lighter playing style, which I think may be helping. I'm also hoping we can scrape some money out of the family budget to go workshop with a teacher for a couple months at least and have someone really look at my technique.

I'm also wondering if I should keep playing and expect it to fade with practice and changes in technique and the string action, or lay off the bass altogether until it goes away. What about some kind of wrist brace?

I don't really rely on the internet for medical advice but I was just wondering if others have dealt with similar pains and what their experience was. Any fixes you'd suggest trying? Is this worth taking to a doctor or is it just a matter of resting it and playing more carefully? Thanks, guys.

[Oopsdabassist]

How low/high do you wear your bass? Too low can result in your wrist being cocked at a tight angle which could cause tendon problems IMO

[hrodbert696]

Originally Posted by Oopsdabassist

How low/high do you wear your bass? Too low can result in your wrist being cocked at a tight angle which could cause tendon problems IMO

Pretty standard - neck joint about the belt buckle and the neck angled 30 degrees. One of my old straps allowed a lot of neck dive so I've bought a new one. I'll see what happens if I strap the bass a couple inches higher -- thanks, I'd forgotten to try that.

[fearceol]

First of all, I would not play through any pain or discomfort, as this will probably make things worse. As Oopsdabassist says, the height at which you wear your bass can effect the wrist angle. Basically, both wrists should be as straight as possible. Gentle warm up stretches before you start playing should always be done. There are lots of clips for this on You Tube.

So my advice is to give your hand a chance to recover. In the meantime check out some L/H technique. Here is a great link from a fellow TB'er. If the pain persists then see a doctor.

L/H technique : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRkSs...eature=channel

[Already In Use]

I had developed pain at my wrist near the base of the thumb a few months ago. A change in playing position cured that prettty quick. I had been practising sitting down pretty often. Quit doing that and the discomfort/pain went away.

[fearceol]

Originally Posted by Already In Use

I had been practising sitting down pretty often.

Yes, this can also cause problems. If you strap on your bass so it is at the same height and position as when standing, that should help. A hard chair ( as opposed to sitting on a soft bed for example) with good back support helps too.

[Skitch it!]

Anything to do with your fretting wrist angle, are you keeping your fingers horizontaltish on the board. My angle is, say playing a D major scale starting 5th fret of the A string with the middle finger, the thumb (positioned slightly below the centre-line at the back of the neck) is pointing pretty much in-line with, or ever so slightly left of, the dot marker. If I swap to a D minor scale and start on the index, the thumb is pointing toward the dot marker maybe a slight bit more left sometimes. Not an absolute, but I mention this because of a students hand-fretting angle yesterday that was increasing the tension in the wrist, due to an exaggerated left hand angle. My 2 cents.

Lighten up on your fretting finger pressure too if you can, it doesn't need much to fret properly, avoid the 'death grip'. I'd give it a rest until it feels O.K, don't play through it, it won't help your tendons. Take it easy ; )

[hrodbert696]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. After putting up the initial post this morning, I had a band rehearsal that ran three hours (you can imagine why I was concerned). I strapped the bass about two or three inches higher than I had been and concentrated on playing with a lighter grip. The discomfort seems to have eased up, not instantly evaporated but better. Still want to have a teacher inspect my technique in person.

Now the dilemma may be my right arm -- I had been wearing it lower because I found the right arm more comfortable that way playing a Yamaha BB. But I'll figure it out.

[scott0606]

There was an extremely useful video lesson on PlayBassNow.com that helped me a tonne with an issue similar to this. I cant find the vid right now as I'm at work, but essentially it trains you to have more of a natural relaxed wrist when you play (think of having your thumb point to the left, parallel to the neck).

Ill try and dig up the video later tonight

[fearceol]

Originally Posted by scott0606

(think of having your thumb point to the left, parallel to the neck).

I agree, and I have seen this mentioned a lot over recent times. The "old" advice was to keep the thumb between the index and middle finger. This seems to cause a constriction of the carpel tunnel. I find it much more comfortable to have the thumb pointing towards the head stock, but not quite parallel to the neck, especially on the lower frets.

[Lambic]

Went through something similar: took up bass playing a year ago, in my mid-forties, and hurt my wrists and thumbs (beginning tendinitis on both of them!) by trying to go too fast, and by trying to cover four frets with four fingers in the lower positions. Someone on TB posted this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUyMNyrOHJQ

and those stretching exercises turned out to be handsaving! I also started to play using wrist support bands (for the heavier technical exercises in Des Pres' "Bass Fitness"), holding the instrument at ca. 45 degrees (when playing seated it rests on my left knee, more or less like a classical guitar), always using a comfort strap, keeping an eye on whatever stresslike feelings I get in either hand while playing, not extending my playing beyond fifteen minutes, then twenty, then thirty... after a couple of months the pain was gone, and now I seldom use the wrist supports.

I still do the stretching exercises mentioned above after each session, and I think they're priceless!

[Elouisme]

Hey guys, I'm fairly new to this site. Actually I'm new to the bass period I've been playin for about 6 months. I must say I am learning pretty quickly though. I have really good dexterity and a keen ear. Anyways, I have this problem with my left pinky where every morning when I wake up it locks up. As I move the pinky knuckle back and forth, it sort of pops in and out. I've never been double jointed so i figured maybe this is just my hands adapting to rigorous fingering. I practice everyday for a few hours. Theirs no real pain or anything, it doesn't hinder progress neither. I'm just curious, I wanna know if this is common. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[hrodbert696]

Originally Posted by Elouisme

Hey guys, I'm fairly new to this site. Actually I'm new to the bass period I've been playin for about 6 months. I must say I am learning pretty quickly though. I have really good dexterity and a keen ear. Anyways, I have this problem with my left pinky where every morning when I wake up it locks up. As I move the pinky knuckle back and forth, it sort of pops in and out. I've never been double jointed so i figured maybe this is just my hands adapting to rigorous fingering. I practice everyday for a few hours. Theirs no real pain or anything, it doesn't hinder progress neither. I'm just curious, I wanna know if this is common. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Welcome Elouisme! I don't know for sure about the pinky issue. You might check ChrisK's website, he's been collecting a lot of information on medical issues - http://chriskeuken.nl/. Based on my experience, I'd be cautious about practicing too heavily as a beginner, until you're confident your technique is sound. I used to go a couple of hours at a time until this wrist thing cropped up, now that it's easing I'm keeping it to half an hour at a time and I think I'll work up to maybe one hour a day. See what happens from there.

[Already In Use]

I'd like to add an update regarding my own thumb issue. I had totally quit playing seated. Over the weeks my thumb issue(pain, limited range of motion) is nearly gone. Doing it all standing. Fretting hand is working well, feeling loose and moving well. I do exercises daily for the fretting hand. Thanks...carry on!

[anonymous122511]

Have you searched over on the DB side of TB? There have been some good posts there over the years. Don Higdon, an Alexander Technique teacher is someone to listen to over there.