Hands Going numb.

[baddarryl]

Mostly my right hand. At night it will wake me up and my ring and pinky fingers are numb with pain all the way into my underside of the forearm. I have been a landscaper, carpenter, computer nerd for 20 years so I certainly have seemed to have done some kind of damage. I just started playing again a few months ago and only then started playing finger style. It seems that playing aggravates it too. I am playing 2 finger, trying to play loosely, but am still not that good so I know I play tightly when trying to play fast. Anything I can do? This is not good. Hurts so bad it will actually wake me up. We practiced hard last night on some faster metal stuff and aggravated it. I am playing again now and can feel my ring finger tingling as I sit here. Will a 3 finger approach help? Time to see the Dr.? Help!

[TFunkadelic]

If possible, go to the doctor. I recently dealt with similar symptoms, but in my left hand. From what my doctor, intsructors, and my own research told me, you have classic symptoms of carpal tunnel.

[vegas532]

A massage therapist showed me something to help me. If you cross your left arm over your right and give your right arm a "deep tissue massage" by applying downward pressure and stroking downward toward your wrist. It helps to not only loosen but also lengthen your tendons in your forearm. I started seeing a massage therapist after being diagnosed with severe carpal tunnel in my left hand.

If you have Carpal, whatever you do, DO NOT get Carpal Tunnel surgery if you ever wanna play again.

[baddarryl]

Do you guys think a Gripmaster exerciser would help this? I have been thinking of getting one anyway and I did read that strengthening the hand will help. If so, as a bassist what psi would you go with? Thanks.

[Mikio]

Tendonitis, I guess.

[baddarryl]

Also would lowering the playing position of my bass help so my wrist doesn't have to bend so much to play?

[TFunkadelic]

Originally Posted by baddarryl

Do you guys think a Gripmaster exerciser would help this? I have been thinking of getting one anyway and I did read that strengthening the hand will help. If so, as a bassist what psi would you go with? Thanks.

A grip master will worsen the problem. Carpal tunnel is an inflammation of the nerves and soft tissues in the wrist basically. The numbness and tingling you're feeling is the swelling compressing these nerves and causing them to activate. Carpal tunnel is often caused by repetitive stress activities which have these tissues rubbing against each other over and over again, causing irritation. Exercising your hands with a repetitive motion machine like the grip master is the worst thing you could do.

For the time being, you should rest and perhaps take anti-inflammatory drugs to allow the swelling to subside (this can take weeks or months depending on the damage). You should also examine your posture while playing. Are your wrists bent sharply? Do you play with a lot of tension in your hands, arms, or back?

Originally Posted by baddarryl

Also would lowering the playing position of my bass help so my wrist doesn't have to bend so much to play?

Lowering the bass will force you to bend your fretting hand wrist more, which will only lead to problems with your other hand. Rotating your right elbow forward will allow you to keep your right wrist straight while playing.

[Stumbo]

After you rest awhile, how about playing with a pick?
Also, position your bass so your arm/wrist is straight and move your whole arm to pick.
I think this is the Carol Kaye method. Oh yeah, here it is: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f21/why-i-keep-hammering-carol-kaye-pick-method-452467-post6169317/

It seems your problem is in your hand position. It sounds like your wrist is bent so your hand is hanging over the bass strings. Thus, your question about lowering the bass. I think learning to play from a different position (your hand not hanging over your strings, thus, stretching your tendons when you play) your problem will go away, IMO>

[Thundar]

I never had the opportunity to try the massage...but I did have horrible carpal tunnel for years until it got to the point of being unbearable...both hands, but mostly my left...playing bass aggravated it the most, but writing and typing, and driving killed me too. However, I DID have the surgery....and now I am pain free in both hands/wrists, and its wonderful...I didnt think I would ever be able to play again...I was back to playing bass regularly only a few months after the surgery...and now I am completely pain free....I know not everyone's surgery is successfull, but mine was (and my surgeon came VERY well recommended from others with CTS).... so don't write off the option of surgery

Originally Posted by vegas532

A massage therapist showed me something to help me. If you cross your left arm over your right and give your right arm a "deep tissue massage" by applying downward pressure and stroking downward toward your wrist. It helps to not only loosen but also lengthen your tendons in your forearm. I started seeing a massage therapist after being diagnosed with severe carpal tunnel in my left hand.

If you have Carpal, whatever you do, DO NOT get Carpal Tunnel surgery if you ever wanna play again.

[baddarryl]

Yes I do play the bass almost as high as when I am in the seated position, so now that I think about it I do actually rest my wrist on the bass and bend over it to play. I thought it was very comfortable actually. I will try that elbow out thing, and see the Dr. to try an inflammatory. I found some stretching exercises on WebMd last night that seemed to help it this am. Now if I could just quit using nail guns, shovel, weed eaters and this damn puter I would be alright!

[spade2you]

Remove the bend in your wrist. Check out some of the stuff by Gary Willis regarding right hand technique.

[Vakmere]

Originally Posted by TFunkadelic

If possible, go to the doctor. I recently dealt with similar symptoms, but in my left hand. From what my doctor, intsructors, and my own research told me, you have classic symptoms of carpal tunnel.

Yep, I agree. Doctor will prescribe an anti-inflamatory for you as well as some therapy. Being in the trades you have a condition that most of us have or will have eventually.

[daffy]

Disclaimer: ***I'm not a medical expert***

From what you describe, I have this exact same problem and you need to get it seen to straight away.

It's not carpal tunnel, it's ulnar nerve compression. The carpal nerve often gets compressed at the wrist joint, and results in numbness/pain/etc. of the whole hand EXCEPT the pinky and one side of the ring finger.

The ulnar nerve is commonly known as the 'funny bone' and is most commonly compressed at the elbow. It results in numbness/pain/etc. of the pinky and the side of the ring finger closest to the pinky.

While this compression can also happen at the wrist and the shoulder/neck, it is most common at the elbow and your symptoms seem to support this. If it's not fixed you will start to notice clumsiness in your ring and pinky and eventually, in really bad cases, the muscles on the back of the hand will atrophy and your ring and pinky will curl in towards your palm and not be able to be used.

Most of the time the problem can be fixed by changing your posture, but sometimes they will do a surgical procedure to move the ulnar nerve to the inside of your elbow.

In my case, I noticed tingling/pain in my left ring finger first then the pinky. Then it got a lot more specific, and I became numb on one side of the ring finger and the whole pinky, extending down my palm on that side, almost as if there was a line down the middle of my ring finger to my wrist. I also started to notice that even though I was doing exercises to improve finger dexterity and speed on the bass, I seemed to be getting worse instead of better.

I went to my doctor and he referred me to a neurologist, who did a series of nerve tests. They basically put electrodes on your arm and then give you mild electric shocks at different places. They then measure your response and compare your arms to a normal response. Sometimes they will insert a needle electrode deeper into your muscle to get readings (this is uncomfortable but not agonising). The weirdest thing is watching your arms jump all over the place as they zap you with a mini cattle prod!!

In my case, I had no sensory responses coming back from my left hand above the elbow, and I had diminished motor responses getting to my hand from above the elbow. They showed me the graph of the nerve responses - I could quite clearly see the tops of the waves were being chopped off and the wave was actually delayed compared to my right arm, which pretty graphically explained my fretting hand clumsiness.

After that, the neurologist watched how I worked at a computer (I'm an IT nerd in my other life), and found I spent most of my day with my left arm bent tight and often I would support my head with my left arm and almost grind the elbow into the desktop!! That stopped straight away!! He also found that I slept with my arms bent and my hands almost under my chin - I blamed this defensive posture on my wife thrashing round beside me, beating me up

I ended up needing to wear a soft splint (actually it was one of those neoprene sports braces for your knee) on my elbow to keep it straight as I slept.

Good news is that it took about a year but I am almost good as new. I still have a little 'tenderness' on the tip of my ring finger, and sometimes I will wake feeling numb but then I put the splint back on for a couple of weeks to retrain my arm to stay straight.

Better news is that he told me that the bass practice was actually helping me and to keep it up - the playing was keeping the muscles on the back of my hand in condition.

Best news was that when the nerves started to repair, the clumsiness went away and all that practice I had been doing showed itself

So get it seen to man!!!!

[JayM]

***I am also not a medical expert, just a victim.***

Daffy is correct. The pinky and ring fingers are ennervated by the ulnar nerve. Numbness there is associated with cubital tunnel syndrome, also called ulnar nerve entrapment. This nerve also ennervates many of the muscles of the forearm and hand, so even though the most obvious sensory effects are in the two fingers, the problem can be bigger than just a couple of numb fingers.

Carpal tunnel affects the other fingers, not generally the pinky and ring finger.

Waking up with your pinky and ring fingers numb is a classic symptom of ulnar nerve entrapment. The ulnar nerve can be compressed in the wrist, elbow, or where it leaves your torso, but the elbow is by far the most common place. Do you sleep with your elbows tightly bent up to your face? This is probably the most common factor in waking up with numbness or pain. Often the treatment is nighttime splinting, as Daffy has said. This works fine for many people.

I woke up one morning in the spring of 2006 with my pinky and ring finger of my right hand numb. This had happened before, but this time it didn't go away. I called the doctor, who diagnosed ulnar nerve entrapment and referred me to a neurologist. He ran the tests Daffy described above, which determined that my entrapment was at the elbow. We tried splinting and anti-inflammatory meds for a few months, but my symptoms got worse - my dexterity was down and grip strength was way down. In order to prevent permanent damage, I had the nerve moved.

In September of 2006, a hand surgeon moved the nerve from the elbow "funny bone" notch to the inside of my elbow. This was an out patient procedure and took several hours. The numbness went away pretty much immediately. I had a large cast for a week, then a bandage for another week while the incision healed.

Only the tip of my pinky is still numb, and I have an 8" scar on my elbow. My strength has improved, but it's likely that will never be back to what it was (I had a very strong grip from years of weight lifting, so I'm still way stronger than most people, but weaker than I'd like to be). My dexterity is pretty normal, as far as I can tell.

Call the doctor. This can lead to permanent problems.

Good luck.