My aching back!

[Mean Gene17]

I've been dealing with pain in my back on the right side, just below the bottom of the shoulder blade.
Waaaahhhh, I've been whining about it a lot lately. Some of it is tension related: J.H.S. Band Director, a bigger waistline, working out of town with Elvis, practicing in front of my computer, hunched over listening to mp3 files of stuff I already have charts for, but are always wrong. This past weekend was the worst pain, dealing with 3 Elvii in an Elvis Elvis Elvis show and being the minister of information.

So during the second night, second set, my Schaller strap lock becomes undone from the thick, padded 3" leather strap. It's happened before, so maybe I am tense about my bass falling off as I do most of my stage antics I was doing in in my twenties.

So I'm going to experiment with a new strap and strap length. Any other suggestions or comments in the way of posture, hand position, technique? My back does feel better after my acupuncture treatment this morning. Drugs are not an option for me since I have bad reactions to most painkillers.

[kesslari]

Gene.
It sounds like it could be nerve pain from a bad disc.
I have some bad discs in my neck.
When they are acting up (especially the one between C6 and C7, IIRC) the pain that I feel is at the base of my right shoulder blade.
Get checked out by an MD (not a chiropractor for this), and if possible, get an MRI.

[jschwalls]

Go see your doctor...

Years ago i had severe arm, wrist and hand pains.. to the point my fingers would "lock up" and not be useable for hours...

I visited my doctor and he asked for me to come in and play the bass, so he could see where the problems were, based on medical knowledge, not what may be acceptable in the Bass World.
He showed me that some of the techniques that i learned from Books and watching my idols, was totally wrong for me. So he suggested a total re-positioning of everything i did; strap length, arms, wrist angle, curve of finger joints.. you name it..

SO what i learned was that just because some positions work for our HEROES and other, does not mean they will work for others.... I'm 36 now, and am real happy i made the call to my doctor, rather than trying to "fix" it myself.

One thing i also found was that if i am going to practice/chart songs for a long time... i will sit on a stool, with my legs extended in front of me... which kinda causes me to lean back slightly. I found that this keeps me from humping my back as i would normally do sitting in a comfortable chair.

[SmittyG]

I had something similar a few years back. Like you, my doc asked to see me play for a bit. After a couple of minutes, he was able to clean up all kinds of problems -- and he knows nothing of playing bass. The main thing, for me anyway, was that I needed to raise my strap by about 3 inches and increase its width to spread the load better. Plus he gave me some great stretches and hand warmups that have served me very well over the years.

[Mean Gene17]

Thanks everyone. I went to my chiropractor yesterday and I feel better. The area is still sore, but no where near the same amount of pain. My back was really crooked and my trapezius muscles were tense and very high, the left one even higher than the right.

Luckily my teaching job provides good health care coverage for things like acupuncture and chiropractor visits. Unfortunately, Las Vegas does not have great MD's. If it gets worse I'll bring the bass in to the chiro guy and have him look at me. But I'll take note of your suggestions everyone. Believe me, JS, if I played the bass higher, my pasty white belly would blind everyone in the room. The stool is a must though. A high one though, not like a drum stool, huh?

[ERIC31]

What kind of bass do you play? Is it heavy? (Music Man 5er for instance) Maybe switching to a lighter one might help as well.

[BuffaloBass]

Bar stool height.