My wrist hurts...any advice? (not sure if this is the right thread!)

[Fassa Albrecht]

I need some advice. Basically I've been getting wrist pains in my left wrist to the point where it can swell up really badly and I also get sharp stabbing pains in both wrists. I do a little bit of slap bass and usually like to play fairly slowish pieces. I also try to ensure a good hand position.
Could anyone suggest what I could do to minimize further damage to the wrist and also what I could do to help my present problem?

[Cristo]

There are a number of threads around dealing with these sorts of issues.

Good hand position from a classical instruction perspective may not necessarily be good hand position from a pain free perspective.

You should strive to set your bass strap and angle of the neck "hang" such that you keep your wrists as straight as possible.


If your wrists are bent, bad news.

[Plantbrain]

Stretch before and after you play also.

Rotate the stretch all the way around and then reverse the hand and bend it the other way and slowly stretch and rotate all the way around.

This will relax the hand/fingers, wrist etc.

Swollen wrist is bas news though.

Tom

[FoHBass]

Originally Posted by Plantbrain

Stretch before and after you play also.

Rotate the stretch all the way around and then reverse the hand and bend it the other way and slowly stretch and rotate all the way around.

This will relax the hand/fingers, wrist etc.

Swollen wrist is bas news though.

Tom

+100

Also warm up your hands after stretching by playing scales or chromatic exercises lightly and loosely. It's good for helping you relax, which will help ease the pain. Before a rehearsal or a gig, I'll go through your typical 1-2-3-4 patterns starting in 7th position and going down the neck, then work on warming up pairs of fretting fingers (index-middle, middle-ring, ring-pinky).

The suggestion about strap height is a good one, too. It seems to be a sensitive subject with people, but if it's keeping your wrists from being perfectly straight, then that's something that needs to change.

About 5 years ago I developed Carpal Tunnel so bad my doctor referred me to a physical therapist, who ended up also being a bass player. He helped me fix a lot of things I was doing wrong, and the only time I've ever had pain in my wrists again has been when I didn't warm up or stretch.