TENDINITIS - just got back from the doctor

[heavyfunkmachin]

hi. im back from visiting the doctor. i have tendinitis

during the last few weeks i started to notice a "funny" feeling in my fretting hand, then it becomed a not-so-funny feeling while playing... then i started feeling it even when not playing... lately i started to feel the wrist "weak" and kind of "aching"... so i decided to see a doctor.

luckly enough, the guy was a cuban percusionist that knew what we were talking about, and as soon as i described the simpthoms, he asked me if i played bass... . so he told me to get 2 weeks of rest, cold, anti-imflamatories... and hope for the best.

anyway, i LOVE playing bass... and i decided to get trought this sh!t... healthy.
lately ive been practicing a lot of chords with harmonics and XXXX, and maybe i didnt warmed up as much as i needed or strech after playing.... anyway... im decided to take care of this.... so i have afew ideas:

+ although i believe i have a good left hand technique and a proper bass heigth... im gonna play in front of a mirror to be sure i do everything properly...

+ ALLWAYS warm up before and stretch properly after playing.

+ get a copy of "The Bassist's Guide to Injury Management" ASAP

+ check out a few short scales... i dont wanna give up on the 34" inches... but maybe i can get away with some stuff on a short scale bass... i´ve been told it helps...
(besides.. ive been GASSING for this beauty for a long time... now i have an excuse!!! )

+ make a new design for building my very own jazz bass body... im seeing a nice natural body with a looong upper horn that allows me to play more cello-style (im gonna try on my cheapo-plywood-fretless)

+ ASK YOU GUYS HOW DO YOU THINK I CAN GET OVER TENDINITIS!!!!

Is there anything im forgetting?
any wise words to help me keep ??
im a desperate man decided to overcome this situation... everything is welcomed

[CapnSev]

You've got two options with tendonitis.

A - Ice the wrist a lot, take ibuprofen regularly every day.

B - Go hit up the doctor and get a cortizone shot in your wrist.

[HaVIC5]

Practicing in front of the mirror is absolutely essential to keeping a straight wrist and good posture.

One thing that I've started doing that has helped A LOT is soaking my hands and wrist in a big bowl of warm water before playing. This gets the blood flowing and has really helped with prevention. Ibuprofen is also a good one.

[bugbass]

+1 to all above.
Try also to vary how high you hang the bass, concider a bass with smaller spacing and do everyday exercises.
And do you use that arm on other static work? Computerwork maybe?
I have had tendonitis for several years now, and it seems hat I never will be completely well. It comes and goes. But I found help in lowering the action on my bass and playing softer, and stripping the bass a bit lower. Yes it was a pain in the a.. changing theese things after 20 years of playing, but absolutely nessecery.
I also got my self a light-weight rig, witch also helped ,me alot.

I hope you will get better soon

[kerryg]

We have a habit in North America of thinking everything can be handled with a drug or a pill.

This view is *cough* enthusiastically endorsed by the pharmaceutical industry - which according to its own trade industry association, PhRMA, spends nearly twice as much on marketing and lobbying as it does on R&D (hey, I'm just sayin' - it's just a fact). I'm not going to advocate against drugs - there are lots of cases where they do good and some cases where they're miraculous. But I just think it's critical to bear in mind, whenever you're being prescribed *any* drug for *any* reason, that they are manufactured by an industry that spends twice as much money promoting their use as it does investigating their effects.

Cortisone, in my non-medical (but not entirely uninformed) professional opinion, is to be treated with a very healthy respect as the very serious steroid hormone it is (despite the rapidity with which it's often prescribed), and not messed with unless essential.

Bear this in mind - your wrist is inflamed for a *reason*. Your body's telling you something, and if you ignore it and stifle its messages it will *mess you up* as much as it thinks it needs to in order to get your attention - and eventually as much as it needs to in order to force you to *totally cease* the activity that's bugging it. Anti-inflammatories and cold are masking the symptoms, not the reason (and for this reason you must avoid painkillers). Don't think of the discomfort as a negative - think of it like the oil light on your dashboard, you stick masking tape over that thing at your peril.

The other courses of action that you are pursuing are far more likely to address the underlying *reason*. Switching basses, focusing on clean and comfortable technique and total relaxation while playing - all great ideas. Strain less, relax more - and then relax even more. And when you're finally there at total relaxation, then relax even more. Ask yourself "what's the absolute minimum force I can exert?".

My advice for tendonitis-avoidance to my keener young students has always included "never practice when you don't feel like it" or "when you can tell you're not feeling it" or "when you can't muster full attention". If you can't muster total focus, stop and do something else lest you inadvertently damage yourself through inattention. If you're still *driven*, if the demons are nipping at your heels, you can still advance your musicianship by listening to music, transcribing, singing melodies and ideas into a tape recorder for later transcription (amazing how much more musical the ideas we sing sometimes are, freed from the constraints of the "meat" channelling our expression) or listening back to things you've recorded and transcribing your own performance and writing a piece based on motifs that are your own obsessions (thanks to Dave Liebman for that great piece of advice on developing one's unique artistic voice and vision).

You may actually benefit more - musically - from laying off your axe for a few weeks - it's surprising how high the eventual waterfall gets when you build the dam higher. Don't worry, once your chops have reached a certain place the "rust" you might fear slips off in a short bout of practice when you resume.

I was troubled by what was very tempting to call "tendonitis" in 1986 during a period when I was averaging nine gigs a week for six straight months (it was EXPO in Vancouver). My doctor had a medical student sit with me for about twenty minutes "palpating" my wrist (basically squeezing it) in every conceivable place, until they had precisely mapped the locations of the sensations. Good thing they did; it turned out not to be tendonitis at all but tenosynovitis - an inflammation of the synovial membrane surrounding one of the small bones, one that I had apparently broken a couple of years before during a martial arts workout but dismissed as a sprain. So be absolutely sure of what you're dealing with first.

Keep in mind that what works for you may be different to what works for others; the key for me turned out to be acupuncture, as incredible as that was for me to believe. I had twelve sessions that year, and 22 years later in 2008 I've never had so much as a twinge again. Amusingly I've never had acupuncture again for anything else. One other thing I did was get rid of the Yamaha BX-1 bass I was playing (blithely thinking "lighter was better"), which because of its small body allowed me to cock my wrist at just a slightly more unusual and apparently harmful angle.

This incidentally is not *medical advice* except on the level of "keep an open mind, get very careful analysis of your condition before you jump into a course of treatment, and never ever be in a hurry to *fix it with a pill*".

[Valerus]

I've had fretting wrist problems.

I went to the doctor and now whenever it hurts, I take 4 aleve.

[HaVIC5]

Keep in mind that what works for you may be different to what works for others; the key for me turned out to be acupuncture, as incredible as that was for me to believe. I had twelve sessions that year, and 22 years later in 2008 I've never had so much as a twinge again. Amusingly I've never had acupuncture again for anything else. One other thing I did was get rid of the Yamaha BX-1 bass I was playing (blithely thinking "lighter was better"), which because of its small body allowed me to cock my wrist at just a slightly more unusual and apparently harmful angle.

Yeah, acupuncture and other "holistic" remedies are supposed to be really good. Alexander technique, which is a lot different than acupuncture, I know, is what my bass teacher uses, and he swears by it. I'm getting a first lesson in a couple weeks, and I'm excited to started.

[heavyfunkmachin]

first of all. thanks for taking the time to read and reply, really.

I am not too drug-friendly, in fact i´ve been a martial arts/taichi guy... so that kept me close to holistics aproches... first im going to try to avoid the problem... but if i evet get it, i´ll try many many things before injections and painkillers...

I´m adding 2 extra considerations to my get-well list:

+ KEEP AND EYE ON MY LEFT HAND EVEN WHEN NOT PLAYING BASS (AKA: avoid the stupid laptop keyboard, dont sleep over it...)

+ PLAY WITH A LIGHTER TOUCH, i was "proud" to be a heavy digger... but i have to change my technique, im gonna loose in dynamics... but i´ll win something else...

By the way, im thinking in something shaped like this... for my jazz bass body... still considering woods... (btw is walnut TOO heavy??) but its kind of ugly ... what basses have good ergonomics... considering i would like to stay bassed in the jazz bass body... what could i look at to inspire my new deign?
my main issue is BALANCE

please, let me know what you think... about EVERYTHING ITS BEEN SAID

[heavyfunkmachin]

im world worst microsoft paint painter:

[improvpwnd]

Originally Posted by CapnSev

take ibuprofen regularly every day.

No way this is healthy or a good idea!

[heavyfunkmachin]

my family inst helping at all...
they´ve allways seen my bass playing as something silly that i would eventually quit... an allthough its been several years and they´ve seen me struggle and improve... they still dont take it seriusly...

to them tendinitis is "a good time to quit" ("better late than never")


man, im sick of this sh¡t... i know for sure if i played cello they would not be giving me this kind of crap. they dont even care i can play the bach´s cello suites on fretless!

[PilbaraBass]

I had a problem with my left wrist...I couldn't put an pressure on it in a backward direction...for a while, I couldnt even CLAP

I bought a decent wrist strap (the flexible kind that's made out of the same material as a wet suit and attaches with velcro)...

I babied it...it SLOWLY got better...now after about 15 months it's 98% good

wrists take time...keep after it...

[evertalbers]

Heavyfunkinmachine,
Could computer use be a factor too, or is it just playing bass?

[Steve Clark]

kerryg, thanks for your post.

[CrashClint]

Originally Posted by evertalbers

Heavyfunkinmachine,
Could computer use be a factor too, or is it just playing bass?

Computer use can also cause a problem. On my day job I am behind a computer all day then in the evenings I am on my bass. Doing this I noticed soreness and discomfort more readily. I play a 6 string bass which does have a wider neck that puts your wrist in more of a bent position.

I went to my Doctor and he pulled out a keyboard and asked me to type on it like I do at work. After watching me for a minute he recommended I get a ergonomical keyboard, so I picked up one of the Microsoft ones with the split keyboard. It made all the difference in the world.

I hardly ever experience any discomfort in my wrist and if I do at all, I will play my 4 string jazz bass instead of my 6 string.

As a musician it is very important to be proactive in taking care of yourself. I know it has been said over and over, but take the time to stretch and warmup. Another TBer wrote that he squeezes his hand into a fist as tight as he can then releases and stretches his fingers out as far as he can. I have added this technique to my warmup and it works pretty good for me.

[HaVIC5]

Originally Posted by improvpwnd

No way this is healthy or a good idea!

Well, if you take the ibuprofen in moderation every day, it actually is a good idea. Ibuprofen not only relieves some of the pain, but it acts as an anti-inflamatory, and that's what tendonitis is - inflamation of the tendons. It does what icing the tendon does, but a lot better and for a lot longer. Granted, it is a drug, so you should take that into consideration, but it does do a significant amount of help in the short run.

Note, it has to be ibuprofen or other anti-inflamatory. DON'T take just straight painkiller like tylenol or aleve. That just treats the pain, it doesn't do anything to help the actual cause.

[D.A.R.K.]

a drummer i toured with had tendonitis, and managed to get right by
practicing ashtanga yoga as well as other theraputic exercises, no substances involved....

[hunta]

I'll bestow upon you my ancient chinese secret...



This stuff is amazing. Keep your wrists straight, pay attention to your body (when it hurts, do something about it don't just play through it), and keep tiger balm handy

[kerryg]

Havic - I gotta nip this one in the bud right here.

You don't "know" what Ibuprofen does long term. Ibuprofen was first brought to market half a human lifespan ago in the 1960s. Ibuprofen is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, or NSAID. We know for certain it has a link to allergies, but in a non-linear and non-standard way.

- Faculty of the Harvard Medical School:

Drug Allergies

Every FDA-approved drug carries a warning of possible side effects. Allergic reaction is one such side effect. While many drug side effects are predictable to some degree, an allergic reaction is unpredictable. Although it can happen out of the blue, an allergic reaction to a drug is rarely fatal. However, it can cause considerable discomfort and distress in the form of hives, difficulty breathing, fever, swelling, tender glands, itchy rash, and anaphylaxis.

Although any drug can potentially trigger an allergic response, some drugs have been recognized as more allergenic. Of these, the "big three" are penicillin, certain other antibiotics, and aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Aspirin and NSAIDs are responsible for allergy-type reactions, but they do it "their way" by engaging mast cells and triggering the response without involving IgE. In fact, several drugs cause reactions that are identical to allergic reactions but without IgE. Examples include intravenous x-ray dyes, paclitaxel, vancomycin, opiates such as morphine, and ACE inhibitors. However, the symptoms look similar in both types of reactions.

AOL, "All about allergies".

No, a steady diet of NSAIDs is certainly *not* acceptable as a first line of treatment.

[hunta]

Originally Posted by kerryg

No, a steady diet of NSAIDs is certainly *not* acceptable as a first line of treatment.

+1.