Tendonitis in finger from bass playing - advice?

Zinkff · #1 11-21-2006, 12:40 PM

The middle finger of my 'picking' hand has swollen up and is quite painful. I started playing in a second band and all the extra practice caused tendonitis. I have to play with a pick for at least a month until it heals. Anyone ever had a problem like this? Any advice for avoiding it in the future? I've been playing a long time and not had problems like this before.

user101 · #2 11-21-2006, 02:15 PM

better consult a physician. Injuries aint fun. I strained my tendon on my middle finger before but by the sound of it, you almost tore it. I was out of action for a month and i noticed that i was bending my right wrist too much.

See the thing is, i play on a 68 precision of a friend of mine sometimes. And because of it's age, the body has dried out. Sounds fantastic, but this drying up results in the headstock being heavier (i don't know what this is called in english). So my bass tends to tilt in a rather inconvenient angle causing both wrists to bend unnecassary sharp angles.

This bending coupled with 16 notes at 160 bpm (i aint no pro) did it for me. 1 month of massaging and resting. And even now it is not completely ok (almost 6 months after the injury). I can play normally now, but whenever i bend my wrists a little too much, the pain reminds me to adjust my bass again. I have no problems on my G&L because it sits pretty well and doesnt tilt at odd angles.

yellowtuesday · #3 11-24-2006, 11:01 AM

I'm no doctor, but does tendonitis cause permanent damage?

K2000 · #4 11-25-2006, 03:14 AM

Playing an instrument is somewhat to similar to being an athlete... you were placing demands on your body that you weren't conditioned for. Hindsight is 20/20 but you should make sure that you are well warmed up before playing full bore. Do stretches before rehearsal, and warm up slow once you start playing. Make sure your amp is loud enough so that you don't need to dig in constantly, just to be heard.

FaithNoMan · #5 11-26-2006, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yellowtuesday

I'm no doctor, but does tendonitis cause permanent damage?

http://www.tendinosis.org/index.html