Tendonitis in my thumb. Anyone else?

[akaTRENT]

I have tendonitis. The pain is near the meat of my thumb and my thumb knuckle cracks constantly. ( this is my strumming hand btw) It basically feels as if i jammed my thumb 24/7. Advil helps a bit but its not the same. Somtimes the pain also hits my wrist. Its not carpul. I have had it x-rayed many times. I should also note I play with a pick

I intend on finally getting some physical therapy in the next few months but in the mean time, Do any of you experience the same kind of pain and have any suggestions for easing the pain. thanks.

[smeet]

See a good physical therapist, preferrably someone who deals with musicians.

It sounds like you are gripping your pick too hard.
Try a thumb pick so you can hold it looser.
Try different gauges and sizes and shapes of pick.
Try playing with your fingers.
Try playing lighter and turning the amp up.

The important thing is to get loose and make your playing movements feel easy and natural. You're too young to feel pain already... It will only get worse unless you change something.

Have you recently started playing a lot more? You just joined a new band, right? Maybe you're tense about the new situation.

Oh yeah, start working out if you don't. Wrist curls (forward and reverse) can do wonders, but get some overall conditioning work, and stretch too.

[akaTRENT]

Originally Posted by smeet

See a good physical therapist, preferrably someone who deals with musicians.

It sounds like you are gripping your pick too hard.
Try a thumb pick so you can hold it looser.
Try different gauges and sizes and shapes of pick.
Try playing with your fingers.
Try playing lighter and turning the amp up.

The important thing is to get loose and make your playing movements feel easy and natural. You're too young to feel pain already... It will only get worse unless you change something.

Have you recently started playing a lot more? You just joined a new band, right? Maybe you're tense about the new situation.

I actually injured my thumb about a 2 years ago. Accident involving a mail box. anyway my thumb was inflamed for 2 weeks and i was 18 and dumb and the time so never though to check it out. So the injury actually didnt come from playing. Im not nervous about the band at all, I wish that was the problem haha.

Playing with my fingers is not actually an option for what i play, wont give the right tone.

I am working on loosening grip as i know that will help big time.

I just got an svt to make up for my hartke so ill be turning up to say the least. I use really thin strings, Would using thicker picks make me use less force to get just as big a sound?

And yeah the pain is the worst, I gets me really depressed sometimes but hey other people have it worse, so you work with you got right

[powerbass]

The previous history of injuring your thumb may play an important part in the recent bout of pain. If the previous injury involved damage to ligaments and tendons (sprain) then the bones of the thumb may not stay aligned properly to handle the constant stress of playing. The other issue is weakness in the muscles that attach to the thumb - muscle fatigue can lead to poor joint alignment. A good hand specialist can assess your hand, then the right exercises to strengthen the hand combined w/a review of your technique by a good teacher can help.

[EviscerateNick]

i would advise taking a week off from playing. let your thumb rest during this time. apply ice for twenty minutes a couple times a day and see how it goes.

[akaTRENT]

Originally Posted by EviscerateNick

i would advise taking a week off from playing. let your thumb rest during this time. apply ice for twenty minutes a couple times a day and see how it goes.

been this route. no avail. I have gone as far as splinting for a month. Even after that I went to the doc for xrays hes set on physical therapy. In the meantime im looking for anyone who knows specific stretches i can do in the mean time until i get a sufficient amount of down time from playing.


I found a nifty stretching video on you tube today actually. I

[Fee]

I got tendonitus in my thumb (Fretting hand) when I first started playing. Ice really helped. I also used the thumb strap shown on the website below. Unfortunately the main cure was to lay off playing for a while, then slowly and carefully build up again to prevent a flare up of the tendonitus. Also had to really look at my technique and sort it out.

http://www.drfoot.co.uk/acatalog/Thumb.html

[akaTRENT]

so i basically rest my forearm and wrist on my bass while im playing. I have a feeling this is slowing me down So i am going to start working on letting my hand float a bit more on looser sections of songs.

Sometimes pain can be referred to the wrist and thumb from other sources so I recommend seeing a good sports massage therapist or physiotherapist.

Also, powerball is pretty good - my friend had real problems in his arm, wrist and thumb and the only thing that sorted it was using a powerball for about 20mins per day on quite low intensity. It strengthens the muscles through the whole arm area in a way that's pretty safe and also even.

I've had various postural problems and I've found generally that the solution has come from general strengthening all over so the muscle imbalance is less relevant, rather than specifically massaging or trying to relax one particular muscle.

[sevenyearsdown]

My anchor thumb has pain that comes and goes. I broke it about 5 years ago, and it has never been the same. It doesn't bother me to play my electric, but does when I play my double. It usually gets the shooting pain when I grip things like gear shifting, jar opening etc. My wrist aint much better.

Laying off playing isn't really an option for me, so I just deal with it.

I never have problems using a pick though - it's all finger style.

http://www.round-earth.com/HeadPainIntro.html

also check your scalenes, trapezius and general neck area - you may need to stretch elsewhere to get nerve signals running to your fingers unimpinged.

[akaTRENT]

im going to read that on my off time tomorrow and also I going to call the physical therapy place tomorrow as well. Wish me luck guys. I cant exactly stop playing but i can try playing less as well as the therapy.

More time to go over music theory book style i guess