Tendinitis and Cortisone

tcoker1 · #1 12-05-2006, 01:46 PM

I was recently diagnosed with tendinits in my left arm. I had been experiencing discomfort in my left wrist when playing my upright and even more when playing my electric bass. I can only attribute it to the slight angle I keep my wrist at when playing. I was wondering if anyone is experiencing this and if so, what are you doing for it. I am considering a cortisone shot that my doctor says will relieve the pain but I have some apprehension towards this procedure. Any advice, opinions, and/or anecdotes would be greatly appreciated...........

Jumbotron · #2 12-05-2006, 02:09 PM

Cortisone will indeed relieve your pain. It's an intense drug. I got a shot of it, plus some oral steroids, for a leg injury, and I felt like I could leap a tall building in a single bound. But it didn't fix me in the long run, and unless you track down the exact source of your pain, I bet it won't fix you either.

Kam · #3 12-05-2006, 02:50 PM

The shot will not cure your problem. You need to understand exactly what the cause is to find relief. Nobody can diagnose this via internet, ask your doctor to refer you to an occupational physical therapist with experience in musician injuries. If he/she cannot refer one, you're going to have to do your own research.

Check out http://www.playinglesshurt.com and read the info there, also check out the links.

I had this experience and had to stop playing for 3 months so I could heal and fix my technique and lifestyle.

Where are you located?

Scottgun · #4 12-05-2006, 03:03 PM

What others said. Don't be satisfied with sort-term solutions (although it is fine to use them as part of a long-term approach). Find out what this is and nip it in the bud now so that you can continue playing for many years to come.

godoze · #5 12-05-2006, 07:15 PM

I am going through a bout of tendonitis at the moment. The best cure is rest. Unfortunately I am very very busy gig wise lately...I had to take a year off from playing in 1996-1997... Very hard to do but I probably wouldn't be able to play now if i hadn't done it... I didn't get injections then but took oral steroids which helped a little bit but really the best medicine was rest.

see a doctor and get some tests.

Best of luck.

Arnold · #6 12-13-2006, 12:35 AM

A chiropractor, a physical therapist and morning stretches have helped me a lot. I had to take some time off in 98. And, jokes aside, I think the computer is about the worst thing going.
Good Luck.
Peace.
ASG

arnoldschnitzer · #7 12-13-2006, 04:39 PM

I injured my shoulder last year. I had a cortisone injection and 8 weeks of physical therapy. I continue to do daily stretching and I'm about 90%. That's better than I expected. I also take fish oil capsules which seems to help prevent joint pain and reduce tendonitis. The thing with cortisone injections is that I've been told you can do it once or twice, but more than that and you risk permanent damage. If you can find an Osteopath in your area, try to get in there immediately.

godoze · #8 12-13-2006, 05:05 PM

Arnold is correct about the injections. I take fish oil as well and do constant therapy.

bilco · #9 12-18-2006, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arnold

A chiropractor, a physical therapist and morning stretches have helped me a lot. I had to take some time off in 98. And, jokes aside, I think the computer is about the worst thing going.
Good Luck.
Peace.
ASG

I second the chiropractor. I am only 2 weeks into upright, but I had tendonitis so bad in my left forearm a few years ago, I could not play acoustic guitar or electric bass at all for weeks. When I finally went to my old school, no X-Rays, been doing this for 60 years chiropractor, 2 visits completely cleared it up. Never has come back either.

Now I have bursitis so I guess I'll go see him about that

Bill Colbert

rachelcalin · #10 12-18-2006, 07:02 PM

hi tcoker1-

over my career (so-called) of playing, ive been every player.....the pain free player, the injured (injury nothing to do with the bass) player, or the player with the burning searing tendonitis pain that makes you start contemplating just cutting the hand off with a butter knife........ thankfully, those days are long gone (about 15 yrs ago).

it seems to me that with anything ending in "-itis", indicating an inflammation of the area, there is a natural order to methods of treating the condition.

definitely do not start with the cortisone shot.

start with your boring, over the counter NSAIDS. try the advil/ibuprofen, if that doesnt hit it, then try the alleve/naproxen sodium.

you can also combo those with some strong topical applications if you want....try one of those patches/plasters or a cream, but keep in mind, every brand has different ingredients & works differently. some brands dont seem to do much for me but if you have a local china town (dont know where you live) my favorite patch/plaster is a brand called '701'. It comes in a yellow canister & you can probably order it online as well. its pretty strong, smells awful & has pulverized cockroaches in it..... (i'm not even joking), but just try it, you'll like it.

also, definitely try some maintainence supplements........ like the other guys suggested, the fish oil, plus also theres a product called 'zyflammend' (i think its cheapest on drugstore.com, but you local hippie granola healthfood store may have it in their supplement section). its a concentrated pill of natural anti-inflammatories.

this was probably too long winded, but when you described your tendonitis as 'discomfort' (none of those words like burning or searing) and your doctor is talking about super strong stuff like cortisone shots, it just sent up a bit of a red flag for me. most likely, your dr did discuss intermediary options with you, but if they didnt, you should do some exploring before going full out with the shot.

hope your hand is feeling better, and if you ever need, i can recommend a hand specialist in the NY area that a lot of musician friends swear by.

tcoker1 · #11 01-13-2007, 04:28 PM

Thank you to everyone for the advice. I am going to look into everything that has been recommended.......

Rattman · #12 01-13-2007, 06:05 PM

Yikes. Sorry to hear about that. I once had tendonitis in BOTH elbows at the same time. After the therapy and the infared treatments failed to help me much.. only then did I take those injections. Only took 10 years for the pain and spasms to finally go away..whew!

See your doc, and do exactly what they tell to you to do.

drurb · #13 01-13-2007, 07:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tcoker1

Thank you to everyone for the advice. I am going to look into everything that has been recommended.......

I strongly recommend that you follow your physician's advice. Folks here have told you to go with the cortisone, to not go with the cortisone, etc. Posters can tell you about their general experiences but, really, even if they had medical degrees their advice would be of limited use without being able to examine you. Sometimes cortisone is used, not only to relieve pain, but as a diagnostic tool. It is sometimes quite appropriate to start with it! A physician, particularly an orthopedist, can explain this to you.

drurb · #14 01-13-2007, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arnoldschnitzer

I injured my shoulder last year. I had a cortisone injection and 8 weeks of physical therapy. I continue to do daily stretching and I'm about 90%. That's better than I expected. I also take fish oil capsules which seems to help prevent joint pain and reduce tendonitis. The thing with cortisone injections is that I've been told you can do it once or twice, but more than that and you risk permanent damage. If you can find an Osteopath in your area, try to get in there immediately.

I empathize with you. I nursed am impinged tendon in my left shoulder for years and then signed up for acromioplasty (trimming of the acromion). In my case, it was basically a mechanical problem-- not the result of injury. The shape of the bone left too little room for the tendon. I can't imagine an activity much more aggravating for such a condition than playing DB because you lift that left arm and smash the tendon. My shoulder is actually better than new now. Early on, cortisone was used, not only to relieve the pain but to aid in diagnosis.

bilco · #15 01-14-2007, 01:59 AM

I had my doubts, but I did go to the chiropractor again after not seeing him for several years. It took two adjustments, the first actually helped my left shoulder, but irritated the joints in the right side of my body. It's been about a week since the 2nd treatment and I really do feel better. The left shoulder still does not have the range of motion of my right shoulder, but it quit hurting and my other aches and pains feel better too.

My only complaint now is my right thumb being sore from practicing 2 hours straight the other day and bearing down to much on the neck with my thumb. That's just bad technique I need to improve.
Bill Colbert

Eric Hochberg · #16 01-14-2007, 06:15 PM

You might consider accupunture. Two treatments and my "tennis elbow" was cured. I've also gotten pretty dramatic relief from wrist and forearm pain and swelling.

lowendlover · #17 07-10-2009, 08:10 AM

Whats your take on this?

So I got tendinitis this past month from playing more electric and i know it was because I wear my strap high and my plucking hand is at an extreme angle. So the doctor insisted I get the shot and did. I have refined my technique by playing with a wrist brace to keep my wrist straight which was the cause of the tendinitis. Now the shot made the swelling go away, and my new technique will make the tendinitis stay away?

Just wondering if I sound crazy or if that was the right way to go about solving this?

Square Bear · #18 07-10-2009, 09:33 AM

it depends on what the root of your tendonitis is. it could be a physical/mechanical thing that was there all along but never surfaced until you played bass, or it could be a technique issue. bass is very physical and i've luckily been able to avoid injury, after seeing many other people injure themselves on bass and on other instruments. while playing, anything that reduces tension in your body and torque on your wrists is probably good, but only a well qualified teacher can help you find technique issues and address them. also, as others have pointed out, only a specialist can help determine if the issue is physical, not relating to your bass technique. has your wrist improved? if it doesn't come back, that's great, just keep doing what your doing. but if it does come back, bear in mind that the right way to solve this is generally to not assume anything, but instead talk to your teacher about it and find a good specialist to determine what is causing the problem (i'm not assuming that you haven't done this either, just mentioning it).

i have never been injured thankfully, and i've done as intense bouts of practicing as anybody (8-10 hours a day sometimes). part of the reason i've been able to avoid injury is through my experience with alexander technique, which i would recommend to anyone, especially someone dealing with persistent injuries. i'm not saying it's the "cure," but it will help you address how you use your body while you're playing bass (and pretty much anything else you do).

David Kaczorowski · #19 07-14-2009, 01:36 PM

The problem with the shot is you can only get it a few times. Any more than that and your tendon will turn to mush. A few years ago I injured the tendon on the inside of my right wrist that goes the the thumb. It was so bad I couldn't hold a pen to write. My doctor prescribed physical therapy. The therapist said it was the worst case he'd ever seen, probably a 9 on a scale from 1-10. Twelve weeks of therapy did very little to help it and the therapist told me about the shot but said he'd rather do that as a last resort because of what I described above. What he did instead was over the course of several visits he soaked electrodes in cortisone, taped them to my wrist and arm along the tendon, and used an electrical pulse to push the cortisone through my skin and into the tendon. It worked for the most part. I still have a little pain (a few years later), but it's very minor.