Short up-date as I said I would let you know. How much of this is bad technique and how much of this is old age I'll leave unanswered. After seeing the Doctor, yes I have carpal tunnel in my left fretting hand and deQuervain's Tendinitis in my right hand. In Layman's terms the location of the tunnels are the only differences. I sleep with braces on both hands and the left hand is under control with the eight hours of rest it receives each night. The right hand thumb is painful most of the time and I wear the brace during the day also. The brace does help with the pain. Treatment - A steroid short, the braces and anti-inflammatory pills. And stop doing what is causing the pain. I also play rhythm guitar with a thumb pick and think most of the problem stems from that as after an hour's gig it takes me about two days for my right hand to recover. Playing the bass I do not have any lasting pain after a gig. So I've stopped the rhythm guitar gigs, but, will continue playing bass for the time being. But, just for the two church services and nothing more. Go back to the Doctor in three weeks...
Thanks for the update Malcolm. I'd still take it very easy with any playing. Here's hoping you'll be back to "proper" playing ASAP.
Good to hear that you at least have some way to relieve the pain. I hope the braces coupled to a few weeks/months of taking it easy with playing will be enough to get rid of CTS. Good luck Malcolm!
I'm glad to read that you went to your dr. at 1st signs of any unusual feelings of your body. I honestly need to get better at this, I could have prevented some of my medical issues from increasing if I did. Don't hit those strings too hard sir (for now).
Ouch, sorry you are hurting, Malcolm. You are one of my favorite TB'ers and I wish you many more years of pain-free playing. For what it's worth, I've drastically changed my left-hand technique since I hit 40. The main adjustments were: I use my 3rd finger a lot less, I play root-5th patterns with fingers 1 and 4 (instead of 2 and 4), I shift instead of stretch, and I'm not afraid to re-position my thumb (such as pointing toward the headstock) if it feels good in the moment. Above all, I try to keep my palm relaxed like I am cradling an egg or about to catch a baseball, so my "life line" is not creased and my palm does not look like a butt! In terms of the right hand, I find it's important not to rest my forearm on the edge of the bass, as that tends to compress or dig into the tendons. Some players wear a wrist band or drape a towel/foam over the edge to avoid this. Please dont misconstrue my ramblings as expert medical advice; just sharing some observations from my personal experience. Good luck!
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