Finger picking arm pain

[abraxxus]

Hi,

Playing for about 22 years, always have been a finger picker. I don't practice nearly as much as I should. Probably 30 a day anymore. Rehearsals are 45-60min of pretty much non stop going at it.

At rehearsals I have recently had pain in my forearm on my picking side. Gets pretty bad on repetitive songs. I can make it through, just hurts.

Question is, does this sound like injury land? Or just being out of shape? Recommend any warm up stretches etc?

Thanks,
-Kaleb

 

[POST530 Live]

I have the same issue. I play finger style and have developed a pain in my arm (on the top between my wrist and elbow). The more I play, the worst it gets. When I take a break (like a week), it feels better but as soon as I get back to it, the pain returns.

 

[FretlessMainly]

Are we talking muscle soreness or genuine pain (sorry, I know that soreness is a form of pain, but I think you see where I'm going)? Just based on where you are sensing this, it sounds more like a fatigue/lactic acid buildup type of thing. Pain that can lead to injury is normally felt at/near bone joints: wrists, knuckles, elbows, etc. where tendons connect to bones.

On the other hand, I don't mean to minimize what you are feeling; pain is always worth listening to! It's just that, given that this pain is occurring at mid-muscle/mid-bone, it sounds more like soreness than a warning signal for possible injury in my personal experience. Hopefully, someone else can chime in.

 

[fearceol]

Firstly, as FretlessMainly says, dont ignore pain by playing through it in the hope that it will go away.

By "30 a day", I assume you mean 30 minutes a day ? How often ? If you are doing 30 minutes every day, there should not be a problem. Regularity is better than actual time spent at a given practice session. If you practice for 30minutes once a week, then the following week have a 40-60minute rehearsal of "non stop going at it", then it's not surprising you are experiencing problems.

Do you rest your forearm on the body of the bass ? Is your plucking wrist straight ? All these things can cause problems.

I would definitely recommend warming up before you even touch the bass. See the links below. Then when you do pick up the bass, slowly do some chromatic scales for a few minutes. Dont dive headlong into intensive playing until your hands have time to adjust to the task being asked of them.

 

[phillybass101]

If there is pain this means somethings wrong obviously. Play in a mirror and look at what's going on when you play. Anything where there is an awkward angle cutiing off blood supply or putting tendons at risk will eventually catch up to you. try playing your bass at differnt angles or heights to try and straighten out any sharp angles. You want your hands and arms to be at as natural a position as possible. Question, do you ever warm up or do you just go right at it? Get into allowing yourself enough time to warm up before playing or practicing and if guys around you don't appreciate it, help them to appraicte it. lastly seek professional help, your doctor, physical therapist, and possibly a specialist as well. I have been playing for 41 years without much issue until lately. I now realize that for physical reasons I could not put up with the physical demands or grind of going on tour for months. I could not stand the pain. Get your self checked out. I'd also recommend chiropractic and massage therapy to help yourself maintain. Playing bass is a physically demanding event. What other member of a weekend warrior band has a 9-10 weight about his shouders/neck for 4 hours? Even for pros who go on tour for months must go through something.