And I too have a pinched nerve. I simply explained the cause of mine, and what has relieved it successfully.
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Double Bass Health Related Issues To Playing
- Thread starter Fergie Fulton
- Start date
Ah, you threw me off with the mention of joint degeneration and arthritis. Those can, of course, be sources of pain in and of themselves. If the nerve is actually involved... well that's another layer. I think it's a good idea to have cervical spine issues evaluated by a highly skilled spinal neurosurgeon-- not necessarily to have surgery performed (a last resort)-- but to determine the state of the spine, to render an opinion about instability, and to determine the best course of treatment. It sounds like you have things well under control for yourself. That's good to hear.
Take care.
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Which is all fine and dandy, except I've discovered first hand that surgeons usually recommend drugs and then, surgery
. They will NEVER recommend chiropractic care, which is unfortunate, because for some people it actually works.
Which is all fine and dandy, except I've discovered first hand that surgeons usually recommend drugs and then, surgery
They will NEVER recommend chiropractic care, which is unfortunate, because for some people it actually works.
Hmmm... the best practitioners I know opt for physical therapy first when appropriate. For them, surgery is the absolute last option when all else fails and quality of life has taken a big hit or is in serious jeopardy. Sadly, there are those who are knife-happy and want to fix just about everything by cutting. As for the drugs, reducing inflammation is often helpful and very wise. To each his own.
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I've never had a physician disagree when I said that most of what ails us is the result of what we do to ourselves. That's where the Alexander Technique comes in. It deals with the unconscious behaviors that override natural use of ourselves. Some points:
(1) It is not therapy, and is not an immediate answer for acute pain. Therapy is after the fact of misue. AT is a preventative of misuse. It is neuro-physiological re-education. It does, however, have indirect therapeutic side effects.
(2) If you're in pain, see a health professional - doctor, physical therapy, etc. to deal with it. This is not the time that AT can help. AT is learning, and pain interferes with learning. When the acute pain subsides, when it's reduced to a discomfort, an AT teacher can help you.
(3) You cannot learn it from a book. You just can't.
(4) This is from Strad Magazine, about a bassist who became an AT teacher. He's from the Royal College of Music.
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(5) If you're interested, I will gladly help you find a teacher.
(1) It is not therapy, and is not an immediate answer for acute pain. Therapy is after the fact of misue. AT is a preventative of misuse. It is neuro-physiological re-education. It does, however, have indirect therapeutic side effects.
(2) If you're in pain, see a health professional - doctor, physical therapy, etc. to deal with it. This is not the time that AT can help. AT is learning, and pain interferes with learning. When the acute pain subsides, when it's reduced to a discomfort, an AT teacher can help you.
(3) You cannot learn it from a book. You just can't.
(4) This is from Strad Magazine, about a bassist who became an AT teacher. He's from the Royal College of Music.
Invalid Link Removed
(5) If you're interested, I will gladly help you find a teacher.
Me too, Sometimes even with blood under the skin.
..
However a greate solution Is vaseline applyied immediatly after the gig (obviously not on an opened woond!), It takes away the pain and morning after you're ok.
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Hello. I played a 4+ hour gig Wed night. Jazz trio, standards, with various tempos associated with that genre. Last tune of the last set was an uptempo tune and my index finger on my right pizza hand curled up and locked in position. Not a sharp pain, but definitely a cramping feeling. I finished the tune with my middle finger. Also noting that I typically walk with only my index and solo alternating the two fingers on my right hand.
This has only happened a few times before, out of hundreds of live gigs. As an aside, my left hand index finger has had soreness since yesterday continuing until today. No gigs this weekend, so took yesterday and will probably take today (Friday) off from playing the instrument.
I typically do 2-3 hour gigs for Jazz, so this gig is a bit longer than what I'm used to.
Any tips/suggestions on how to care for this?
Thanks,
Michael
This has only happened a few times before, out of hundreds of live gigs. As an aside, my left hand index finger has had soreness since yesterday continuing until today. No gigs this weekend, so took yesterday and will probably take today (Friday) off from playing the instrument.
I typically do 2-3 hour gigs for Jazz, so this gig is a bit longer than what I'm used to.
Any tips/suggestions on how to care for this?
Thanks,
Michael
Anecdotal answer only and not intended as medical advice, but…
I have had this happen before in both hands, always in the latter sets of intense gigs. In my case the answer turned out to be that I was having forearm cramps, like a Charlie horse but in the forearm instead of the calf, and it caused the index finger to lock down. The answers, for me, were better hydration on the gig, more electrolytes, and restricting gigs to 3 hours or less, a policy I still keep. Good luck!
This happened to me on a gig recently. For me, it’s arthritis in my neck and shoulder. It pinches the nerves up there and pulls up on the muscles in the forearm muscle. This makes my index and middle finger freeze up, kind of like a seizure, but not quite. Not really painful, just awkward. I had to finish the song using my third finger. Needless to say I was just able to thump out some roots and fifths. After the song, I shook my wrist and hand out for a minute or two and stretched my wrist and forearm to get the muscle to relax. That seemed to work. What I did realize was I was practicing and working on cello for a couple hours earlier in the day. I’m new to that beast, and I’m still playing with a lot of tension. I think that tension was left over in my neck and shoulder from bowing. That’s what I surmise. I’ve seen doctors for all these weird things in the past, and they seem to tell me the same thing. I’m getting old, my joints are wearing down after 45 years in constructionand I just shouldn’t play that hard. More and more I tend to agree. I turned down a great opportunity playing in a jazz fusion group playing my six string electric. Overnight I realized I would have a lot of cramping in my fingers trying to keep up with the fast pace of that music. I’m 63 if that helps.
I've also had this happen a few times but not often; most recently last weekend in my left wrist, in a multiple hour, fairly up tempo jam outside in 100°F+ temperatures (in the shade) where I was struggling to stay hydrated. It's like a muscle spasm that puts the finger or hand into a weird posture... It feels like a form of "charlie horse". It's less painful than trigger fingers and at least in my case it recovered pretty quickly with a bit of rest and massage, but still strange.
I have no medical training, but I think @Chris Fitzgerald's answers about this are the best solutions.
My everything gets stiff and sore after 6 hour weekends. But at this point the only time I have any instances like you describe, it is a hydration issue for me…
Over the past year or so, I've begun to work on a "spare" plucking technique. Most of the jazz players advise plucking with the side of the index finger. For whatever reason,I learned to pluck with my index and middle fingers in parallel, with alternating fingers on faster passages. Both techniques are shown in Rufus Reid's book, and I get as much "meat" on the string either way. I've gotten some joint pain that I attribute to over-extension when playing really hard, something I'm now quite conscious of. I've also watched Chris's videos on plucking.
I've decided to learn the side-finger technique, just by doing it when I can. I'm still building up my callouses, and also, my time. Not being in such good control of my plucking means my time is a bit iffy. But my hope is to have this technique in the ready as I get older.
I've also found that arco soloing, in addition to being more obnoxious, gives me a chance to rest my plucking fingers and not take crazy risks.
I've decided to learn the side-finger technique, just by doing it when I can. I'm still building up my callouses, and also, my time. Not being in such good control of my plucking means my time is a bit iffy. But my hope is to have this technique in the ready as I get older.
I've also found that arco soloing, in addition to being more obnoxious, gives me a chance to rest my plucking fingers and not take crazy risks.
I’ve been working on the NHOP 3 finger technique for over a decade now. I still can’t solo worth a damn with it, but I can walk pretty decently at tempos with it, and it gives my hand a much needed break at times.
One added benefit is that for whatever reason the arthritis in my RH middle finger is more advanced and painful than in the index. When that finger tires, usually in the last set, I’ve taken to walking and soloing with the index and ring and just resting the middle for a while so all that practicing wasn’t wasted. Any port in the storm!
One added benefit is that for whatever reason the arthritis in my RH middle finger is more advanced and painful than in the index. When that finger tires, usually in the last set, I’ve taken to walking and soloing with the index and ring and just resting the middle for a while so all that practicing wasn’t wasted. Any port in the storm!
Thank you Chris! All good advice. The 3 hour limit is smart...this has only happened to me on 4 hour gigs.
This has happened to me a few times as well. I strongly agree with what Chris says above about hydration and not taking long gigs. For me, the most beneficial thing has been to avoid steel strings when I am not in great playing shape or if I have a bunch of gigs in a short period. Lower tension strings have saved me more than once now. I’d also say that, for me anyhow, avoiding long rehearsals on gig days has been beneficial. Any time I’ve had this issue, it’s been while playing steel strings on a busy day. Lucky for me, I have more than one bass, so I don’t have to change my setup to suit my schedule. Good luck with it! I haven’t really gotten an accurate diagnosis for my issue yet so all my advice is from my own trial and error.
These are all good suggestions. I went to more flexible strings and a much lighter touch on purpose about four years ago and this has really helped. That last hour on a four-hour gig does seem to be when most problems occur. In that case, I try to play even more relaxed and as lightly as I can. The impulse for me is to dig in more, but if I really let up and relax, it helps to get me through. Let the amp, if used, do the work. Even if playing ampless, you project a decent amount if you don't force it. It takes an adjustment in thinking, but it does work IMO.
