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How has your bass worn your body?

#41
I get sharp pain in my lower back from time to time, which is usually followed by a day or two of stiffness and dull aches. My left shoulder gets pretty sore too, sometimes a burning sensation that feels like it's underneath the shoulder blade along with a sharp pain that runs from the back, up over the shoulder and on to my left collar bone. I blame most of this on carting around my pedal board in addition to wearing the bass for rehearsals and gigs.

If I've not been playing regularly the first three fingers on my right hand and the left index finger develop mighty blood blisters that are none too pleasant on the eye. And my right wrist clicks rather loudly.

Totally worth it, though.
 
#42
Bass has relieved stress and brought happiness to me. I get excited every time I pick up my bass just like it was the first time.

Granted, I've not been playing long, but I think playing bass has increased my overall health, not the other way around.
 
#46
PolkaHero said:
The upper half of my right hand index finger is curved more towards the middle finger than my left index finger. I think this progressed over the years to allow my index finger to be more perpendicular to the strings for right hand plucking.

Anybody else notice this?
Click to expand...

I just noticed that! Now I'm all wierded out by it!!

And I have more callouses on my finger tips on my plucking hand, the left side of my thumb, and all over my fretting hand.

I was fat before I started playing... so, I really can't blame my bass for that. :)
 
#47
from playing DB my left hand sits naturally with a bigger space between my index and middle fingers due to the 1-2-4 simandl fingering system

And also (thanks to DB) my posture is MUCH better than it was, standng or sitting on a stool can help so much
 
#50
It's difficult to tell what injuries I've picked up from playing as opposed to years of wrestling, boxing, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but I can tell you for sure that I jacked my feet up from touring with Converse shoes on stage. If I stand around too long now, I can get pretty bad foot pain. It never really happened before I noticed my feet aching after jumping around on stage for 40 minutes a night, 5+nights a week for weeks at a time.
 
#54
chadhargis said:
Bass has relieved stress and brought happiness to me. I get excited every time I pick up my bass just like it was the first time.

Granted, I've not been playing long, but I think playing bass has increased my overall health, not the other way around.
Click to expand...

Forgot to mention that, I'm probably the happiest guy, when I pick up a Bass and start playing some tunes. It definitely has helped me a lot, with stress and other various things.
 
#56
Playing the bass and especially hauling the amps have exacerbated a bad back - lumbar surgery for herniated discs twice!

Also, playing bass in a band has gotten my body laid more than it probably would have been without it.
 
#57
kinda reminds me of somthing peter hook once said

"im paying the price now for wearing my strap so low now, i recently went to the doctors to get x-rays and the doctor asked me what i do for a living and i told him i play bass. he said ive never seen that befor to which my reply was well i do play down by my knees"
 
#58
When I was 19 yrs. old,I was diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis. It's a form of psoriasis (skin disorder),with a real mean-assed streak of arthritis thrown in,for good measure :bawl:. And let me be the one to tell you. THIS. STUFF. H-U-R-T-S!!!!! REALLY BAD!! Before I started this new type of treatment,approximately 60% of my body was "engulfed" with the skin disorder. YUK..... I know,I've heard enough cruel,ignorant remarks to last me 10 lifetimes :rollno:. People can be cruel.... It is what it is.

Back on topic.... As I had mentioned,I have a really cruel case of arthritis (especially in my feet and hands). For a while,I thought I'd never walk again (much less continue to play bass). Yeah,it was THAT bad at one time. I remember on more than a few occasions at gigs,standing on stage,with tears literally running down my cheeks,from the intense pain my body was experiencing. Man,I WOULD NOT wish this illness on my worst enemy.
The thumb that I use to slap with has been my only problem over the past 6 or 7 years. I used to be so obsessed with this technique years ago,that my thumb has literally turned into a big calcium deposit from "overdoing it" :p. Yes,people. You can "over-do it",when it comes to playing bass!

One more thing that I'd like to share with you people. Do you have a condition such as arthritis? If so,suck it up and EXERCISE!! I'm 44 yrs. old now,and I've lost over 100 lbs.,and my arthritis doesn't hardly affect me at all now (compared to 20 yrs. ago). And I owe it all to a little habit I picked up 9 years ago: I run 5 to 6 miles a day. Religiously. Rain? Snow? Doesn't matter,I'm out there,gettin' mine in :D.
 

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