Double Bass inner elbow pain

[chadspivey]

I've only been playing upright bass for a few months, but have worked my practice time up to 3 hours a day. I typically only practice bowing for 1 hour a day, but the other day, I went for 2 hours. I started to notice a soreness in my right inner elbow. Is it technique or am I just using muscles that I probably didn't use before and now they're just getting a good work out?

 

[Andrew McGregor]

I think you're overdoing it, by the sounds of this. Probably a mixture of overdoing the practice time, technique that isn't quite there yet, and not being quite fit for playing the instrument yet.

 

[chadspivey]

Alright, thanks. It's funny, I used to look for excuses to not practice, and now that I want to practice a lot, I have to limit myself. C'est la vie.

 

[davidzgeorge]

hey chad. i've got the same exact pain that you're talking about. turns out for me, it was a result of a shoulder injury. i've got some nerve problems in my right shoulder and because of that i started playing differently and put more stress on my elbow. the doctors all say it's tendonitis. take it easy and ice it a lot. if you ice it everyday that you play (i suggest freezing some styrofoam cups of water, then peeling back the cup so you can massage the ice directly onto your arm for 3 minutes or until you go numb) then that should help heal the inflammation.