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Long term injury on my finger picking hand?

GKon

GKon

Supporting Member, Boom-Chicka-Boom
Supporting Member
Feb 17, 2013
4,713
3,820
Los Lunas, NM
#1
Hi Fellas,

New to the forum. I hope this is posted in the correct section.

Many moons ago (in a galaxy far, far away....) I was jamming with some friends and I injured my picking finger hand. We were playing at a very fast and steady tempo, I must not have warmed up properly, and the tendon? or something on the back of my hand which functions when picking with my pointer and middle finger swelled up, got tender and kept me from being able to play. I assume this is tendonitis? At that point, I started learning how to pick with my middle and ring fingers only. I didn't have the same feel or control, but, hey, an new skill, hooray!

Jump forward roughly 14 years (yesterday). I'd put my bass(es) down for the last couple of years, and started learning how to play bouzouki (traditional Greek stringed instrument, coincidentally, with 4 strings :) ). After two years, I've decided that, although I liked it a lot, I wanted to focus on my bass playing again.

I've just been asked to audition for a local band, playing cover songs that are mostly all at a fast tempo. Once again, as I started playing quickly, the same old pain with the same old two fingers. Is tendonitis something that is that long term? Is there anything I can do for it? It really sucks.
The only plus side this time is that I realized, having been playing bouzouki for the last 2 years, without thinking about it I started using a pick on my bass and was tearing through the songs, with excellent pick control and up and down picking, which I couldn't ever do very well in the past. A little silver lining in all of this :)

Anyway, tips any suggestions would be most welcome.

Thanks,

Kon
 
#2
There are so many reasons why this has happened, far to many to even try and help you with on he web. You need to see a doctor and get it examined and diagnosed correctly. The fact it has re-occurred so fast when you took up playing again after such a long lay off is a genuine concern to get it checked out.

Yes tendonitis, can be a long term problem, thou sparadical, but what you describe is not a typical tendonitis (or tendinitis, the both can often be confused, and there treatment is different) use from playing bass,but it does fall under the tendinopathy umbrella.

It depends on the source and the content on the swelling, (what is the make up of the fluids that is causing the swelling, and what has cause the fluid build up) is it a tendon rupture or is it a tendon tear, which tendon is the actual problem? etc.

It may be you have always be seceptable to this kind of injury, but it only shows when you increase the hands use way above a normal use.
Bass playing could be that elevated use, as it could have been any number of things you could have chosen to to.
So playing bass is not the root cause, it is just an indicator of a problem, it may even be that an old injury or weakness from your past was never correctly dealt with and so any extra or elevated use of the hand causes it to show itself?

The use of a pick kind of makes sense as it is the big muscles in forearm generating the movement, not the small tendons and attachments of the hand.
So you are sort of by-passing the issue, but the issue is still there so the potential for the problem to re-occur is still there.

Best advice I can give is get it checked out by a doctor, or go back to doing what you did before that kept it in check.:)
 
#4
GKon said:
Thanks for the info and input Fergie Fulton!

I'll make an appointment to see a doctor because the alternative is to stop playing, and that's not going to happen.
Click to expand...

No problems, let's know any outcome.
Like I said it is not one for the Internet, such damage can be caused in so many different ways because of the hands abilities to get involved in most tasks we do.
Injury or damage may have happened years ago or days ago, but our current situation of use just exposes that weakness now...the two may even not be related.
The use of ice or heat, depending on what the diagnosis is, can be used,but if the wrong one is used it will make the injury worse.
Ice is used to reduce swelling, heat is used to soften/relax soft tissue and draw blood to it, so it really needs to be correctly diagnosed before and effective treatment can be used.

Remember with injuries the option to stop playing is a choice, to ignore the injury or play through it (or the presence of pain) may take that choice away...an injuries deteriation may physicaly end your ability to play.

Sure we can sometimes help here on TB, but a physical examination and discussing your hands use will usually bring the correct out come.
If you disagree with any diagnosis get a second, even a third opinion, because you have to accept and believe that what you are doing is correct, you cannot have any doubts about treatments.
All the best to you and good luck with it.:)
 
#5
GKon said:
Hi Fellas,

New to the forum. I hope this is posted in the correct section.

Many moons ago (in a galaxy far, far away....) I was jamming with some friends and I injured my picking finger hand. We were playing at a very fast and steady tempo, I must not have warmed up properly, and the tendon? or something on the back of my hand which functions when picking with my pointer and middle finger swelled up, got tender and kept me from being able to play. I assume this is tendonitis? At that point, I started learning how to pick with my middle and ring fingers only. I didn't have the same feel or control, but, hey, an new skill, hooray!

Jump forward roughly 14 years (yesterday). I'd put my bass(es) down for the last couple of years, and started learning how to play bouzouki (traditional Greek stringed instrument, coincidentally, with 4 strings :) ). After two years, I've decided that, although I liked it a lot, I wanted to focus on my bass playing again.

I've just been asked to audition for a local band, playing cover songs that are mostly all at a fast tempo. Once again, as I started playing quickly, the same old pain with the same old two fingers. Is tendonitis something that is that long term? Is there anything I can do for it? It really sucks.
The only plus side this time is that I realized, having been playing bouzouki for the last 2 years, without thinking about it I started using a pick on my bass and was tearing through the songs, with excellent pick control and up and down picking, which I couldn't ever do very well in the past. A little silver lining in all of this :)

Anyway, tips any suggestions would be most welcome.

Thanks,

Kon
Click to expand...

If the tendon on the top of your hand is inflamed, you're lifting your fingers more than you should need to. Look at your hand while you play and see if the fingers are bending up higher than the back of your hand and especially this- if your wrist is bent sharply toward the top of the bass (possibly because you rest your hand on the bass at the wrist), you will HAVE TO lift your fingers too high. Constant tension in tendons causes a lot of problems.

Is it safe to assume you wear your bass high? If it's too high (kind of like a jazz guitarist), try lowering it a bit.
 
#6
Fergie Fulton: The original injury occurred while playing, so I assume that's what caused it in the first place, but I'm not sure and, I guess, it really doesn't matter at this point. What does matter is that I get it checked out, diagnosed and fixed. Thanks again for the input.

1958Bassman: I was wearing my bass a bit high, but not George Harrison high (LOL!, no pun intended)!!! Recently, I lowered it quite a bit. However, the pain occurred (this time around) while sitting and playing.
I don't rest my wrist on the top of the bass. With the bass I was using, I was resting my thumb on the neck, where it extends over the body (basically like resting my thumb on the E string). HOWEVER, the pain occurred when I got very carried away and started picking at the strings very hard and, yes, higher than the back of my hand, putting a lot of power into each stroke. I'm sure that had to do a lot with it. I've been careful, since the first time injuring it, to watch my hand position but I got a bit carried away and, viola, got hurt.

Gonna go to the doc soon and see what he/she says.

On the other hand (no pun intended, yet again) I am enjoying playing exclusively with a pic for the first time in 25+ years !!!

Thanks a million for the help.
 
#8
Tangentmusic,

Thanks for the support! I'm definitely enjoying my new skill of playing with a pick,
but I do enjoy finger picking. I hope to have it sorted out soon.
 

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