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Solutions for pain in forearm

The difference between a bassist touting their credentials when they teach bass lessons is that they are trying to be your teacher. You aren't trying to be his health care provider. If you want to be his healthcare provider, list your actual credentials and actually introduce yourself. I love when I go to a therapist that hides behind a mask and has an alias.

I know you've been doing this through 6 leap years (because you say so), but when you start sharing your professional advice, you should try to do a thorough job. I don't think anyone has enough information to diagnose what is going on with this guy's arm. You can make some guesses based on the tiny amount of information he gave. Those guesses on average are going to be correct.

If you wanted to give a professional opinion you should do a professional job. Forearm pain where the arm touches the body could be muscle pain, tendinitis, ulnar neuropathy, neuroma, ulnar artery vasculitis of some type, sarcoma, ulnar artery aneurysm, lipoma, medial epicondylitis, abscess, fascitis, among others. All of those could cause his symptom of pain at the place his arm rests on the guitar body.

A lot of those things will respond to conservative measures. Some of them will not respond to therapy. In fact, some would get worse. That is why most healthcare providers, give general advice to people in the case of internet forum evaluations--try padding your arm or taking your forearm off the guitar, take ibuprofen, ice the area, use compression, and elevate it when your not using it. But if it doesn't get well after a couple weeks you should go get checked out.

You miss my point that you have a lot of experience, but in the internet you are failing your patient if you are giving a diagnosis before taking a thorough history and physical. My problem is not that you are sharing your credentials, but that you share your credentials over and over to establish authority while doing a rather poor diagnostic evaluation.

No one knows what kind of bass this is, if the OP has other diseases impacting this (diabetes, smoking, hypothyroidism, arthritis, etc), if there is a mass in the area of his playing, what movement worsens his pain, or even what his forearm looks like how old he is or what his gender is. 99/100 times this is stress from resting the arm on binding. The difference between Joe blow on the internet and a professional with 1 or 2 days of experience is they will ask some questions to confirm their suspicions.

Years of experience are not a good marker for ability. They did a study that showed the longer a hospitalist had been practicing, the worse their outcomes were. This was thought to be because standard of care changes, but you don't learn about it after school. Old doctors and I guess therapists like to tout their age though.

Best of luck. Awaiting your diminutive response.
 
Best of luck. Awaiting your diminutive response.
There's no need to maintain this unproductive, text-based sparring. I've contacted the OP directly and put the ball in his court. Any further advice taken and decisions made based upon it will solely be at his discretion and not a matter of public debate. It's his body, his health and his decision what to do with it.
 
View attachment 3421374 View attachment 3421371

Notice how Jaco keeps his wrist fairly straight, and rarely rests his forearm on the body. Even when he did, it doesn't look like a lot of pressure was used. Anyways, this is an excellent example of good, sustainable right hand technique.

I really believe he would still be playing today if he wasn't murdered. I also think he would've gotten even better on bass(scary thought huh?), assuming he pulled himself outta his personal problems.
Jaco is the best. I’ve read the book and watched the documentary. One of my favorites. RIP Jaco.
 
anyone ever experience pain in there right fore arm? Wondering if an arm band or wrist band would help. The area that hurts, is where my arm makes contact with the upper body. I’ve tried different positions with the guitar strap. Just wondering if anyone has a similar experience.
Thanks.
I used to have lots of pain in my arms,etc., from playing my bass but this solved it Link Removed
 
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I'm not a doctor, a therapist or any type of trained professional. And of course advice of ice, then heat, rest, padding, all of the above is universal to help alleviate symptoms. As a former professional event photographer I've experienced chronic pain from just carrying my camera the wrong way. In my case I needed steroid injections, but after that I learned to carry my camera differently and never had the issue again.

So while alleviating the pain and inflammation must come first, after that I suggest you evaluate how you hold the bass. I personally find small height adjustments can make a significant difference. I've even purchased a hole punch set so I can make intermediate holes in my guitar straps for more fine adjustability- and find just a little bit makes a difference. With a Ric bass and a sharp edge, perhaps the bass needs to go significantly higher or lower. A higher position will allow your forearm to come around it more. A lower position will straighten the angle and lessen the pressure of the contact. And possibly neither of these will work- but just a thought.
 
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