(Sorry for long post). I am frustrated. 
In the 80s and 90s I was a regularly working bassist in a variety of groups (classic rock, blues, country, and hard rock). Before that I played upright in school, my local symphony, and swing band. 12 years ago, my rock band began a recording session. Midway through the first night, my left wrist started to feel very weak. It became difficult to fret notes accurately even with low action and light gauge strings. I had no numbness or pain, just unexplained weakness. The next night within 30 minutes of playing, I suffered a painful sensation of "electrical shocks" run through my forearm and wrist and my ring and middle fingers were twitching involuntarily. I could not physically continue to play my instrument. 6 months later I still couldn't play for more than a night or two without weakness and numbness returning and throbbing wrist pain with swelling now accompanied the other sensations. I had to drop out of the groups I played with.
Doctors told me I suffered from chronic tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome. They told me I most likely had a buildup of scar tissue in my tendons formed by years of playing bass. (Ive playing since age 7 on upright bass. I have small wrists which I am sure contributed to the problem). Tests which showed my condition to be 7 out of 10 on the severity index. The specialist indicated he preferred not to operate as in some cases it makes the condition worse, and felt with strong anti-inflammation meds it would over time resolve itself. For the next 2 years I tried to rehab my wrists (wore wrist braces and took large amounts of anti-inflammation meds (which caused my ears to ring constantly). In the end I decided my music days were behind me and sold off much of my gear and stored the rest.
During this time my wife and I had a family. A couple of years ago my oldest began to play guitar and my youngest saxophone. They listened to my old band recordings and wanted to jam so I got out my gear and we played for fun at home. This led to the purchase of a digital recorder we use. I had no reoccurrence of problems. About a year ago my church found themselves in need of a bassist. I told them I could read music and agreed to fill in for a while, which turned into playing regularly. I love it! I even bought a couple of basses over the past year. I mostly play Fender Jazz Basses with low action and extra light strings (40-95) to keep things as easy on my wrists as possible. I also have a Peavey Cirrus 4 that is strung with DR Hi-Beams in extra light gauge (40-95). Again low tension strings and low action.
I stretch carefully and try to keep my posture and hand positions as correct as possible. But suddenly last week without warning the weakness and pain in my left wrist returned almost overnight. Within a couple of days it became severe. Now I am on Advil round the clock. I can still play but it hurts. I dont want to have to quit playing music again heck I just got my chops back.
Has anyone been down this road before with chronic tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome? If you could share your experiences and suggestions it would be an encouragement to me. I have an appointment with a specialist next week. This is really depressing.
In the 80s and 90s I was a regularly working bassist in a variety of groups (classic rock, blues, country, and hard rock). Before that I played upright in school, my local symphony, and swing band. 12 years ago, my rock band began a recording session. Midway through the first night, my left wrist started to feel very weak. It became difficult to fret notes accurately even with low action and light gauge strings. I had no numbness or pain, just unexplained weakness. The next night within 30 minutes of playing, I suffered a painful sensation of "electrical shocks" run through my forearm and wrist and my ring and middle fingers were twitching involuntarily. I could not physically continue to play my instrument. 6 months later I still couldn't play for more than a night or two without weakness and numbness returning and throbbing wrist pain with swelling now accompanied the other sensations. I had to drop out of the groups I played with. Doctors told me I suffered from chronic tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome. They told me I most likely had a buildup of scar tissue in my tendons formed by years of playing bass. (Ive playing since age 7 on upright bass. I have small wrists which I am sure contributed to the problem). Tests which showed my condition to be 7 out of 10 on the severity index. The specialist indicated he preferred not to operate as in some cases it makes the condition worse, and felt with strong anti-inflammation meds it would over time resolve itself. For the next 2 years I tried to rehab my wrists (wore wrist braces and took large amounts of anti-inflammation meds (which caused my ears to ring constantly). In the end I decided my music days were behind me and sold off much of my gear and stored the rest.
During this time my wife and I had a family. A couple of years ago my oldest began to play guitar and my youngest saxophone. They listened to my old band recordings and wanted to jam so I got out my gear and we played for fun at home. This led to the purchase of a digital recorder we use. I had no reoccurrence of problems. About a year ago my church found themselves in need of a bassist. I told them I could read music and agreed to fill in for a while, which turned into playing regularly. I love it! I even bought a couple of basses over the past year. I mostly play Fender Jazz Basses with low action and extra light strings (40-95) to keep things as easy on my wrists as possible. I also have a Peavey Cirrus 4 that is strung with DR Hi-Beams in extra light gauge (40-95). Again low tension strings and low action.
I stretch carefully and try to keep my posture and hand positions as correct as possible. But suddenly last week without warning the weakness and pain in my left wrist returned almost overnight. Within a couple of days it became severe. Now I am on Advil round the clock. I can still play but it hurts. I dont want to have to quit playing music again heck I just got my chops back.
Has anyone been down this road before with chronic tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome? If you could share your experiences and suggestions it would be an encouragement to me. I have an appointment with a specialist next week. This is really depressing.
...hope all turns out well
). Make sure it's tight enough to put a little bit of pressure on, the fabric type ones seem to work better than the terry cloth ones and aren't as hot. I had to get the ones from the tween section for a good fit- The one on my right wrist has happy bunny on it.....
