Hey Guys,
I have been having trouble with my left index finger. Probably too many f chords. Anyway, I found out that it is a repetitive stress injury from playing too much. Has anybody else had something similar, and if so, what are you doing to continue playing? If not, consider yourself forewarned - so far, it has kept me from playing guitar.
Thanks,
Brandon

I have had occasional pain in the left thumb but not too often. How much were you playing?

my hand gets cramped once in a while, but doesnt everyone

Yeah man, I got the same problem. Left index finger pain. I reckon it was "a minor" chords but f would do it too unless you use a barre which keeps your finger straight.

I haven't got a complete solution but I took a break from playing for about a month, and did other finger exercises, anything that changed the use of the finger from guitar playing. I started playing again and after about 4 weeks it came back.

The only way I have found to control it a little is when it starts to hurt I play everything in a barre shape to keep my index finger straight. I also have to limit my playing to a couple of hours a day. If I play for three or more hours it gets too painful. When it gets too bad these days I just play slide guitar for a while.

My guitar playing buddies don't believe it is caused by guitar playing but it is.

I haven't got that, but i do get wrist pains. probably because of years of bad piano technique (corrected, scales are a pain though) and bad circulation to begin with. Its the angle i hold my wrist at, it's different on the guitar as well, its even more stressful on the wrist on the guitar, so i try not to overdo it.

No real problems for me though, i think i'm pretty lucky

I had been playing around two - three hours a day (and starting to sound good). I played through the pain for a couple of weeks, then had to stop. I stopped playing for around 6 -7 months, started up again, around 20 minutes every other day and unfortunatly, the pain is coming back. I try warming up with scales and other exercises. Barre chords and using the other fingers seems to help a little.

Those 2 or 3 hours, was it continuous play, or did you rest sometime?

I sometimes get bad pain in my palm after really long sessions (3-5 hrs), but it goes away almost as soon as I let go of the barre chord I'm playing (it only happens when I'm playing a song with lots of barres). I have to stop for a while after that..I find if I take some over the counter arthritus meds before I start playing it either doesn't show up or arrives late in the session.

My advice is to find a painkiller that works and ONLY take them if you know you're going to be playing for a while. Build up your pain tolerance because to be a dedicated guitarist, nothing should stop you from playing save sudden death (ie. Slash would keep playing after dropping a cigarette butt down his pants).

It also helps (if you have my problem) to find different ways to play certain chords that are barred in certain songs to keep the stress from building. In most songs you usually don't need a full 6 string strum anyway.

If you get your technique right it should take a lot of stress off your hands and fingers. I've always had terrible technique (thumb all the way over the neck, fingers at almost 45 degrees etc) and I used to get a sore wrists and sometimes hand muscles. I've been working on getting the technique right and there's no pain now (well, none that can't be relieved by shaking your hand for a while) and I play a couple of hours at a time every night and at TAFE as well.

Anyway, if you don't have a straight left wrist, fingers parallel to the fret wire and thumb pad only on the neck (nothing else should touch) behind the second finger try and work your way to that position.

If you play for an extended period of time you are bound to feel aches and pains. I'd be amazed if you didn't. Just like you'll feel pain after any extended exercise from achey muscles. If you are sensible about how long you practice for then instead of injuring yourself you will build up finger strength. After all, who plays a three hour set apart from the most sadistic of people?

could just be your circulation or very bad posture or maybe you dont breath enough while playing yes im not joking either people who hold their breath during long solo's are stopping oxygen filling your body thus your hands can feel like a bit of wood. But like every one is saying above if you play for extended periods of time you are bound to run into some pains.

You betcha! Building pain tolerance may seem masochist, but it'll help for those gigs that seem to last forever

Unfortunately this is not about fatigue or aches, cramps and pains. This is like tendonitis, the pain doesn't stop when you stop playing, quite often its worse the next day or next couple of days.

I must admit it hasn't stopped me playing yet but I would be happier without it. I have heard some great players have suffered from tendonitis, like Leo Kotke, for example but I think in his case it was his righthand.

At the moment I am thinking of it as a badge of honor and pushing through the problem but my fear is it will get worse rather than better.

I would agree, at this point I do not mind playing through the pain, but I have heard this has ended some careers. It is basically tendonitis, similar to carpel tunnel and is extremly painful (Ibanez6 was on the right track, the pain starts after the guitar is put down and may wake you up during the night). Currently, I am taking Bexxar or Celebrex (got a small stash) and it helps a little. I think part of my problem was poor technique, which I have been working on since I picked up the taylor again.

I am having bad sholder pain...add my name to any bad tech/posture list...you would be surprised how sloppy your technique is until you have someone watch you that knows whats up...yet I still don't take a lesson...well maybe someday.

Troy

Repetitive stress injuries can come from many causes. Other factors should also be considered as contributing to stress in all cases. Being overweight or pregnant or having high stress levels in general can certainly take a toll on certain joints. Once you have been diagnosed with repetitive stress injury, all of these factors must be taken into consideration before the most effective course of treatment can be prescribed by your doctor.