Guys, my wrist hurts. What am I doing wrong?

[TedintheShed]

My background:

I am a 49 year old man, with diabetes. I have peripheral neuropathy as a result (the conditions that result when nerves that carry messages to and from the brain and spinal cord from and to the rest of the body are damaged or diseased). It effects more my dexterity than anything else. The condition is minor when compared to my feet (which are completely numb.

I play causally, I don't really "prectice". I hear a song and I like then try to learn it. Prior to by diabetes I played bass guitar and gigged a lot. I took time off from playing, as it effected my abilities. Then I had the privileged to meet Billy Sheehan (the man that inspired me to play 30 years ago) and he explained that it is about your art, and not your ability. He "re-inspired) me to start again.

So I got a guitar. It was an Agile, and started paying. To make a long story short, here I am over 2 year later, and when I play my wrist joint hurts in my left (fret board) hand. It seems worse from learning and practicing "Descent" by Fear Factory. I was wondering what are some common mistake made by guitarist that may cause this?

I am plating a KM-7 baritone too, that I just recently purchased (first baritone I've owned) . Perhaps I should go back to 25.5" scale?

Any suggestions are appreciated.
Ted

 

[mrspacecat]

I have the same issue that you are having with your wrist. It could be due to the angle of your wrist of your fretting hand. Ideally, you want to keep your wrist as straight as you can.
This video gives a good overview of common problems, which might help you out.


Trying to increase the flexibility of your hand/wrist can help, too. I do these stretches after every practice session.

I also try to strengthen my wrists as much as I can, but I'm not sure how applicable that would be with your medical condition. Compression, such as wearing wrist bands or specially made compression wraps before/after/or during practice helps relieve pain, too. Either sweat bands or specially made ones such as Wrist Suppport for Guitar Players: No More Sore Wrist (what I use, they do a good job) will work.

 

[bostjan]

Do you ever stretch before playing? Do you feel yourself tensing up? If yes/no, then I'm not sure, but the pain is your body alerting you that something is not right.

 

[extendedsolo]

what do you do for work or in the rest of your freetime? Sometimes it's not your guitar playing, but rather everything else.

 

[TedintheShed]

what do you do for work or in the rest of your freetime? Sometimes it's not your guitar playing, but rather everything else.

I do office work and a computer.

 

[TedintheShed]

I have the same issue that you are having with your wrist. It could be due to the angle of your wrist of your fretting hand. Ideally, you want to keep your wrist as straight as you can.
This video gives a good overview of common problems, which might help you out.


Trying to increase the flexibility of your hand/wrist can help, too. I do these stretches after every practice session.

I also try to strengthen my wrists as much as I can, but I'm not sure how applicable that would be with your medical condition. Compression, such as wearing wrist bands or specially made compression wraps before/after/or during practice helps relieve pain, too. Either sweat bands or specially made ones such as Wrist Suppport for Guitar Players: No More Sore Wrist (what I use, they do a good job) will work.

Thanks.- I'll check this out!

 

[TedintheShed]

Do you ever stretch before playing? Do you feel yourself tensing up? If yes/no, then I'm not sure, but the pain is your body alerting you that something is not right.

TBH I don't stretch. I just pick up the guitar and play whatever I want to at the time.

 

[extendedsolo]

I do office work and a computer.

Yeah this is the WORST thing you can do if you play. I find that days where i sit in front of my screen for hours my hands and wrists start having issues.. You should probably stretch your entire body and do other activities where you are more upright. Walking is a good one to stretch out after a long day.

 

[Jacksonluvr636]

Stretching for sure.

Sometimes there is nothing you can do with certain conditions but your wrists and fingers have muscles.

Stretch and warm up before playing. Look at practicing guitar like lifting weights. Don't over do it. There are some great warm up techniques on the web.

I like the warm up from speed kills by Michael Angelo Batio.

Also consider a new guitar. Maybe that neck is too fat for you? Or maybe you need less tension or looser strings/lower action.

 

[Aymara]

Warming up before playing might help, but also the angle of your wrist plays a major role.

How do you play ... standing or sitting? Wrist problems often occur, if you play standing and use a too long strap, so that the guitar is hanging too low.

Wait a few days 'til the wrist pain is totally gone and then try playing sitting cross-legged after a warmup. This way the guitar is very high to the body and the wrist angle very comfortable.

I don't think the bariton scale play a role here, because long scale and higher tension should cause issues in the fingers and the middle of the hand, not the wrist, right?

PS: Regarding computer work ... this usually causes issues in the mouse hand, if ergonomics aren't sufficient. In this case better ergonomics and a trackpad or trackball usually help.

 

[steelprostate]

It may be unlikely, but just from my personal experience, I've played for about 15 years now...a couple of years ago I started noticing pain in the wrist of my fretting hand and wondered if it was from playing. I never did anything about it because it would subside and I'd be fine, but it would always come back, sometimes for weeks. I eventually noticed that if I bent my wrist downwards, there was a small lump that would protrude from the top of my wrist. I went to have it checked out and found that it was a ganglion cyst. Not dangerous from my understanding, just causes pain. They can be drained, removed, or pop during day to day activities. I've let it go for awhile, but now I'm starting to feel the exact same pain in my other wrist. So I plan on having the other one checked out, and if it's the same thing then I'll have them both removed, as this new one is extremely painful. But I'm on deployment right now and I know if I go to have them look at it I'll just end up with some Motrin lol best of luck and I hope this isn't your problem!