Getting old - slowly dwindling dexterity

[far0n]

Right folks... I'm now the grand old age of 40 and my 1st finger on my fretting hand hurts. It has done for about 3 months now. Just the first/bottom knuckle. Tried laying off the playing for a bit, which seems to help, but it's tricky not playing when there's folks that want their Christmas party gigs !! All opinions and recommendations welcome !

p.s. Our guitarist says I've got arthritis...... git.

[KingBollock]

Arthritis can come at any age, so don't dismiss it too off-handedly. I have some in my lower spine, caused by damage taken when I was 17.

[lurksalot]

Move south where its warmer and less damp , sorted.

Alternatively , eat more garlic , wear a copper bracelet or take cod liver oil , better still do it all.

good luck , a lot of it is how you handle it , an age is a number that is all , don't give in to a random number

[chris_b]

See a doc.

Lower your action and don't press so hard.

[discreet]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1354583915' post='1887819']
Lower your action and don't press so hard.[/quote]

Yes. And buy a bigger amp and let the power do the work.

[MiltyG565]

I had a similar problem. Well, i was getting pain in the base of my thumb, but my doctor said it was just a cramped muscle. So i just warm up more thoroughly now, and i haven't had much problem. Are you sure you are warming up enough? Also, like the others say, get the action low, and try not to fret so hard. It could be arthritis, see a doctor, or it could be a trapped nerve. could literally be 100 things.

I've also started taking cod liver oil. My wrists seem to be looser, more capable. It couldn't hurt to try some of that stuff!

Edited December 4, 2012 by MiltyG565

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='lurksalot' timestamp='1354580455' post='1887791']
Move south where its warmer and less damp , sorted.

Alternatively , eat more garlic , wear a copper bracelet or take cod liver oil , better still do it all.
[/quote]

Beware the moon, and stick to the road.

[Adrenochrome]

Go to the docs, get it properly diagnosed, and be as healthy and fit as you possibly can. 40 is nothing, I'm ten times the bass player I was at 25.

[Spike Vincent]

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1354592320' post='1887841']


I had a similar problem. Well, i was getting pain in the base of my thumb, but my doctor said it was just a cramped muscle. So i just warm up more thoroughly now, and i haven't had much problem. Are you sure you are warming up enough? Also, like the others say, get the action low, and try not to fret so hard. It could be arthritis, see a doctor, or it could be a trapped nerve. could literally be 100 things.

I've also started taking cod liver oil. My wrists seem to be looser, more capable. It couldn't hurt to try some of that stuff!
[/quote]

+1 all of this.I wasn't expecting my GP to take my thumb problem seriously,but he did.Currently taking anti inflamatories to ease what is likely a gardening strain..

[Spike Vincent]

40? You're still a puppy......

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='Spike Vincent' timestamp='1354612199' post='1887918']
40? You're still a puppy......
[/quote]

Ah, you're a forest of Dean man? Looks like a lovely part of the world. I've been to gloucestershire before (Cheltenham) and it was a great place, must get a visit round your neck of the woods sometime in the next year or 2. I hope to go to uni in cheltenham to study music production eventually.

[flyfisher]

Have you seen Keef's hands?

Here's a doctor's persepective on such things:
http://doc2doc.bmj.com/blogs/doctorsblog/_learning-keith-richards-fingers

[Bilbo]

Hand injuries take forever to heal because you use them all of the time. I have had pains of one kind or another for years but you can manange a lot of difficulties by being aware of how you use your hands and by improving their grace and efficiency. Alexander Technique is useful as a starting point but also things like ergonomic keyboards and vertical mice can be helpful if you use computers a lot (a lot of hand pain is actually wrist trouble).

[leroydiamond]

[quote name='Adrenochrome' timestamp='1354612032' post='1887913']
Go to the docs, get it properly diagnosed, and be as healthy and fit as you possibly can. 40 is nothing, I'm ten times the bass player I was at 25.
[/quote]
Wait until you hit 50 (Like me) Jaco watch out! (I wish)

[Adrenochrome]

[quote name='leroydiamond' timestamp='1354616697' post='1888000']
Wait until you hit 50 (Like me) Jaco watch out! (I wish)
[/quote]

'ave it!

[JTUK]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1354583915' post='1887819']
See a doc.

Lower your action and don't press so hard.
[/quote]

This... and this is why you don't want a harmful agressive hard-hitting technique as well....IMO.

I don't know if you have this...but I see a lot of guys beat the hell out of getting the notes out and I assume it will come back at them at some point in time.

[geoffbyrne]

I'm nearly 66, fingers a bit stiff, but not getting in the way .....yet.....

G.

[chris_b]

Growing older brings all sorts of interesting challenges, apart from OA, aching joints, dwindling muscle strength, etc.

Then there's the wear and tear of standing in front of a drum kit and a mad guitarists stack.

You also get more forgetful. You've got one bar to go and you can't remember what comes next, another verse, middle 8 or a chorus; and what key are we in?

I also have the joy of facing Dupuytren's disease, or bent finger. It runs in the family and if it ever develops it's really mess up my left hand technique.

[Spike Vincent]

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1354613065' post='1887933']
Ah, you're a forest of Dean man? Looks like a lovely part of the world. I've been to gloucestershire before (Cheltenham) and it was a great place, must get a visit round your neck of the woods sometime in the next year or 2. I hope to go to uni in cheltenham to study music production eventually.
[/quote]

It is very scenic,although it's full of water at the moment..

[Spike Vincent]

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1354618081' post='1888037']
This... and this is why you don't want a harmful agressive hard-hitting technique as well....IMO.

I don't know if you have this...but I see a lot of guys beat the hell out of getting the notes out and I assume it will come back at them at some point in time.
[/quote]

It does...ow.

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='Spike Vincent' timestamp='1354623408' post='1888177']
It is very scenic,although it's full of water at the moment..
[/quote]

Oh right... i forgot about that...

[Kongo]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1354615949' post='1887987']
Hand injuries take forever to heal because you use them all of the time. I have had pains of one kind or another for years but you can manange a lot of difficulties by being aware of how you use your hands and by improving their grace and efficiency. Alexander Technique is useful as a starting point but also things like ergonomic keyboards and vertical mice can be helpful if you use computers a lot (a lot of hand pain is actually wrist trouble).
[/quote]

^This.
I went to town on a load of difficult playing without warming up once...Didn't cross my mind I'd just crossed a line I usually watch.
Tendons in my wrist started to gain a "dull" pain and for quite some time I backed off on my playing. But because I work using my hands all day, working on cars etc, the healing took longer.

Since then though, whenever I play I'm also feeling out for pain or odd sensations. Often you get set into a song that's easy to play and relax too much, meaning your arms fall into different positions than normal, and this is bad. That's what I noticed my folly was and although it takes a little more concentration, I make sure to pay attention to any feeling I may have.
Thumb getting a little cold on a hard part? I'm pressing too hard, time to let off. That's the median nerve getting pinched.
Wrist feeling a little "off"? I'm bending it at a funny angle.

[KingBollock]

I started getting pains in the little and ring finger of my left hand years ago. It turned out to be because I spend a lot of time at my computer and my computer desk is a corner one, so I have the habit of leaning on my left elbow. I stopped the problem using a mouse mat that has a built in gel wrist rest. Now my elbow rests on the gel pad and I no longer get the pain.
Sometimes you have to think laterally to source the problem.

[endorka]

I'd like to second the advice to take good amounts of fish oil & garlic, I also take glucosamine sulphate and a multivitamin daily. These are good for a multitude of things as well as joint health.

Also the advice about the pain perhaps being muscular is worth looking into. I've been into strength training and athletics for several years now, and have found trigger point therapy and associated treatments such as sports massage, deep tissue massage, foam rolling etc. very useful for keeping me moving. Joint pain can often be referred from the associated muscle - the muscles for the fingers are in the forearm, and relieving the tension in the muscle with deep massage may therefore relieve the joint pain.

It's well worth looking into IMHO.

Jennifer

[Kongo]

I guess I'm also gonna add in here the rarely known fact that I found out once from having excruciating pain in both my hands.
Vitamin overdose. Sounds silly but both Vitamin A and D are found in Cod Liver Oil AND Multivitamins on top of my diet of the time. I used to take both together and ended up exceeding the recommended ug by quite a bit and was actually feeling the effects of Vitamin D toxicity. One of which being extreme joint and muscle pain.
I felt twinges before but thought it was work doing it, according to my GP, that was a sign.

So, maybe check your vitamin intake? That too can cause joint and muscle pain if you have too much.
About two weeks of taking neither my body flushed it out and my hands felt better...I did fear the worst, it has to be said.

Edited December 5, 2012 by Kongo