Guitar in jeopardy

DanHendrix

Few year ago before I start playing the gitzer I broke my left wrist had to get two operations on it but thankfully no pins. The doctor told me that it would give me problems in the future if I was writing for an extended period of time. Now sometimes when im halfway through playing songs the pain is unbearable when im sliding up and down the frets and my wrist is swelling. I was thinking of getting another operation maybe get pins in it but im afraid i might never be able to play the same again. Anyway any advice or experiences with this.. Any help would be appreciated..

CianRyan

They make basses with a twisted neck to give a more natural playing position for your wrist, you may be able to get some thing like this in a guitar?

Patricide

All the advice i can give is, wear a good wrist support that is recommened by your doctor. Go to a physio and do all the stretches. And if it ever starts hurting, STOP PLAYING IMMEDIATELY.

Although i was never in a situation as bad as you i do have a lot of trouble with my left wrist. After following those steps i can play comfortably now(although my technique is now FAR from perfect, i can still play the tunes). My lecturer also told me about a thing you wear while you sleep that pretty much immobilizes your wrist and makes it rest, im not sure what its called but id look into that too. Every little helps.

O also a powerball might be another recommendation, used one last night for the first time and i could defiantly see it helping the muscles in your arm/wrist/fingers.

DanHendrix

Thanks guys ill take that on board... It mostly hurts playing Bar chords. Well see what happens on monday with the x-ray anyhows..Cheers

items

DanHendrix wrote: »

Few year ago before I start playing the gitzer I broke my left wrist had to get two operations on it but thankfully no pins. The doctor told me that it would give me problems in the future if I was writing for an extended period of time. Now sometimes when im halfway through playing songs the pain is unbearable when im sliding up and down the frets and my wrist is swelling. I was thinking of getting another operation maybe get pins in it but im afraid i might never be able to play the same again. Anyway any advice or experiences with this.. Any help would be appreciated..

Broke my right wrist last year which required surgery, screws and plate, never a problem while playing, its even better now healed, used to suffer a bit from that carpel tunnel syndrome or what ever its called, trapped nerve which leads to numbness, after the operation it went.

Not sure if its possible to have screws / pins / plates fitted after broken bone has healed, the operation is needed to make sure bone heals properly, to have them fitted you'd have to break bone and start again, thats how I imagine.

Are you playing guitar long? might not be suffering as a result of previous injury just experiencing some pain as your learning, takes time for hand / wrist / muscles etc to adapt, I remember when starting out and into a few years playing I had swore wrists, that was before I broke wrist.

If you want to go ahead and have an op done, after everything is healed and strength returns I cant see how you could have a problem.

fuelinjection

Yeah Physio is the way to go. I broke a knuckle on my finger and was worried about playing guitar, but they fixed it with 3 visits and a lot of exercise with a squash ball to build up muscle.
The knuckle hurts sometimes in cold weather but I can play guitar with no pain.

DanHendrix

items wrote: »

Broke my right wrist last year which required surgery, screws and plate, never a problem while playing, its even better now healed, used to suffer a bit from that carpel tunnel syndrome or what ever its called, trapped nerve which leads to numbness, after the operation it went.

Not sure if its possible to have screws / pins / plates fitted after broken bone has healed, the operation is needed to make sure bone heals properly, to have them fitted you'd have to break bone and start again, thats how I imagine.

Are you playing guitar long? might not be suffering as a result of previous injury just experiencing some pain as your learning, takes time for hand / wrist / muscles etc to adapt, I remember when starting out and into a few years playing I had swore wrists, that was before I broke wrist.

If you want to go ahead and have an op done, after everything is healed and strength returns I cant see how you could have a problem.

Ye your probably right i have being getting more advanced at playing now so its probably that.. Im probably just over reacting wouldnt no what to do if i couldnt play the gitzer.. thanks for the advice

punchdrunk

get your guitar setup on a plek machine

http://www.chandlerguitars.co.uk/workshop.php

sounds to me like your having to over apply pressure

this could make all the difference,even if it does mean a ryanair flight and an overnight in a dodgy B&B,drinking flat pints
it'd be worth it

Johnny Storm

DanHendrix wrote: »

Few year ago before I start playing the gitzer I broke my left wrist had to get two operations on it but thankfully no pins. The doctor told me that it would give me problems in the future if I was writing for an extended period of time. Now sometimes when im halfway through playing songs the pain is unbearable when im sliding up and down the frets and my wrist is swelling. I was thinking of getting another operation maybe get pins in it but im afraid i might never be able to play the same again. Anyway any advice or experiences with this.. Any help would be appreciated..

I'm no expert but I did read that, in general, it is a good idea to try to position the guitar so that your left wrist is straight as possible, as much of the time as possible. This may or may not help you in your situation.