Painful Knuckles

[Cletus]

I have been playing now since January and have fallen in love with this instrument. Lately, I have been working on learning chords and have noticed that the knuckles on my left hand are getting really painful. Due to a trip I had to lay off practicing for 7 days but there is still pain. Is this a normal part of learning to play the mandolin?

[Yellowmandolin]

I have not had any joint pain acociated with playing the mandolin. Since you have not been playing for very long, your hand could just be adjusting to the new position it is in. I could also be minor arthritis pain. I have heard that some over the counter pain killers like Alive can make that better.

[cbdds]

About 3 months after beginning to play the mandolin, I started to have pain in the knuckles of my first two fingers on the left hand. At one point, it got so painful that I couldn't play. I saw an orthopedist and he ruled out arthritis, gave me some Celebrex to take for about two weeks and said it should get better. It took a while, but it has in fact gotten better. I gave it some rest and learned to modify my finger position on some chords. My index finger was the most painful, particularly when I played the G chord. I played last night for about 5 hours, and this morning no pain, so hang in there.

[mando bandage]

Glucosamine and the fountain of youth.

R

[evanreilly]

Ibuprofen. My finger joints and wrists are bothersome at times. Stretching is also mandatory.

[dasspunk]

This happened to me when I started too. I think the problem was due to a few things...

1. my mando's nut was not cut low enough (eg. it was too difficult to fret the 1st fret). To fix this, have it set up!
2. My grip was way too tight. Loosen that grip! Tension == bad
3. I was playing 6+ hours a day... Take little breaks and shake your hands out.

This worked for me... hope it helps.

[Adare_Steve]

I get aches in those joints when I type for too long. Not when playing tho. Cold and damp weather doesn't help. Could be mild arthritis.

Steve

[mandroid]

I call it (an over acuumulation of} birthdayitis.
older happens , wisdom aquisition is optional.
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[John Bertotti]

I had the same problem but I realized it was a compound thing. My playing and the way I held the steering wheel. I drive a lot and when I modified my steering wheel grip the problem slowly cleared up. I at one point was forced to spend four days without my mandolin and that helped also. John