Tendonitis

[Lane Pryce]

Have any of you pickers had to deal with tendonitis in your elbows? I had to give up my fiddles on account of it and dang its flareing up again with mando picking but not as bad as before. Lp

[Darren Kern]

Sorry to hear you are going through that, I wouldn't wish it on anybody. I had to put my guitar down for about 5 years because of pain in my hands/wrists and elbows. My elbows would feel like somebody was sticking a screwdriver in 'em. The freezable ice packs helped mine a lot, that combined with Vioxx (now Celebrex since Vioxx is gone) and regular weight training. If you haven't tried icing them, give it a good chance. One thing people normally do is only ice their elbows for a few days. Do it every night for 2 weeks straight even if it feels better.

[Nick Triesch]

The real bummer is that most of us folks who play mandolin are old folks. It will just get worse. I take Naproxen. It helps me. Nick

[siren_20]

It's not just the older folks. #I was diagnosed with tendonitis in my hands and wrists at the tender age of 19...it's been two years now and it's something I'm going to have to battle for the rest of my life. #The pain is much like Hydrilla describes, except when I get it, it's like having daggers going through my palms! Yeah, it's fun...
A few things that have helped me:
1. Stop and/or take it easy.
2. Ice after playing.
3. Use ibuprofen or naproxen, you basically want an anti-inflammatory drug.
4. Change your action and go down a gauge in strings. #Less tension=less work=less intense pain.
5. Try to relax your arms as much as possible when playing.
6. Take frequent breaks, stretching and "shaking out" your hands and/or arms.
7. Find a reputable chiropractor and give that a shot. #It helped me immensley...my chiropractor regularly does myotherapy (deep tissue) on my arms as well as working the hands.

Suggestions I have not tried:
1. Accupuncture. #Dawg told me about this, but I'm not keen on needles. #It worked well for him
2. Avoid acidic foods. #Another suggestion from Dawg...seems like it might help.
3. Do not stretch, because stretching will only cause more lactic acid to build up in your muscles and joints and therefore cause more pain. #A friend told my about this one...she suggested shaking it out, walking around, and drinking a lot of water. #I'm not sure, the stretching seems to help me a lot...

Hope that this helps! You're not alone in your struggle...

[John Craton]

I have tendonitis in my wrist from time to time. When it flares up I wear a splint at night and as long as I can during the day. The meds they prescribed for it made my stomach hurt worse than my wrist, so I just go for the Tylenol, try to keep the wrist as inactive as possible, and it usually goes away in a few days. I'm lucky in that it's generally fairly mild, so I wouldn't necessarily recommend this procedure for someone with severe and/or chronic tendonitis. Best to follow your doctor's advice.

[AeroJoe]

I'm not a doctor but I do recommend Celebrex...it's made my 39-year old hands feel 20 again. I also take Gluocosamine to keep the joints loose and tendons healthy. I do hot water soaks and stretches before going on stage, plus 4 Ibuprofen...I'm good to go then.

The stretches are just that...bending each finger back as far as I can stand it, then rolling the joints of each, something I got from Mike Compton.
Lastly, someone started a thread about old issues of "Frets"...one thing I remember vividly about that magazine is the "letters" section...long before email, you had to write a letter to them and if they thought it worthy of print, they'd put your letter in an issue.
Someone wrote in the Letters section one time with alot of the symptoms mentions in the posts above...and found out he was allergic to peanut butter...within a short period of time of not consuming the stuff, all symptoms went away...
If you have a rather large or perhaps all the old back issues of "Frets", look in them, chances are you'll find it...
Post the issue and year, or the letter itself if you can find it...it would be interesting reading the person's complete letter rather than just what I can recall from memory.

[chirorehab]

Proper warm up...Stretching....Rest....proper posture....proper technique....

I utilize Active Release Technique (http://www.activerelease.com) with my patients... You can go to the website and search for a provider in your area.

ART was recently featured in Runner's World magazine...

Good luck,

Eric

[CapnScarlett]

I'll be 19 in December and I've got nasty tendonitis in both elbows, though the left is much worse than the right. I wear braces just below the elbows (right on top of the offending tendon) and that seems to help. I also take Motrin and ice them after I play. It sucks that I have to limit myself to an hour a day, but at least I can still play. I did skip class once because I was in too much pain to write (I'm a lefty but I play right-handed). http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

Kate

[MandoCowboy]

I cured my tendonitis with a combination of things. #1.Message Therapy #2.Stretching not only hands, arms, but shoulders #3.Trying to figure out ways to play with less tension in fingers, wrist, arms, elbow and shoulders (I work on this constantly). #4.I use a small rolling pin with a handle to roll across arm muscles after playing (this is a very effective self massage technique that I discovered). #5.Bassalt Rocks I heat them and rub them on muscles. #6. Traumeel a topical rub to reduce swelling #7.Wooden balls sewn in an sport arm support help message muscles and areas in the elbow that were hurting.

Using all of the above has really helped and now I can play and just watch how things are feeling and stay ahead of it by using one or more of the above. #One thing I found that did not work for me was ice. #I had over tensioned muscles that pulled on the tendons, and even though ice reduced swelling, it increased the muscle tension. #Massaging, stretching, better playing techniques reduced muscle tension and the use of the Traumeel to reduce swelling worked much better for me. #Hope this helps.

[elenbrandt]

The Cafe is so great....I was just thinking this morning how much the tendonitis in my elbow is limiting my playing time and, gee, I should check out some treatments -- and bada bing -- here you huys are. Thanks a bazillion!

[JD Cowles]

what a drag it is getting old.....

stretching before and after playing (shoulders too) helped me a great deal. #this little thingy my chiro gave me is neat too (no financial interest here):

http://www.dynaflex-intl.com/gyro_info.htm

it takes a few days to get the hang of it, but it really works to strengthen and stretch out your entire arm and shoulder. best of luck jlp.

[ActionClaw]

The last few weeks I've been waking up in the morning with my left hand locked in a curled up position. I can't open it under it's own steam but have to open it manually with the other hand. Even then, not for a while; because of the pain it causes and because it just won't and #forcing it seems harmful. I sometimes massage it or put it in hot water and after 5-10 minutes to a half hour all's well again; no pain, no real problem again til the next morning. It's still disturbing though.

I've been reading this thread and #other similar posts on this site and others about sore fingers, hand pain/problems, etc #as well as researching elsewhere. I believe this is tendonitis, specifically what's referred to as "trigger finger". #I find plenty of others here suggesting they have tendonitis but no mention of this particular problem.

Is anyone else experiencing this?
If so, what are you doing about it?

Is it tendonitis?

I'm a little confused from what I've read as some suggest stretches and #excercise while others say this will aggravate the problem and recommend rest instead. Has anyone sought medical advice about this sort of thing?.
(In presponse to the obvious, I'm one of the many with no doctari, no healthcare provider, no insurance, etc.)

Am I also going to have to quit/take a break?

Any comments, advice, suggestions, etc are welcome.

Thanks

[mandomadman]

I just consolted a pharmacist about this subject,hoping there was some topical cream available to reduce the inflamation.He said it could be any of three conditions that cause tendon/joint inflamation and need to consol with a doctor.His quick remedy was: stop doing the activity that's causing the problem for 3 weeks,using cold and heat packs.He said Ibuprofin will help with the pain and inflamation as well.I said thats fine but after the three weeks I'm going to pick again and the problem is just going to return! He said thats true and I'd just have to deal with it with the packs and pain killers. Then he said depending on my condition there is minor surgery that really works.Turns out my friend had this surgery done (non picking related) and said he's never had a problem since. Ron

[fredfrank]

I know that when tendonitis was getting to me, it was worse when I'd go to jam sessions. I've never been able to get up and leave a jam, so my left arm would be killing me at the end of the night.

One thing I did to alleviate the tension was to stop playing chop chords when it wasn't necessary. Most of the time there are plenty of folks covering the back beat so I'd just loosly hold the neck of the mando with my left hand and mute the strings without really playing a chord. Also just strum lightly instead of whacking out the chop timing. As I said there are normally plenty of pickers who are already doing that. Save your strength for your break!

My tendonitis finally went away after a couple of years. But in the meantime I learned how to be more sensitive at jams, and that I don't have to swing hard to play golf.

[siren_20]

I have a tendency to do the same thing while I sleep... one way to curb it is to put your wrist in a rigid brace at night. It limits the motion that you can make with your hand so you don't end up with pinched nerves. The one I have is neoprene, it has a hole for your thumb and a rigid piece of plastic that is removable if you don't want it in. For about $10, it's worth a shot.

[mandomadman]

Ya those closed chop chords do add to the left forearm,wrist,thumb,hand pain.I,m cradling the neck in my palm with my thumb hanging over the top edge of the neck instead of proper thumb on the back of the neck hand possitioning and it helps with the pain alot,and I can still bang on those chop chords.Still gotta see the doc.

[Unseen122]

Not tendonitis but CTS it was in my left wrist just play in moderation.

[John Rosett]

i hurt my right elbow about 7 years ago. it's a repetitive motion injury, so i'm not sure if it has anything to do with tendonitis or not. my elbow would really hurt after a gig, and sometimes, it would lock up in bent position. i lengthened my strap so i'm holding it like sam bush. my elbow isn't at such an extreme angle, and it's helped alot.
john

yeah, getting old can be a drag, but it beats the alternative......

[AeroJoe]

Above, back in October, I mentioned Celebrex...I know there has been alot of controversy over it being pulled then put back on the market...I don't take but 200mg anyway...that's supposed to be in the safe zone, so to speak. I did try Relafen for short period of time when the controversy over Celebrex was at it's height, but I experienced side effects from it, whereas I did not with Celebrex...my 2-cents...