Bass 1, Rev. Rawk 0

[marnold]

I think I broke myself.

I was playing my bass so much yesterday (Tuesday was my day off) that I hurt my left hand. The muscle on my middle fingertip hurts a from the force required to bend strings. That's a little better today. But the big thing this morning is that my thumb/wrist hurts like crazy when I turn it a certain way. Typing is somewhat uncomfortable. I didn't think I was stressing anything too much but I guess I was wrong. Evidently I'm not as young as I used to be.

 

[Tone2TheBone]

You're bending strings on a bass? Awesome! Congrats on the new bass amph.

 

[marnold]

You're bending strings on a bass? Awesome! Congrats on the new bass amph.

Yes . . . and I paid for it

 

[sunvalleylaw]

rest and some ice . . . see your chiro if you have one. My wife (a licensed DC) has worked on my ankles and feet regularly when I bang them out of shape running/skiing or whatever. It helps.

 

[sumitomo]

No,No Rev you need to do 4 Hail Mary's and hair of the hound.Meaning keep rockin Rev dont stop now.Sumi

 

[peachhead]

Well, ummm..if it hurts when you do that, then don't do that.

Seriously, what SVL said. I have been seeing my chiro for almost 9 years now and I don't know how I got along without him.

 

[marnold]

I'm quite astonished, but the pain in my thumb seems to be completely gone--this despite the fact I have to shovel/throw snow. I'm going to lay low the rest of today and give it a whirl tomorrow.

 

[Katastrophe]

You're gonna have to start warming your hands/wrists up before you play, and start focusing on proper technique while playing.

Take 'er easy, Rev.

 

[bigoldron]

You're gonna have to start warming your hands/wrists up before you play, and start focusing on proper technique while playing.

Take 'er easy, Rev.

Ditto to what Kat said. You, like the rest of us, are getting a little older and slower and the joints and tendons just don't work as well as they used to. Jumping to bass does tend to take a toll on you, so proper warm-ups and technique will help with some of the pain.

But, you may want to get that checked, as it may be the early stages of carpal tunnel syndrome. You do play a lot of guitar (unless I'm reading you wrong) and carpal tunnel does occur with repetitive motions, i.e. shredding/playing, etc. I'm probably wrong (not the first time and CERTAINLY not the last), but you've got to take care of yourself. Good luck with it and keep us posted. :AOK:

 

[marnold]

Well, the good news is that everything is back to normal today. Given how much my thumb hurt yesterday morning, I didn't anticipate that. I'm guessing that 90% of the problem was from bending strings which would put strain on the fingertip and the thumb. Guess I'll have to take it easy on that

Otherwise, I'm usually very cautious about my hands--especially after that whole snowblower incident. This is the first time since I started playing guitar/bass that I've had a pain in my left hand beyond the occasional fingertip discomfort. Usually the pains I get are in my upper back between my shoulder blades. No problems there, despite how much I played. Weird, actually.