Anyone else have left elbow issues from guitar?

[John B]

I've got tennis elbow in my left arm. When I had it in my right arm a year+ ago, I traced it to switching my computer mouse and keyboard. I changed to a more ergonomic setup, and in about 6-9 months it went away.

This year it's happening in my left arm. I have difficulty grabbing large objects - think palming a basketball, only substitute something non-athletic. For example, grabbing my wide-mouth water tumbler by the top - pain shooting down my arm to my elbow. Especially trying to hold something away from my body, like holding my arm straight out. Actually, just straightening my arm hurts. Making a fist hurts - when I've got my arm close to my body, but even more so if I extend my arm.

I've been trying to come up with what I might have started doing differently, and about the only thing I can come up with is I started playing guitar more. Actually, I pretty much just started playing guitar again, after not really playing for quite some time. I'm thinking it could be the rotation of the arm to get into playing position,, or maybe the nut width, or maybe the neck profile. Regardless, I'm trying to figure out if it's guitar, which I would prefer to keep playing, or something else. One drag is that it took so long for the changes I made for my right arm to take effect, so I don't think I'll notice any improvement for quite a while if I change something.

Any thoughts?

[majorminor]

Nov 21, 2023 9:55:10 GMT -5 John B said:

about the only thing I can come up with is I started playing guitar more.

Probably should go see a doc. But I bet you are right that it's guitar related. I've had the same thing happen a few times when I overplayed and/or suddenly started hitting acoustic hard after a lay off. While certain guitars and neck shapes affect things sometimes it's just squeezing too hard. Play less for shorter durations, Aleve, research some of the PT excercises and try them. Yeah it can take a few months to fix.

[Marshall]

[Marshall]

Pretty soon AI will eliminate the need for human made music.

[Marshall]

Neck profiles can (and do) affect your hand muscles and wrist I surmise. You've heard me rant and rave for a couple decades about my neck preferences. It's not out of snobbery (mostly). It's because arthritis in hand joints or muscle issues preclude me comfortably playing anything else.

[majorminor]

Nov 21, 2023 10:48:20 GMT -5 Marshall said:

Neck profiles can (and do) affect your hand muscles and wrist I surmise. You've heard me rant and rave for a couple decades about my neck preferences. It's not out of snobbery (mostly). It's because arthritis in hand joints or muscle issues preclude me comfortably playing anything else.

What's interesting to me is I have more problems with skinny necks than I do big old fat clubs. But either way I just plain grip too hard. Being a big strong dude I just did what I wanted technique be damned. It's starting to catch up with me a little. Most notably forming a full barre F or a Bm I have to consciously roll my wrist under so I don't have to squeeze as hard.

[Hobson]

Never had that issue, but any number of factors could cause a problem. Do you play a lot of bar chords? If so, maybe back off on those and see what happens.

[majorminor]

Oh....and maybe experiment with a nylon guitar. It takes a bit to adjust to the feel and tonal differences but playing nylon is much easier on joints and tendons.

[Marshall]

(I don't think Donner makes a nylon)

[John B]

Nov 21, 2023 10:35:36 GMT -5 Marshall said:

I think this is probably a big part of the solution, but I'm afraid of the audience's view when I'm wearing my kilt.

[majorminor]

[Dub]

I deal with pain a fair amount because of my RA so I work out ways to minimize it whenever possible.

• Don’t play wide-necked guitars.
• Use low tension strings. Heavy enough to get good tone but no heavier.
• Maintain a good setup. Don’t keep your strings higher than needed.
• Always use a guitar strap, even when seated. Fasten it at the neck heel, not the headstock. Adjust it for playing comfort, not for appearance.
• Don’t hold the guitar square across your body. Hold it angled away from your body so your noting hand is out in front of you and your picking arm isn’t held with a raised elbow. Yes, you won’t be able to see the surface of your fingerboard but you shouldn’t need to see it. That’s why you have dots in the side. This will allow you to keep your wrists straight and your arms relaxed, very important for avoiding pain. Forget what the method books say, your goal is comfort.
• Work on losing the tension. There are YouTube videos that attempt to help with this. Don’t press a string down any harder than needed to make a clear tone when your finger is close to the fret. This habit requires slow and deliberate practice. Your finger have to be able to find that spot without thinking about it.
• Don't make chords that are painful to do. You can learn to make thumbed chords without tension. Find new ways to form any chords that are painful. No one is checking to make sure you follow Mel Bay’s example.

This all requires patience, thought, and practice but I think you’ll enjoy the process.

[aquaduct]

Nov 21, 2023 9:55:10 GMT -5 John B said:

I've got tennis elbow in my left arm. When I had it in my right arm a year+ ago, I traced it to switching my computer mouse and keyboard. I changed to a more ergonomic setup, and in about 6-9 months it went away.

This year it's happening in my left arm. I have difficulty grabbing large objects - think palming a basketball, only substitute something non-athletic. For example, grabbing my wide-mouth water tumbler by the top - pain shooting down my arm to my elbow. Especially trying to hold something away from my body, like holding my arm straight out. Actually, just straightening my arm hurts. Making a fist hurts - when I've got my arm close to my body, but even more so if I extend my arm.

I've been trying to come up with what I might have started doing differently, and about the only thing I can come up with is I started playing guitar more. Actually, I pretty much just started playing guitar again, after not really playing for quite some time. I'm thinking it could be the rotation of the arm to get into playing position,, or maybe the nut width, or maybe the neck profile. Regardless, I'm trying to figure out if it's guitar, which I would prefer to keep playing, or something else. One drag is that it took so long for the changes I made for my right arm to take effect, so I don't think I'll notice any improvement for quite a while if I change something.

Any thoughts?

Don't spend so much time impersonating Jimmy Page?

[John B]

Nov 21, 2023 18:22:56 GMT -5 aquaduct said:

Nov 21, 2023 9:55:10 GMT -5 John B said:

I've got tennis elbow in my left arm. When I had it in my right arm a year+ ago, I traced it to switching my computer mouse and keyboard. I changed to a more ergonomic setup, and in about 6-9 months it went away.

This year it's happening in my left arm. I have difficulty grabbing large objects - think palming a basketball, only substitute something non-athletic. For example, grabbing my wide-mouth water tumbler by the top - pain shooting down my arm to my elbow. Especially trying to hold something away from my body, like holding my arm straight out. Actually, just straightening my arm hurts. Making a fist hurts - when I've got my arm close to my body, but even more so if I extend my arm.

I've been trying to come up with what I might have started doing differently, and about the only thing I can come up with is I started playing guitar more. Actually, I pretty much just started playing guitar again, after not really playing for quite some time. I'm thinking it could be the rotation of the arm to get into playing position,, or maybe the nut width, or maybe the neck profile. Regardless, I'm trying to figure out if it's guitar, which I would prefer to keep playing, or something else. One drag is that it took so long for the changes I made for my right arm to take effect, so I don't think I'll notice any improvement for quite a while if I change something.

Any thoughts?

Don't spend so much time impersonating Jimmy Page?

I do not understand what you mean.

[Village Idiot]

Nov 21, 2023 16:18:39 GMT -5 Dub said:

I deal with pain a fair amount because of my RA so I work out ways to minimize it whenever possible.

• Don’t play wide-necked guitars.
• Use low tension strings. Heavy enough to get good tone but no heavier.
• Maintain a good setup. Don’t keep your strings higher than needed.
• Always use a guitar strap, even when seated. Fasten it at the neck heel, not the headstock. Adjust it for playing comfort, not for appearance.
• Don’t hold the guitar square across your body. Hold it angled away from your body so your noting hand is out in front of you and your picking arm isn’t held with a raised elbow. Yes, you won’t be able to see the surface of your fingerboard but you shouldn’t need to see it. That’s why you have dots in the side. This will allow you to keep your wrists straight and your arms relaxed, very important for avoiding pain. Forget what the method books say, your goal is comfort.
• Work on losing the tension. There are YouTube videos that attempt to help with this. Don’t press a string down any harder than needed to make a clear tone when your finger is close to the fret. This habit requires slow and deliberate practice. Your finger have to be able to find that spot without thinking about it.
• Don't make chords that are painful to do. You can learn to make thumbed chords without tension. Find new ways to form any chords that are painful. No one is checking to make sure you follow Mel Bay’s example.

This all requires patience, thought, and practice but I think you’ll enjoy the process.

From all of this, I'm walking off with this knowledge:

Always use a guitar strap, even when seated. Fasten it at the neck heel, not the headstock. Adjust it for playing comfort, not for appearance.

I will try that. Thanks!

[howard lee]

Nov 21, 2023 9:55:10 GMT -5 John B said:

I've got tennis elbow in my left arm. When I had it in my right arm a year+ ago, I traced it to switching my computer mouse and keyboard. I changed to a more ergonomic setup, and in about 6-9 months it went away.

This year it's happening in my left arm. I have difficulty grabbing large objects - think palming a basketball, only substitute something non-athletic. For example, grabbing my wide-mouth water tumbler by the top - pain shooting down my arm to my elbow. Especially trying to hold something away from my body, like holding my arm straight out. Actually, just straightening my arm hurts. Making a fist hurts - when I've got my arm close to my body, but even more so if I extend my arm.

I've been trying to come up with what I might have started doing differently, and about the only thing I can come up with is I started playing guitar more. Actually, I pretty much just started playing guitar again, after not really playing for quite some time. I'm thinking it could be the rotation of the arm to get into playing position,, or maybe the nut width, or maybe the neck profile. Regardless, I'm trying to figure out if it's guitar, which I would prefer to keep playing, or something else. One drag is that it took so long for the changes I made for my right arm to take effect, so I don't think I'll notice any improvement for quite a while if I change something.

Any thoughts?

No. But I did have a case of stenosing tenosynovitis in the bird-flippin' finger of my left hand a couple of years ago. Over the course of 18 months, three hydrocortisone injections and the introduction of more foods into my diet that have anti-inflammatory properties, it disappeared—without requiring surgery. And that was good, because that bad boy would lock up and changing chords shapes was a bear. It has been fine ever since, and I make sure to add turmeric to my diet in some food or my morning coffee every day.

Get thee to a hand and arm specialist stat.

Rick Kelly at Carmine Street Guitars insists that hand-filling neck profiles help prevent hand issues. I'm just sayin'.

PS: I have never been able to palm a basketball.

[drlj]

Everything hurts whether I am playing guitar or not so I decided having it all hurt while playing is preferable to having it all hurt while not playing.

[PaulKay]

I had tennis elbow years ago. I basically stopped playing for a few months until it went away on its own.
I had always been told the best thing for tendinitis is to simply not use it till it heals….that and ibuprofin.

[kbcolorado]

I agree with Howard, see a specialist. I'd lost strength in my left hand. 50 days out from ulnar transposition / carpal tunnel surgery and I'm stronger than before surgery and still improving.

Can't say 100% it was from playing guitar as similar conditions are presenting on my right side, but it was much more severe on the left.

[Marshall]

Nov 21, 2023 9:55:10 GMT -5 John B said:

Any thoughts?

You're getting old.