I wonder if anyone else has experienced what happened to me yesterday. My finger hurts, and I don’t mean the usual finger tip pains we all suffer through LOL.
Here are the details:
I was practicing a piece that I have been working on a for a few weeks
At one point there is a half bar on strings 4,3,2,1 at the fifth fret and then the next note is on the seventh fret of the first string
As I placed my finger on the seventh fret there was a sudden intense pain
I rested for a few hours then tried again, same thing and again this morning
There is no pain at other times except perhaps a very minor tenderness in my forearm in one spot about three inches above my wrist
Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I’m guessing it is some sort Repetitive Strain Injury similar to carpal tunnel syndrome.
Any suggestions other than rest?
John
p.s. For those that are interested it was a finger style of My Favourite Things
Welcome to the community John
So what you’re saying is you are barring the 5th fret D G B e
strings with your index finger then placing your pinky on the
7th fret?
Is your wrist straight or at a 90 degree angle?
Your wrist should be as straight as possible if it isn’t angle your
guitar up more
Yes, except I was playing the seventh fret with my ring finger. The pain is actually in my palm rather than the finger but it only happens with certain fingering like this one. For example I can still play an Am or C chord (I just tried those two at random).
My wrist is pretty straight but I will play around with changing the guitar angle to see if anything makes a difference.
It sounds like you might have an acute injury that just needs rest, but once you recover from that, a few minutes of PT a couple times a week might help prevent future injury.
You should check out this thread:
There’s a post with a video from a doctor that shows some self-directed PT work you can do. I found it to be super simple and super effective.