Aches in thumbs/hands

Stevobassfreak

Stevobassfreak

Jun 14, 2020
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#1
Hi all,
I am a 29 year old advanced player who sadly took a 2 year break from playing bass due to job and moving etc. During corona lock down 2 months ago I started playing again every day and started with a band 4 weeks ago. However I started getting really annoying muscle aches in my hands, forearms and particularly the fleshy part of my thumbs on my hands. They cramp very easily and get fatigued when I play bass or even hold my phone etc at the moment. I wonder if anyone has any advice, I was concerned I’d injured myself but it’s in both hands and dr tells me it’s just a form of delayed onset muscle soreness. How can I ease myself back in? i Play in a Metal Band, on a 5 string with a lot of galloping, tapping etc.
thanks! Steve
 
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#2
Hey. I’m in a similar boat. Took a break from bass for a few years and only just started back a few weeks ago. I’m not as bad as you seem to be but I definitely have some soreness. I think the Dr is right - just like working out, there’s going to be some muscle fatigue and we will need to ease back into it.

Try to limit the time of your playing sessions and stop immediately if it hurts. Maybe check to see if your bass is properly setup and that you’re using good technique. I’m finding myself gripping harder than necessary and I’m allowing my plucking hand’s wrist to bend way too much. All normal stuff that just takes some time and work to fix. Good luck!
 
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#3
just like any other muscles, if you overuse the muscles in your hands and arms, they'll ache and run out of steam. play less, and instead of exhausting your muscles, you'll give them time to recover. OP, you've chosen a very challenging type of music to come back to with undeveloped muscles. when i started playing lots of gallops and constant 16ths, i had to take days off between playing. i also found that when i played faster metal like death metal, i played harder and tended to keep a death grip on the neck, which made my fingers even tireder.

my advice - make sure you eat enough protein, drink enough water (good adince when building any muscles) and give your hands and fingers a break for recovery time. there's no short cut for this.
 
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#4
pcake said:
just like any other muscles, if you overuse the muscles in your hands and arms, they'll ache and run out of steam. play less, and instead of exhausting your muscles, you'll give them time to recover. OP, you've chosen a very challenging type of music to come back to with undeveloped muscles. when i started playing lots of gallops and constant 16ths, i had to take days off between playing. i also found that when i played faster metal like death metal, i played harder and tended to keep a death grip on the neck, which made my fingers even tireder.

my advice - make sure you eat enough protein, drink enough water (good adince when building any muscles) and give your hands and fingers a break for recovery time. there's no short cut for this.
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I agree with it sounding like overuse and fatigue. It is odd to wear out both arms though. I'm guessing the OP needs a setup on the bass to make playing easier.
 
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#6
It could be that you're just overdoing it, but if you're just getting back to playing after a 2-year layoff now would be a great time to take a careful look at your technique. The fact that you specifically mentioned soreness in the fleshy part of your thumbs suggests to me that you're not doing something right, because your thumbs shouldn't really be doing much. It sounds like you might be using a death grip on the neck with your fretting hand, and anchoring the thumb of your fretting hand more firmly against the body than necessary. Also, fretting or plucking with severely bent wrists will cause soreness and fatigue -- and possibly injury over the long term. Try working on both fretting and plucking with a softer touch and turn up the amp so it can do the heavy lifting.
 
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#8
Stevobassfreak said:
Hi all,
I am a 29 year old advanced player who sadly took a 2 year break from playing bass due to job and moving etc. During corona lock down 2 months ago I started playing again every day and started with a band 4 weeks ago. However I started getting really annoying muscle aches in my hands, forearms and particularly the fleshy part of my thumbs on my hands. They cramp very easily and get fatigued when I play bass or even hold my phone etc at the moment. I wonder if anyone has any advice, I was concerned I’d injured myself but it’s in both hands and dr tells me it’s just a form of delayed onset muscle soreness. How can I ease myself back in? i Play in a Metal Band, on a 5 string with a lot of galloping, tapping etc.
thanks! Steve
Click to expand...
I've been like that lately too. Hands constantly falling asleep, or cramping up. But, I've also been on the concrete crew for 2 months. Diggin' and formin'. So mine makes sense to me.
 
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#9
Stevobassfreak said:
Hi all,
I am a 29 year old advanced player who sadly took a 2 year break from playing bass due to job and moving etc. During corona lock down 2 months ago I started playing again every day and started with a band 4 weeks ago. However I started getting really annoying muscle aches in my hands, forearms and particularly the fleshy part of my thumbs on my hands. They cramp very easily and get fatigued when I play bass or even hold my phone etc at the moment. I wonder if anyone has any advice, I was concerned I’d injured myself but it’s in both hands and dr tells me it’s just a form of delayed onset muscle soreness. How can I ease myself back in? i Play in a Metal Band, on a 5 string with a lot of galloping, tapping etc.
thanks! Steve
Click to expand...
Hi Steve,

Been there, done that! A few thoughts:

1) Make sure you're warming up slowly with gradually more difficult exercises rather than just jumping into it, or you could be injuring either your tendons or muscles. It may seem stupid, but I'd also suggest eating a lot of banana and drinking those disgusting sweat-tasting sports drinks for the potassium, which lubricates the tendon sheaths and prevents rubbing and inflammation.

2) Ease back into it. You took two years off, which means that your body has probably scavenged a lot of the musculature that you developed alongside your technique. You need to go at a rate that your body can handle, not that you want to proceed at; this isn't a mind over matter thing to power through, it's simple physiology.

3) I'd suggest talking to a physical therapist who specializes in musicians, not a general practitioner. I have no idea how far you've pushed it, or how badly you've injured yourself, but this is something to take seriously, even if you're fine. If nothing else, they'll give you exercises that'll minimize the possibility of injuring yourself with your musical acrobatics.

In my teens, I played a lot of Shawn Lane, Jason Becker, and Yngwie Malmsteen neoclassical shred on guitar, and didn't exercise these precautions. While I didn't do any lasting functional damage to myself (I got to physio in time), I did have to take 6 months off because I tore up my tendon sheaths - I couldn't even hold a pencil (and had to give up a cherry theater gig playing Godspell). The scar tissue feels like braille under my skin.
 
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#10
Nutrition can almost always get you there.

1) Potassium. Coconut water is a good source (and will help with #4 as well). Google for others. It helps with muscle contractions.

2) Google up anti inflammatory foods. Most pain in the human body comes from inflammation.

3) Ditch sugar and processed foods as much as possible.

4) Stay hydrated.

For the most part, the traditional western diet is simply wrong. It does as much harm as good. Open your mind to newer science regarding diet and nutrition.

I used to take Prilosec and Advil like candy. I switched my diet and nutrition and now take neither. My blood pressure is perfect. My energy levels are up. And nothing hurts. (I'm almost 50.)
 
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#12
Pretty much what other people have said, you're probably playing too hard, straighten your wrists etc. I will add for your fretting hand try to keep your thumb pointed towards the headstock most of the time. For the plucking hand it sounds like you're just bearing down too hard on an anchor point so just try to stay conscious of it or try experimenting with partially floating or fully floating techniques. If you search Adam Neely playing technique he has a couple older videos that are very good at showing and explaining everything well.
 
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#13
In this age of the personal device for both work and play, many of us are overusing our thumbs and hands all day long. Not a bad idea to build some warm up and stretching into your routine and try to give your hands some “downtime” periods as well.
 
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#14
What string gauge are you using? It might be wise to kick it down to 40-95 or, if you are able, just tune down a half step to relieve some tension.

I am sure you are playing through an amp or some device, but if you are playing unplugged, you might be playing too hard.

Your mind and muscle memory is still intact, but your body may not match.
 
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#15
I like to immerse both hands in a sinkfull of warm water, open and close them, move all my fingers like Entwhistle, make them all 'run' for lack of a better description. The water provides resistance and the movement involves all the muscles and tendons involved in playing, fingers to elbows.
 
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#18
Stevobassfreak said:
dr tells me it’s just a form of delayed onset muscle soreness
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TideSwing said:
you went from 0 >1000 too fast
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pcake said:
give your hands and fingers a break for recovery time. there's no short cut for this.
Click to expand...
 
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#19
Wow! Thank you all for the replies- great advice and really encouraging. I spent every day from age 10-27 playing bass everyday without these issues, so after coming back to it after 2 years it scared/frustrated me. Reading through all of your replies I think it has a number of factors 1. My muscle memory etc is still there I.e. I can still play everything but it’s irritated them because I physically am not in shape for it atm 2. I did too much too fast 3. I need to give it a chance to break 4. Nutrition/hydration 5. Definitely technique is an issue- I think I’m playing too hard and with too much tension or pressure on both hands 6. I also have a desk job in my day job, so in general a lot of hand overuse and picking up the bass again has perhaps irritated it.
 
#20
Our bodies change. They just do. Our own genetic clock. Not age.

Our text thumbing is jacking us up. That crouch over the devices and computer keybd jacks our posture.

I regularly go for chiropractic, acupuncture, specific PT, massage for what treatment I need.

Hand wrist pain can be up in the shoulders. Just showing down there.The fact that so many patients have pain after carpal tunnel surgery points to this. A posture that worked for you for decades when laying on the couch may be the cause of an ache or at least has to be changed for health now.

I used to slouch in bed and read. 50 some years. Now I sit up straight and stack three pillows to place a book on to read in bed. Imagine your head is a bowling ball. It is. :) Sit up straight and let it hang forward the way we look down and text. Eventually our necks will cry foul.

I’d resist the doctors because they are in to pain relief and surgery. See someone who works with body mechanics. Half of my chiro’s patients are athletes & musicians, young and old, pro and amateur. Some will have you bring in your bass to see what they can see.
 
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