Aches in thumbs/hands

#21
All good points here, just adding that you need to make sure your hands are relaxed. If you find yourself gripping the neck and playing hard with tensed up hands it will work against you.

Sometimes getting away from it for a long period we forget proper form and tend to tense up.
 
#22
A couple of things. Did you start out practicing sitting down for a month, and have now changed to standing up? That can change your wrist angle completely, so you might have started and got sore, and then stood up and got a different kind of sore.
Have you spent a lot of time in the last three months doing nothing, like many of us tend to? I know I'm definitely not in as good of shape as I used to be, but I'm working on that. Or did you start working out a lot more during that timeframe, which contributes to the work your hands are doing?
Definitely hydrate, and relax and remember to breathe!!! Breathing not only gets you more O2, but forces you to relax.
Stretch before and after playing; arms, fingers, shoulders. Plus you're probably getting near 30? Y'ain't a kid any more, bub!!! But that's OK, in 30 years it'll still be fun.
Edit: yup, as other folks are saying, your neck and your hands are more directly related than you'd think!!
 
#23
May sound either really stupid or really obvious depending on your perspective. But you are working or possibly overworking muscles. You could try icing and also therapy. There are a lot of self-massage techniques that are pretty easy. Remember the muscles that control your fingers are in your forearm.
Next time you play for a while take your finger or thumb and press, start a couple inches below your elbow on the outer facing side of your arm and enjoy. I bet you'll find a couple inflamed spots. Do you know a PT or a massage therapist? Or acupuncture works wonders, don't be chicken.
 
#24
I've had similar experiences in the last few months. An orthopedist I was going to before Covid suspected carpal tunnel syndrome but because of the quarantines I didn't pursue the diagnosis. I highly recommend a book called "Conquering Carpal Tunnel Syndrome" by Sharon J. Butler. You should be able to find it used on Amazon. Even if you don't have carpal tunnel, the book is full of stretches and exercises for everything from your shoulders to your hands. It also has specific exercises for various activities including playing guitar. I can't say enough good things about this book.
Another suggestion is to to lighter strings. I switched from 45-105 to 40-100 and it has helped. You also might consider short scale basses. That's all my 66 year old hands can ha
 
#25
these helped me




hand-grip-exercise-tool-3d-model-max-obj-3ds-fbx-mtl.jpg
 
#28
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
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You are asking your hands to run a marathon when you can’t walk around the block. Getting in top physical form takes time. The best advice is it work in periods, with rest in between. Pounding a way for hours without being in shape will set you up for injury.

‘You are better off playing 30 minutes 2 times a day than one 1 hour session. Always stop at pain. Heat and stretch before playing ( palming a basketball is a good stretch), ice to cool down afterwards. Remember, you aren’t 18 anymore.

A couple of years ago I signed on to sub on a 4 hour gig of high energy dance music. Now, I hadn’t played a 4 hour gig since the 80s, having mostly done 1-2 hour show over those years and those were rather intermittent. I had 2 weeks to prepare and find out at age 62 if I had it in me to pull of a 4 hour gig. Trust me, I get were you are coming from.

The base of my left thumb is still sore 4 years later. My right thumb was really sore as well but after a cortisone short in my right shoulder for an unrelated injury to care of it.

No doubt once you get into shape you will be flying around the fingerboard like the best of them. Take care,
 
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#30
Welcome to the club. Playing 50 plus year. Hate it when people come up after a set and shake/pump my hands.

I use Ibuprofen to reduce inflammation, take one 200 mg half hour before use.

I use Calcium, with vitamin D, to avoid cramping. I take the horse pill with the above.

Water, keep drinking it, along with an alcoholic bev of your choice.
 
#31
Lobster11 said:
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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+1
 
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#32
I noticed when I got back in that I couldn't play with the same physical style that I used to without a lot of discomfort. I ended up selling my old Warwick 5-string monster and getting a whole new bass and setup that more fit with what I was doing.

Ice helps your muscles recover, always a good thing to do at the end of the day if you've been playing for a couple hours.
 
#33
My hand pain problem is more related to age (almost 64) and possible arthritis, but maybe my solution will help you too. I've found that warmth limbers almost anything in my body (and I've read a little science behind it, something about how heat helps liquify tissue that needs to slide smoothy). It was worse in cold weather, so I started wearing 1/2 fingered gloves nearly 24/7. I can play when I wear them, and the warmth has promoted circulation that likely helped heal the inflammation. I even wear full fingered gloves to sleep in now and my hands feel great.
 
#35
Learn everything you can about safe ergonomic techniques and put them into practice. Playing an instrument should never be painful. The stuff we got away with as kids isn't what we can get away with a few years later. I've had to change quite a few things over the years in order to stay out of pain, but I did it and I'm almost 59 and never have pain from playing, and I can go for a long time. Solid diet and exercise helps, too :D but changing up a few things here and there about the way you play can make a world of difference.
 
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#36
27 year old bass player here, who has had neck and shoulder pain from almost as soon as I began playing the bass.
Obviously technique, good playing habits, and GOOD POSTURE are all very important: focus on eliminating tension and economy of motion.
But the instrument is a beast to handle; it's easy to be tense when there's eleven pounds hanging from your neck.
I have experienced a lot of pain and outright repetitive stress trauma that has taken two and a half years of physical therapy to deal with.
If you are going to be practicing or performing bass for 2-6 hours a day like a pro or student will, there's an essential routine ingredient no one has mentioned yet:

You ABSOLUTELY NEED a strength-building workout routine. Lifting free weights (barbels are good for your arms, but medicine ball is my favorite because it really gets your whole core-torso-arm-wrist-finger system engaged and coordinated) is a popular choice. Calisthenics can give excellent results, too. The important things to focus on are; core stability; ligament, joint, and muscle strength; and flexibility.
Some easy things to start with:
Pushups & variations
Pullups
SHOULDER PRESS!!!
Squats and lunges

If you have access to some sort of bar suitable for deadlifting, that made a big difference for my spinal-axis health.

Honestly those hand spring squeezer devices are...... they're pathetic and misguided. Grip strength is good but you never want to SQUEEZE a barbel or your bass neck.

You're looking for exercises that are the exact opposite of resistance training on a weight machine that isolates one muscle group.
You don't need really "cardio" like running but my favorite, because of their benefits to your posture, are the stairmaster and rowing machines.


Funny end note: If you have enough space to swing it (SLOWLY) around freely, using the bass guitar sort of as if it's a barbel and doing (SLOW) range of motion exercises with it is honestly really effective. Hold it hanging by the end of the neck and fully extend your arm, testing it's weight and leverage. Rotate your waist and begin noticing how the bass's center of gravity affects your posture. Do similar motions while holding it from the neck-body joint. Use two hands to lift it over your head. Do shoulder presses, bicep curls, etc.
This has the added benefit of a tangible psychological effect.
 
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#37
It (should) all start with proper technique. I think this is often overlooked. When I first started playing bass, I really didn't have much technique. I developed soreness, pain and fatigue in both hands. I then focused on proper technique and made it a priority each time I picked up the bass. It was boring and frustrating at first... but boy, am I glad I focused on it now. Take your time on the comeback trail and focus on proper technique. Good luck :thumbsup:
 
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