Pain in the arm!

[nebula_34]

Hey All,

Ok - i'm in a dillemma here... I've got a guitar examination coming up for school in less than 3 weeks now - and in preperation I was spending a number of hours daily on my guitar.... Unfortunatly I now have a pain growing on the underside of my forearm. The pain is in my right arm, and while not severe, could become more problamatic. I'm going to take a few days off of the guitar to let my body re-coup some, but it SUCKS cause I want to practice more. Any suggestions on what to do/ how do avoid this in the future (p.s - it wasnt like I never practiced and then went to practicing a ton - that wasnt what brought on this pain - but it developed after on of my practice sessions)

[MatthewB]

Hi nebula:

That sounds a really hateful circumstance. You have much sympathy from here, even if I can't offer much help.

Are you working with a teacher who you can discuss the problem with?

I found that a guitar support helped me a lot, but it was my left arm rather than my right that had the problem, so I'm not sure what it would do for you.

Rest is surely going to be good for the arm. But it must be frustrating, to say the least.

Cheers,
Matthew

[brian richardson]

nebula_34,
is the pain at the point that your right arm rests on the guitar?
(top/side edge)

[Jubilee Valence]

:?: yeah neb,we'll need specifics on positions, precise movements-even tiny finger or wrist/elbow adjustments that bring on and/ or reduce your pain.any difference sitting, standing,lying...intensity same when-- i.e. squeezing,barring,new fingerings...the lists of pains, injuries & rehabs in this forum alone(not counting surfers) covers most of whatever'll get 'cha--we'll defintely keep this thread goin'--school is "muy importante!" :wink: -Jubi p.s. article archives occasionally have related topics..

[nebula_34]

Thanks every1 for the replys - and now to appeas the masses ;) Here are the details of my pain:

it is in my RIGHT arm, in the forearm section and occurs more in the middle of the forearm (not where my arm meets the guitar body). I've been playing 7 years and have not had this before, and I do have a teacher I can discuss it with, but it's hard to do now since i'm still on winter break (in Philadelphia - my teacher in is Canada).

The pain comes when I tense my hand into a fist (or in guitar, the pain in minimal, but still there when I am using any sort of right hand free or rest stroke). The only thing I can somewhat compare it to is after a day of rock climbing, and your forearm is shot (but that is the entire forearm) - whereas this is only the underside (palm side) of the arm. This is day 2 with no guitar playing... I'm just looking at my pieces and memorizing the notes more and running through them in my head.
Last semister of school though!! Then got the B.A. in music and Youth ministry. but for now... focusing on getting my arm prepared for an exam.

Thanks again
-Adam

[brian richardson]

hummmmm. nebula, have you been working on any new pcs. requiring different angles of attack, right hand patterns or changes to your normal tecnique? the reason i ask is, and maybe it helps/or not........
there was a section in a bach pc. that needed special attention( :evil: ). gave it all it needed, so much so i started getting a pain in upper forearm/elbow.
musta been a rep. stress thing. on advice, i moved my right arm back more towards the lower bout and it did the trick for me. small changes from my 'norm' have caused me a problem now and again and small changes have solved them as well. keep us updated and best of luck with your exam.

[daniel711]

Adam
It's a good thing that the pain is not in your wrist, which could be tendonitis or carpal tunnel syndrome (nasty stuff). If it's in the middle, or fleshy part of your forearm it's probably just a muscle strain. The muscles in the forearm are very small, and numerous, as they control the fine movements of the hand (unlike the upper arm biceps and triceps, which are very large and hard to strain). You may have unwittingly pulled a muscle doing something other than playing. The best advice is rest, but it's probably ok to play guitar lightly. Again, since the pain is coming from the muscle instead of the tendons or ligaments of the wrist, then it will probably just go away...

[nebula_34]

Thanks a ton Every1 for your helpuful advice.

Daniel - thanks for the distinction between carpel/tendenitus and muscle pain stuff - i'm relieved to say the least! It definatly is in the middle part of my forearm, so i'll start to work up to playing again hopefully soon!

Play on....