Wrist pain

[Muso]

Hello mate

I used to get pains all the time in my wrist, it was all down to poor technique and practising too much.

The way I go round it was by taking lots of breaks when doing tough exercises and concentrating all the time on being relaxed. You need to try to apply the lightests pressure u can to the strings which takes a lot of work and this will majorly mess up your current skills.
Another thing to try and do is to have the fretting hand perpendicular to the neck, look at steve vai or doug aldritch, actually check this link out and look at his fretting hand especially during solos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbtrR3Z_xz8

Hope this helps somewhat

[JamesHealey]

warm up, have correct technique, and don't over do it.. i had a very very bad case of rsi 2 years ago from playing too much guitar but have changed my fingering and picking technique, practice more efficently and warm up propperly and havent really had a problem since.

[Gary]

Hello mate

I used to get pains all the time in my wrist, it was all down to poor technique and practising too much.

The way I go round it was by taking lots of breaks when doing tough exercises and concentrating all the time on being relaxed. You need to try to apply the lightests pressure u can to the strings which takes a lot of work and this will majorly mess up your current skills.
Another thing to try and do is to have the fretting hand perpendicular to the neck, look at steve vai or doug aldritch, actually check this link out and look at his fretting hand especially during solos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbtrR3Z_xz8

Hope this helps somewhat

I can relate to this and it's very much in line with my plans for when I start playing again. Excellent link BTW and really illustrates your point.

[headtheball]

I got really bad tendonitis from a factory job some years back (brick factory!) and it hurts like hell. If your wrist actually "Creaks" like a ruxty door wen you hold your ear to it, get thee to a doctors!!!

[Johnny Mac]

Just warm up relaxed an un-rushed, stop each 20 mins and shake all the tension out like you would if your working out. Drink water or natural fruit juice. Breath and practise something else for 20 minutes. Repeat.

[rewt_]

This is all good advice.  I screwed up my hands really bad by ignoring pain and practicing anyway.  I couldn't play for about six months.  My advice:

1. If it hurts, STOP IMMEDIATELY
2. If you're learning something fast, learn it slow first.  When you can play it slowly without pain, your hands will have developed the posture necessary to speed it up in good form.  At that point, speed it up slowly.  The process usually takes about 5 minutes and you wind up with a much better grasp of the part you're trying to learn to boot.  [Side Note: I find this makes the  difference, sound-wise, between a kid dorking around in his bedroom and a reasonably serious musical statement.]
3. When you're on the computer, don't keep your hand on the mouse when you're not using it.  Try to push your keyboard forward so your arms can lay on your desk.
4. If you think you've done serious damage, take some time away from the guitar.  I got thrown so f'ing off course when I screwed up my hands, I would have been a much better player now if I had just sacrificed a week or two to let the damn things heal.
5. Just be more conscious of when your hands/arms start to ache/tingle throughout the course of the day, both on the guitar and off.  Being aware of it goes a really long way to keeping your body positioned in such a way that physical stress is minimized.

[Muzzzz]

earlier this year in the school holidays, i was doing some SERIOUS practice sessions - until my left hand got pins and needles for no apparrent reason - Not good, especially coz I was only 14 at the time. I was also getting a lot of this 'clicking' sound when i bent my wirst slightly. Lots of pain. All it took was for me to:
(A) Re-learn my left hand with my thumb resting ON the back of the neck, not OVER it, and
(B) Use a foot stool.

Do whatever it takes to get your wrist and forearm straight. Also, simply try and economise with your LH movement. Keep your fingers very very close the the frets. This will also help you play a lot faster.