wrist numbness & pain

[Cynical Bastard]

I've been playing guitar for about 2 years now and just recently, as in the past few days, I've noticed my right wrist feeling kind of numb and weaker than usual, making something like alternate picking much more of a chore (and I'm not playing any more often than I was say 3 months ago). Obviously I know I just need to rest it for a while and not play, since this is the first time I've really experienced this, but is there any specific exercises I can do to try to strengthen it and/pr prevent this from continuing to happen?

 

[serenesorrow]

I used to get a bit of wrist pain, but usually only when I was concentrating too hard to have an absolute strict technique. The best I've found to do is a fairly decent warmup chromatics alternate picked and hammer-on for a while. Some people recommend stretching your arms and doing circles with your wrists before playing. I've also heard wrist bands help.
Don't know too much on the subject though sorry.

 

[Iced In Flames]

You can squeeze a small sized ball like a tennis ball. That is supposed to be used in therapy and its should work your wrist and some forearm muscles.

 

[Mattias the Bitch Boy]

I've been playing guitar for about 2 years now and just recently, as in the past few days, I've noticed my right wrist feeling kind of numb and weaker than usual, making something like alternate picking much more of a chore (and I'm not playing any more often than I was say 3 months ago). Obviously I know I just need to rest it for a while and not play, since this is the first time I've really experienced this, but is there any specific exercises I can do to try to strengthen it and/pr prevent this from continuing to happen?

You must STRETCH before each practice session yo, and you must not play for too long a time period at once! Rest once every hour at least, when possible. Search for instructions on how to stretch your wrists and fingers on the net.

Sincerely,

Dr. Mattias

 

[Iced In Flames]

Hey Mattias. Aint seen ya in awhile!

 

[TekChef]

If that pain/numbness does not go away in a few days...stop playing for a few days, if not a week!!!

Another thing is that can sometimes be caused by tensing up while playing..relaxing your arms while playing is very important! The more you relax, the faster you will get with smoother execution.

 

[Dora]

i REALLY recommend to read these sites - forewarned is forearmed
http://www.musicianshealth.com/
http://eeshop.unl.edu/music.html
there are lots of discussions on this. And at least you take a rest while reading them

 

[Mattias the Bitch Boy]

Hey Mattias. Aint seen ya in awhile!

Guess what! I was BANNED!! Can you believe it?

 

[Iced In Flames]

Guess what! I was BANNED!! Can you believe it?

WHY?!

 

[Mattias the Bitch Boy]

WHY?!

It was probably just an accident. Mistakes happen to everyone. Except me really, I very rarely make mistakes. But I mean to everyone who is lesser than me, most people, if not everyone, they all make mistakes.

 

[Bryant]

Stop playing now !! Take a week off. The pain is no big deal (it could be anything like a muscle strain,) but the numbness shows that it could a nerve problem. If the numbness is right at the base of your palm that could be a sign of carpal-tunnel syndrome. If your numbness is at night (while laying in bed) then it could very well be CTS and is not treatable by anything but surgery.
CTS is not just for people that type all day and it CAN be brought on by trauma, not just repetitive motion (which guitar playing is repetitive motion though) and it is serious, not just a discomfort. If it worsens it can prevent you from sleeping. It will hurt and "go to sleep" mostly while lying down when you get moderate damage to the nerves.
I am not trying to scare you and the chances are that you do not have the CTS problem, but see if the pain and numbness go away before you play (give it a week) as if your problem was caused by some trauma you are unaware of, it could develop itself into something worse. If it doesn't go away, it could be as simpleas a muscle pull that some Flexoril will fix, but you would want to see a doctor after a week and it's not considerably better.

Bryant