Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

That's right... :(

Some of you guys might remember that I have stressed a lot in the past the importance of warming up and balanced practice to avoid cts. Well guess who has it...

At least, I think I do. I noticed after playing classical a couple days ago that my wrist was hurting. So I gave up for a few days to let it rest and it's still kinda weak. Anyone know if this sounds like cts or maybe a more milder repetitive stress injury? Also, have any of you had this or know someone who has and what was their experience with it?

.. I really shouldn't be typing right now, it's hard on the wrists.

Hey James
You know me. Superfly's brother.
Well I find once and a while if I play for more than half an hour straigh I get cramps in my hands.
There is a new guitar out (electric) that actually reduce that cramping. It also is a little easier to play. It's called Lace Helix. Superfly told me about it. You can see it on their web site at http://www.lacehelix.com. I'm not sure if they make them acoustic style but I'm sure it will be out soon anyways. It's on a 20 degree angle tilt. It's not the best lookinf guitar but it might help.
The cramp usually goes away in 15-20 minutes but that is time I could spend playing the guitar more.
Just thought I'd let you know.

[Edited by overdrive on 06-01-2001 at 04:36 PM]

Where, exactly, was it hurting?

Christoph it usually hurt in the top of my hand and sometimes in my wrist.

No, I mean, James, where was it hurting?

If it was on the top of your wrist and hand then don't worry about carpal tunnel. Carpal tunnel is when the tendons that run through the underside of your wrist from your palm start giving you problems. I'm not really sure of why it happens, but the tendons will start to wear away at the "tunnels" of cartilage and bone that surround them.

So if it was the top of your wrist, then it's probably just a repetitive strain. I've had this RSI before in my hands from playing guitar and piano, but if I just rest them for a while they're ok.

It's kind of on the underside and the top side, but I don't have the finger-tingling which is usually associated with cts, leading me to believe it's probably just some form of rsi; which makes sense because when I noticed it, I had been playing really hard and long for the past couple days and also going all out weight-lifting, which is a killer. Probably just too much of to many things.

Had to keep this post brief, need to give the wrist a rest.