# Wrist pain in right hand when playing 7s



## Quinny (Jan 13, 2011)

Mods - maybe should be elsewhere (technique section perhaps?) so feel free to move if required.

Been playing almost-only 7s for the past bunch of months....started noticing a dull ache in my right wrist (right handed player) when playing, also a bit of shoulder pain.....fast forward a couple of months and my wrist is hurting a lot of the time during and outside of guitar playing. It's enough to make me stop writing/typing or lifting stuff and take a break.....worse position for it, and I'm not kidding, is wiping my ass!  (and unfortunately don't have the option to stop doing that!)

For years I've been playing big bodied semi-hollows (335 size), great playing position for me and no problems. Something about 7s though, and especially my BlackMachine, which seems to push the whole guitar 'back' a bit, and makes playing uncomfortable after a while. Tighter angle on my wrist and shoulder is supporting an arm 'hanging' away from the body instead of tucked in, if you know what I mean. For the first time ever, after 17 years or so of playing, I find myself choosing a guitar to play based on whether I reckon it's gonna hurt or not.

What do you think? Common problem? Bad posture/technique, or just unlucky and maybe the early days of something ending in 'itis'? Never had anything like this in the best part of 2 decades, and coincides with focus on 7 stringed things.

Cheers, Q.


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## Emperoff (Jan 13, 2011)

Probably everything you mention in your post, except that the fact that the guitar is 7-strings shouldn't affect the right hand at all (left hand would be a different story). The problem seems to be in the shape of the guitar itself. If you're used to 335s, a Blackmachine will be the absolute apposite, so you're totally out of your comfort zone when playing. That may lead to innecesary tension and/or bad positions.

For now, take a rest if you feel pain and don't let your muscles and tendons strain, or you'll regret later (believe me). If you feel that the problem is recurrent and you don't get used to your Blackmachine, sadly you're gonna have to sell it. I have a similar problem with my Ibanez S7420 (the right hand fits nicely, but the neck cramples my left hand and it hurts) so that's the reason it's for sale.

Hope that helped, and after all take care of your health first among everything. You can always order a guitar with a shape more suited to you later.


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## WickedSymphony (Jan 13, 2011)

+1 to everything Emperoff said.

Also what position are you sitting with the guitar in? If you aren't already, try playing in the classical position. Your right arm should fall naturally into place that way and will most likely be a lot more comfortable for you.


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## mark105 (Jan 13, 2011)

Important...Rest and let it get better, see a Dr. if necessary, get in front of this before it gets worse. some possible things that can help are...ibuprophen, fish oil, glucosamine & chondroitin. drink alot of water, always warm up.
I've had playing injuries, take care of those hands.


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## BasementCreature (Jan 13, 2011)

I had the same problem, ive had les pauls and ibz s2170 . its the neck and body of yout guitar. get a comfy guitar instead. all my problems where gone when i swithced to slimmer neck guitars. Im talking about the ergonomics of the guitar. its clearly not that many guitars are wery ergonomic.

when i got my jp7 i was surprised and wondered why it dint hurt. i also did research on it before i bought it and many with these problems seem to go for the JP guitars.
the tummy shave and arm shave lets you really rest and only use the effort need to play and not consentrate on moving your arm over the body.

since i got it i can play for 8 hours straight and dont take any type of damage.


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## HighGain510 (Jan 13, 2011)

Yeah it might be the body size that's causing the problem. If your arm feels more comfortable on bigger bodies it could be throwing it off when you switch to a thinner body and there is less to rest your picking arm against. I know that personally I can't get along with really large-bodied acoustics, it hurts the crap out of my arm because it's awkward for me. IIRC you're a taller gent so it's possible that having more surface area (as on a 335) would be more comfortable for your longer arms, so when you switch back to a thin ass guitar like a BM it's moving your arm out of the natural comfort zone. When you go back to your 335 does the pain go away?


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## Konfyouzd (Jan 13, 2011)

Is there a slightly different position you could hold it in that would be more comfortable for that particular guitar? I typically play sitting down so I know sometimes I have to shift the way I'm sitting or angle the neck differently depending on the guitar for things to still be comfortable.


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## Quinny (Jan 13, 2011)

HighGain510 said:


> IIRC you're a taller gent


How the hell do you know that!?  (yes, 6 foot 3 and a bit)




HighGain510 said:


> it's possible that having more surface area (as on a 335) would be more comfortable for your longer arms, so when you switch back to a thin ass guitar like a BM it's moving your arm out of the natural comfort zone. When you go back to your 335 does the pain go away?


Ah yes, hadn't thought of that......the thin-ness of the body instead of the bridge/playing position itself. Thinking about it, never had this issue with the Heatley 7 - it's a more standard body-plus-carved-top-affair. Hmm.....

Classical position does indeed help, but for good stretches of time per session it's not for me. I'll have a muck around with positions and straps at various length over the weekend, see what's what. DEFINITELY do not want this to develop into something bad.

Cheers, Q.


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## lookralphsbak (Jan 13, 2011)

Yea I have the same thing. My wrist and the muscle between my thumb and index finger on both hands hurts and crack a lot and I have a feeling it's because of the Schecter 7 string I use. Maybe I should try to adjust the strap level (at my waist). I'm hoping the pain goes away when I get my les pauls because I doubt their necks are as fat as a schecter. I've been considering selling my schecter but I'm not too sure that I want to.


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## Quinny (Jan 13, 2011)

Bit of playing this evening.....maybe it's just because I'm lazy (or never had a guitar to give me the issue before), but carved top = somewhere to rest my right arm. Thin guitar + flat top + having to suspend arm seems to = ouch. Pretty instant, switching from one to the other. Once again, Hmm.....and maybe also, as the man in Blazing Saddles said,:


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## shadscbr (Jan 13, 2011)

Hey Q, first off, i'm sorry to hear of your pain, that's never cool.

I'm not nearly as comfortable playing my smaller bodied 7's, as i am my larger hollowbody and acoustic 7's...It sounds like you need a nice thick 7 string hollowbody  

Your problem/question comes at a time when playing comfort has been a hot topic for me, as i just placed a deposit to a small builder to build me the perfect fit 7 string. As i get older (i turn 40 this year) i start to understand the realities of needing to keep my guitar playing bits comfy, especially the parts that rest on other parts.

The answer? Order more guitars! 

All the best Q!

Shad


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## Quinny (Jan 14, 2011)

shadscbr said:


> It sounds like you need a nice thick 7 string hollowbody


You know where i could find a nice one? 



shadscbr said:


> The answer? Order more guitars!


What problem is that *not* the solution for!? Amen bro!

Q.


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## shadscbr (Jan 14, 2011)

Quinny said:


> You know where i could find a nice one?
> 
> Q.


 
LOL...if my son doesn't play, i'll still be jamming with that one down in my grave 

best of luck finding out what makes everything work right...fwiw, bevels and forearm contours are worth looking into, I wish I had ordered all my customs with that in mind.

Shad


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## rug (Jan 14, 2011)

Quinny said:


> Mods - maybe should be elsewhere (technique section perhaps?) so feel free to move if required.
> 
> Been playing almost-only 7s for the past bunch of months....started noticing a dull ache in my right wrist (right handed player) when playing, also a bit of shoulder pain.....fast forward a couple of months and my wrist is hurting a lot of the time during and outside of guitar playing. It's enough to make me stop writing/typing or lifting stuff and take a break.....worse position for it, and I'm not kidding, is wiping my ass!  (and unfortunately don't have the option to stop doing that!)
> 
> ...




I was recently diagnosed with tendonitis in my fretting hand. My wrist/hand pain doesn't sound anywhere near as intense as yours, but I was freaking out all the same. First off - go to an orthopedic doctor to get checked out. Better get it taken care of when you can.

Here is the advice I got from the doctor.

1. Wrist brace - one that has little metal inserts that prevent you from moving your hand up and down if you are holding your arm straight out. Here is the one that I have...it's cheap and does the job. Wear it while you're sleeping (to prevent your wrist from getting curled up at night), and for as much of the day as you can. Obviously, there are times when you can't wear it, and that's fine. But the more you wear it, the more rest your tendons will get. 

2. Aleve - my doctor prescribed me Naproxen, 500 mg 2x a day for 2 weeks. I thought it didn't really do much until I went off of it...and then I realized it was helping a lot. If you want to get that without a prescription, get Aleve - it's the same thing, just in a lower dose...so you can double up on the dosage and be ok. Sometimes it's handy to have a mom with a PhD. 

3. Ice - about 10 minutes at a time, a couple times a day. This will also help with the inflammation

4. As much as it sucks, and I'm going through it right now...stop playing guitar. Give your hand a break.

5. Go splurge on a half hour or hour long massage, focusing on the arms. I have a friend who is a massage therapist and 15 of her working on my wrist and arm had it feeling better than it had in months. My guess is that if you were to examine both forearms, the one that is having problems is going to have pretty tight muscles as well - at least that's what I've found with me. Especially since you're also having shoulder pain, you'll want to focus on the neck as well, because those nerves are going through progressively smaller rings to get to your hands...so any imbalance up by your shoulders can very easily work it's way down to your wrist. 

Hope that helps - I've had to become a bit of an expert on this just recently and it's not fun. AT ALL.


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## rug (Jan 14, 2011)

Whoops, forgot the link. 

Amazon.com: Ace Wrist Wrap, Small/Medium Right, 1-Count Package: Health & Personal Care


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## SirMyghin (Jan 16, 2011)

Splints are typically a bad thing, as they do not fix the problem, the merely prevent you from moving in that direction. In the end they have not solved the problem, and in my experience only made it worse by locking you into a range of motion which may or may not be intended for the body merely to avoid a problem. 

Stretching, Ice, and NSAIDs I agree. Braces however have only made things much worse and or never helped (in case of either thumbs or knees in my place. Doctors are really good at addressing the symptoms but not solving the problem (and recommending drastic action like surgery in place of a correction to habit/posture/movement to return to a proper stance).


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## rug (Jan 16, 2011)

They allow your tendons to rest. That must not be very much fun for them not to work for you, but my (limited) experience is that it's helped my hand and wrist feel better.


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## SirMyghin (Jan 17, 2011)

Fair enough, they are good for week one (if that) but after that they can really hamper you, hene I usually avoid them like the plague. You need to find out the problem and why in relation to your movement and isolate it, look at the body as a whole, then correct it.


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## wannabguitarist (Jan 18, 2011)

SirMyghin said:


> Fair enough, they are good for week one (if that) but after that they can really hamper you, hene I usually avoid them like the plague. You need to find out the problem and why in relation to your movement and isolate it, look at the body as a whole, then correct it.



 Doctors love them for some reason but both times I've had to use wrist splints for wrist injuries the splint just made things worse in the long run. Ask any good physical therapist about them; yes they rest the tendons but because they also immobilize the wrist they weaken the muscles around the area as well which leaves you more prone to injury and increases your recovery time.


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## Ryan-ZenGtr- (Jan 30, 2011)

One of the worst things ALL guitar/bass players do is tense and raise the picking arm shoulder. I do it too... We all do... That is something to work on, keeping the shoulder joint loose and relaxed. Also, not gripping the pick like your life depended on it could be good for the OP's right hand pain. RELAX, MAN! 

Petrucci does some stretching excercises in his old video:



Don't take it too far!!! (predictable link here!)



Funny thing is, a friend came round to my place to jam. Before we started to play, he decreed we MUST BOTH do the excercises... *so SAD* Some people take JP too seriously IMO. Best of luck and happy healing! Get off the pills ASAP!


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