# Problems with fretting hand wrist - seizing up, popping, hurting :/



## Tommy Deaks (Nov 25, 2013)

Hi guys,

Lately I have noticed, when I wake up in a morning especially, my wrist is kind of seizing up. I then squeeze it - ie put my wrist in my other hand, and use the other hands thumb to push on the joint - and my wrist will pop and the seizing will be gone. It will hurt slightly after this. 

I work in IT so I am always at a computer. Could it be anything to do with this, or is it my playing that is doing it? I like to think I have good technique - I was initially classically trained. Currently the guitar I am playing most is a Setius - thin neck profile but not uber-wizard thin. 

Are there any exercises anyone could recommend? Do I need to be seeing a doctor, or has anyone else experienced this?

Thanks - hope this is in the right section.


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## karjim (Nov 25, 2013)

Maybe you have some air bubbles in your wrist....It's not that bad but you may check you wrist position when you work on your computer.
Although you could maybe take a break on your guitar, like 3days or 4 and see if the little pain is still here. 
Check out if you don't sleep on your wrist too.


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## tyler_faith_08 (Nov 25, 2013)

John Petrucci's warm up stretches and exercises on Rock Discipline are really, really good. I had a bad injury when I was playing college football and the staff members told me to do something along the lines of this:

Stretches 4 x 10sec each, all fingers, thumb, wrist, all well within pain threshold

Relaxed full range movement repetitions of all of my fingers and wrist for 3-5 minutes total. This also identifies any missed stretches.

Forearm stretches

4 finger, single string exercise on highest frets. Minute intervals, waiting 30 seconds minimum between each. Move down one fret for each set. (luckily, one of the trainers was a guitarist)

This isn't all of them, but this is all I can remember. Outside of these, they told me to play standing up for small amounts of time until I started to get mobility back again. They also said that if my mobility improved but not my soreness in my wrist, I should highly consider repositioning my guitar whilst playing. 

The injury I had a was a pretty bad injury, too. I fell with the football in my right hand and the ball rolled. When it did, my arm turned so that my palm was up and the guy that tackled me drove me forward, pushing my fingers and palm (still rotated upward, but now facing forward) flat on the ground while my arm was extended. My wrist hyperextended so that my knuckles were flat on my forearm under both me and him (around 550lbs {250kg for you metric ....ers lol}). 

It did take quite some time to recover, but I'm back playing now like I never had a problem. However, I cannot stress enough that you allow time and take proper steps while taking care of any joint. Laziness and impatience are your worst enemies. If you fall victim to these, you *will* lose.


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## 80H (Nov 25, 2013)

Tommy Deaks said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> Lately I have noticed, when I wake up in a morning especially, my wrist is kind of seizing up. I then squeeze it - ie put my wrist in my other hand, and use the other hands thumb to push on the joint - and my wrist will pop and the seizing will be gone. It will hurt slightly after this.
> 
> ...




Sounds closer to RSI (repetitive stress/strain injury) territory. 


There's a lot of shit that can go wrong in your hand, though. Can't tell you for sure. Posture...all those nerves, your joints, your tendons, deep tissue...it's not easy to know without medical advice from someone that's a professional/wasn't in the bottom 3 percentile of their med school. 


For example, I have a mild spasm in my right hand that affects my index and middle finger after lots of work. Sounds like carpal tunnel or focal dystonia right? Wrong. It's just a combination of inflammation and a posture problem that's putting too much strain on my neck. Compound problems can mimic or hide the actual sources of certain problems when there's a chain of events that can happen. These things are tricky.


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## Alex Kenivel (Dec 8, 2013)

(deep breath)

Your problem sounds somewhat similar to mine. I've been playing guitar since I was a child, now being 27. I've also been working many different labor jobs with a lot of lifting, stacking, pushing, pulling for about 8 years. My arms aren't huge, I would like to add. While lifting things, I began to have a sensation in my wrists that actually felt like guitar strings being plucked and vibrating for a short period of time. I would feel this, along with shooting numbing sensations from fingers to elbow. This feeling would keep with me until about 3 or 4 years ago, when this would happen so often that my forearms would swell and redden, it became hard to grab things and I'd wake up every morning swollen in extreme pain, almost completely unable to move my hands or fingers. My job suggested I visit their injury clinic at no cost, which I did, and I was diagnosed with Ulnar Fasciitis, Tendonitis, Golfers Elbow, Painters Elbow...the list of names they gave me go on. I was put on many different steroids, disability, multiple cortisone injections in my elbows and physical therapy. I could no longer shred, and I've had to change my style of playing completely. Nothing seemed to work to fix the damage and I eventually got fired. Of course, firing an employee due to injury is illegal and I didn't have to work for the next 2 years.

Now I am working again as a teacher and I don't do any serious lifting. Ive tested myself slightly and still notice the sensations/pain. It's something I'll have to live with for the rest of my life.

Stretching is important, but I've heard that if you stretch wrong, or do the wrong stretches, you could seriously screw yourself. I suggest getting some solid medical advice from a few different doctors before you do anything else.

Also, sleeping with your arms straight will help your morning pains. A duct-taped towel can make a good soft splint to sleep with. Wrist and elbow braces could help too. Use ice to reduce any pain/swelling. Good luck!


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## MeriTone Music (Dec 8, 2013)

Tommy Deaks said:


> Hi guys,
> 
> Lately I have noticed, when I wake up in a morning especially, my wrist is kind of seizing up. I then squeeze it - ie put my wrist in my other hand, and use the other hands thumb to push on the joint - and my wrist will pop and the seizing will be gone. It will hurt slightly after this.
> 
> ...



I would probably see a doctor, just to get throw that perspective into the mix. 

Do you stretch often? And warm-up well before playing lots...? I find that stretching is extremely helpful... I usually play at least 40 hours /week.. stretching is basically a habit, I don't even think about it.. 

The Petrucci video does have some good exercises in there for that.. 

Anyways, hope your wrist gets better soon!!


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## Leveebreaks (Dec 8, 2013)

Get to the doctors asap, it really sounds like RSI. You need to tell your employers about it too so they can sort you out an ergonomic chair and keyboard if they haven't already. If you don't do anything it will probably just get worse


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