Tennis Elbow and La Pompe?

ChrisMartin

asd123321 wrote: »

Of course you have played too much. There is nothing like skipping a day regularly to allow tissues to recover. I do finger picking 1 day and with a pick the next.

Maybe. But I have tennis elbow in my left - fretting - arm.

Bones

Oh ok, if you have a torn tendon that is a whole other deal that I'm not familiar with. I've only had inflammation that goes away if I lay off it. Good luck and I hope you have a speedy recovery!

PS- do you think the tear is from playing guitar or something else?

ChrisMartin

Bones wrote: »

Oh ok, if you have a torn tendon that is a whole other deal that I'm not familiar with. I've only had inflammation that goes away if I lay off it. Good luck and I hope you have a speedy recovery!

PS- do you think the tear is from playing guitar or something else?

Well I had a problem with it ten years ago which cleared up with rest and physio. Then it came back three weeks ago, the day after I had been practising 'la pompe' for at least an hour, possibly more. I have only recently been getting the hang of the timing and the technique and had made a breakthrough where I got it working quite well but maybe I did too much too soon. The ultrasound showed a tear 7mm by 3mm, which I am told will repair in time with rest. For now, no guitar playing, and later, maybe no more la pompe at all.

Jazzaferri

I have had problems with acute acromial tendonitis and left

joint

thumb problems

More likely from work than music but both impacted my playing.

The first was cured with physio and changing my posture the second there is no cure for but I have found that by holding the guitar closer to the classical position (left knee angling up) doesn't cause any pain in my left thumb.

I did the same while curing the acromial issue and it helped a lot. Goofy to have gone back to playing flat but now I am stuck playing classical position

lewischang88

Chris Martin wrote: »

Thanks for all your input, but what I meant to ask was simply this:
Has anyone else suffered tennis elbow from playing la pompe?

Hi Chris,

It's my turn! I now suffer LEFT tennis elbow. It's been 10 days. After 10 days rest last night I picked up my guitar and tried to play Gm6-A7-D7 arpeggios and immediately my left elbow said NO.

I also have the gyro ball (Buco posted a photo of it earlier). I tried it, but my left elbow said TOO SOON!

So, I think I will stop playing guitar all together until after Thanksgiving. Oh well.

Bones

Bummer Lewis. I've had tennis and golfers elbow from other activities mostly related to DIY projects but always got rid of it by laying off the manual labor stuff and stretching.

Do you do other activities that could cause it or make you more vulnerable to it in combination with the guitar playing?

lewischang88

Bones wrote: »

.

Do you do other activities that could cause it or make you more vulnerable to it in combination with the guitar playing?

I think it's the same sentiment of "Why me? Why now? And how?" that Chris started the discussion. I can't exactly pinpoint the cause(s). And no one enjoys losing control of his/her/their own body. Aging body.

I do suspect my bad posture during the past few weeks when I tried to jot down a few musical notes at a time on sheets while holding and playing guitar. Back and forth and back and forth. Sometimes the sheet was laid on the guitar case on the floor. Probably produced too much tension everywhere on my body.

ChrisMartin

Yes, I suspect you are right, possibly the workout from playing combined with sitting wrong creating more tension in the wrong places. Playing guitar on its own should not be a problem, I have been doing it for years as have millions of others, but if we do it wrong, AND have bad posture we can put strain where our physiology doesn't want it! I am beginning to find the typical wear and tear that comes with age (63) catching up with me. Anyway, the cortisone injection fixed the tendon ok, it is now two months on and I am back playing ok.

Bones

Hey Lewis, I just remembered something else last night. When I had tennis elbow and golfers elbow the worst was after doing a lot of really intense yard digging that went on for days. The inflammation would not go away and my doctor gave me wrist braces to wear at night since I tended to curl in my wrists and fingers when I slept. The braces keep your wrists and fingers stretched out straight. Sounds weird but that with stretching exercises and ibuprofen worked.

Matteo

When I start to feel pain in my elbow I use a brace called Back on track. It reflects your body heat back deep inside and speeds up your recovery. I got the tip from a golfer and my impression is that it does help.

My biggest problem, though, since quite some time, is my right shoulder. I have no idea what to do about it. It seems impossible not to get the muscles there into a knot. The pompe is the worst. Improvising or playing melodies works slightly better.

My grip of the pick is quite relaxed. It's up in the shoulder that muscles get tense. I guess taking breaks, stretching and doing other movements can improve the situation. But I feel that something is wrong from the start.