This Boggie Woogerton thing

[Loraine]

It was a fun exercise – great win and making great progress @Duane58

[Duane58]

Sorry I have not been on for a while, I have been having pain in my left elbow. After reading some comments on guitar injuries I come to the conclusion that my hurting elbow has been in connection with my playing.

I am working to exercise it a little, massage, apply cold and warm compresses, and stretching. Also looking to get some kind of an elbow compression brace for “tennis elbow”.

Looking for other forms of reasonable treatment, any suggestions?

Even thinking of buying an inexpensive digital piano to keep learning musicality.

[Duane58]

@Loraine, as I have been treating my elbow things are getting better.

[Loraine]

@Duane58 Im just coming back to being able to play from tennis elbow and tendinitis. I went through acupuncture which helped considerably, but the only real relief came from getting a cortisone injection in my elbow. I was sidelined for nearly 3 months from playing due to it. I now have some relief and am able to play and practice without pain. My suggestion is to not play through the pain. You can actually do more damage. Tennis elbow and tendinitis can take months to a year to overcome, so it’s best to not push through the pain. Have it checked out by your physician and consider the cortisone injection. Also, it is extremely important to warm up your muscles and loosen up with stretches before and after playing. I also purchased wrist supports to use when playing. Good luck with your recocpvery.

[Duane58]

@Loraine, my pain has gone down considerably in the last week, I have been icing, using an elbow brace, and have started stretching again. I seen a stretching video by someone and I have seen Tony’s video. I will review it again. Oh and I have been massaging by arm from my hand to just above my elbow.

[Cadgirl]

Good for you to get the A barre down. HOOT HOOT! also sorry to hear that you are having issues with your elbow. Does the tennis elbow brace help at all? It might be a good recommendation for others. Good thoughts on getting a piano. Yes, I’m sure it would help out. tony does have a course on stretches ‘Daily Stretch for Guitar’. Good luck and hope you heal up soon so you can get back to playing. Oh, another thought is Tony has a ‘slide guitar’ course. Good luck

[Duane58]

@Cadgirl, I would say the elbow braces helps. I have been icing and began stretching and massaging my arm again. I plan when the pain has been gone for a few days or more to start again and ware the brace while playing.

[ted_h]

Hi, @Duane58! I had problems with “guitar elbow” or “tennis elbow” as well. I ran into it maybe three months into my first year. Here are the things that helped me (I went to a sports medicine doc and physical therapy and they set me on the right path):

1. Stretching before and after playing (the TAC stretching exercises in the skill courses section were great)

2. Eccentric strengthening of the wrist extensor muscles – look up “eccentric exercises tennis elbow” and you’ll find a bunch of examples. I got a resistance bar on Amazon and also did the ones where you use a hammer for a weight. I think I got the most relief from these

3. I iced the area 3-4 times a day for 20 minutes

4. I videoed my technique and looked at my wrist motion – turns out I was wildly rotating my wrist with flatpicking and strumming, and I spent a lot of time with my wrist on the bridge which put my wrist in exaggerated extension. Fingerpicking didn’t seem to cause problems at all and I had my wrist in a much more natural position. I have modified my flatpicking to keep my wrist in a more neutral position and the problem hasn’t come back. Everything I’ve seen on this gets to the point that it’s a good thing to keep the wrist in a pretty neutral position and to avoid tension in any of the arm muscles while you’re playing. I’m assuming it’s your picking/strumming hand that’s impacted, but there’s a similar case to be made for the fretting hand

Good luck with all of this, and I wish you a speedy recovery! Good thinking on other musical pursuits to keep your head in the game. You can always work on technique on the hand that’s doing OK, too – if your strumming hand is impacted, you could concentrate on fretwork and strum super gently, for example…

[Duane58]

Hey @ted_h, I did see Tony’s stretching and another video before I got started with Tony, I did not keep it up. It is my fretting elbow that is bothered. I have been icing, wearing a brace, massaging from my hand to just above my elbow on both hands. My elbow is feeling considerably better than a week and a half ago. Thanks for sharing all your experience.