Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic Subject: Re: carpal tunnel/tendonitis - physician response Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1998 21:50:00 +0000 I am a physician specializing in occupational and rehabilitation medicine. Prior, I did the starving guitar player bit for 15 years. Many musicians and athletes are patients and upper extremity problems in guitarists is a very common presenting complaint. Did it to myself just trecently when I purchased a Ryan (used - hows that for rare!! ) and developed elbow and wrist pain when I couldn't put the beauty down. (Aside- it is the most gorgeous sounding AND looking guitar I've had the pleasure to drool over) While not to be construed as medical advice blah blah, I will say that the condition is very treatable but should also be treated with great respect as it can be a career ending injury if left unattended and pushed too hard. One of the first things we work on, while imposing relative rest to the injured tissues, is the distant parts of the kinetic chain; the trunk, legs, playing postures. etc. Increasing flexibility and correcting posture problems of the trunk and extremities, especially neck and shoulders, pays dividends quickly. Unfortunately it's still rare to find therapists who are really competent at the subtleties of this work. Interesting anecdote - many of my classical player patients with "tennis elbow" experience complete relief while playing standing !! A patient in clinic today insists on practicing daily and has worked himself up to 30 minutes pain free in 4 months - but had no pain at all for 90 minutes straight when standing playing my Backpacker I lent to him. Also, rock/jazz patients tend to all practice long hrs while sitting but seem to get through a gig ok when standing. The medical problems of musicians is becoming a burgeoning field as what has been learned in Sports Medicine in the last ten years has found application among professional musicians - the demands are basically the same, asking the body to operate at peak level and for sustained periods. One of the best is the Texas Center for Music and Medicine at Univ. North Texas - Fort worth under Bernard Rubin, MD. The Cleveland Clinic Foundation has long served the needs of musicians and dancers worlwide.