Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic Subject: Re: Increasing hand strength >BTW - for the past few days I have been experiencing pain and perhaps a bit >of >numbness in my right hand thumb which seems to originate in the hand just >below >the thumb. I have been working extensively on technique, with a teacher who >studied with Shearer and incorporates the Feldenkrais and Alexander movement >stuff in with his teaching on technique - so I am a bit suprised and >bewildered. Any ideas on what I may be doing wrong, and has anyone else >experienced this? > As a player who's struggled with severe carpal tunnel for years, I can tell you what it feels like. Severe aching, tingling, and numbness, loss of grip strength. If you're just feeling some pain all of the sudden, it probably isn't carpal tunnel - could just be pain in your muscles and tendons from the stress involved in doing new, difficult movements in the excercises you mention. Carpal tunnel usually develops over time. Mine developed over 15 to 17 years of playing, and the symptoms got progressively worse. By the way, I had surgery done on my left hand last December. The numbness and pain were gone immediately but it took some time to regain grip strength and dexterity that I lost due to the surgery. It's coming back pretty good now and my playing skills are now better than they were before surgery. It had gotten to the point where it was almost impossible to play - having the surgery done was a very good decision for me. I've still got to get my right hand done, will probably do so this year. I'm curious - has anyone else had the surgery, and if so, what have the results been? Jim Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic Subject: Re: Increasing hand strength Date: Sun, 08 Aug 1999 15:56:29 GMT excercisers wrote: > Well. this thread contains at least one message from a guitarist > who has undergone surgery due to this type of mis-use. > > Peter Inglis I could not find anything in this thread where someone alleged to have had surgery as a result of using a hand strengthening device. Perhaps my reader missed it, as often happens, and you could be so kind as to point it out for us. I suffered from carpal tunnel in both hands due to overuse of the computer. It was very difficult for me to play guitar at first. Warming up with, and regular use of the Gripmaster now allows me to play for a few hours a day with no pain. I have seen others here who have also had good results. While it is possible that someone can hurt themselves with gym equipment, I don't think any responsible author would suggest that we don't excercise for our sport of choice due to the risks involved in strengthening our muscles. One could also pull a muscle while doing warm ups for skiing, etc., but it would be irresponsible to suggest hitting the slopes without first doing so. The product literature warns against using this device when one is already in pain of course, and I think staying away from any gym equipment would be appropriate too after one had already pulled a muscle, etc. I'm not trying to be difficult here, and if there are documented dangers, I certainly want to know. I researched it before using it, and the information I found was almost entirely positive. You have made a statement to beware of this device, and as a published author and expert on this subject, I think it is fair to ask you to document your reasoning with facts. Others may read a little more about this device using the following as a starting place: http://www.futuremedia.org/Media/imedia/links/master/letters/enraf.html Thanks in advance Peter! Dennis V. Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.guitar.acoustic Subject: Re: Increasing hand strength Date: Mon, 9 Aug 1999 19:14:03 +1000 >excercisers wrote: >> Well. this thread contains at least one message from a guitarist >> who has undergone surgery due to this type of mis-use. > >I could not find anything in this thread where someone alleged to have >had surgery as a result of using a hand strengthening device. Perhaps my >reader missed it, as often happens, and you could be so kind as to point >it out for us. Here: From: jbarn "By the way, I had surgery done on my left hand last December. The numbness and pain were gone immediately but it took some time to regain grip strength and dexterity that I lost due to the surgery. It's coming back pretty good now and my playing skills are now better than they were before surgery. It had gotten to the point where it was almost impossible to play - having the surgery done was a very good decision for me. I've still got to get my right hand done, will probably do so this year. I'm curious - has anyone else had the surgery, and if so, what have the results been?" Jim >I'm not trying to be difficult here, and if there are documented >dangers, I certainly want to know. I researched it before using it, and >the information I found was almost entirely positive. You have made a >statement to beware of this device, and as a published author and expert >on this subject, I think it is fair to ask you to document your >reasoning with facts. >Thanks in advance Peter! >Dennis V. My statement wasn't aimed specifically at that device, but rather at the concept that "strengthening" is required to play guitar. The problem is that the person who thinks their hands lack strength is actually suffering poor "use", and the "use" won't be fixed by exercising.... in fact they increase the likelihood of self-damage intensifying the pattern of use and _adding_ resistance, repetition and/or weight. In a nutshell, this type of damage results from the muscle fibres not relaxing and thereby allowing the blood to wash away the waste products produces in each cell during work. The wast products accumulate and damage the cells. I can't find the particular web-resources that were up a year or 2 back on this subject ... "performance medicine"...... but I'll keep looking. Mean while here are a few good links: http://www.migman.com.au/aes/links_tech.htm (I concentrate on -preventive strategies) Peter Inglis Read about "The Whole Guitarist" at http://www.migman.com.au/aes