NaPodPoMo/HivePodPoMo 2021 Day 18: Hand-ipcapped

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I am doing #NaPodPoMo (National Podcast Posting Month), aka #HivePodPoMo, that was started by @epodcaster.

Today I talk about an issue I've had with my hand for years. It is more of an annoyance than a disability, but it does affect my ability to play guitar, which is frustrating. I generally feel pretty fortunate with my health.

Hand

You can hear the podcast here. If you use a podcast player this is the feed.

I am not looking for sympathy, but this may be of interest to someone and I need topics for these daily podcasts.

Stay well.

podcast napodpomo hivepodpomo proofofbrain health palnet
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21 comments
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That really sucks. It has to be hard when something like that has such a huge impact on doing something that you love. I am glad that you have been able to manage through it all these years.

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Cheers. As I said, it could be worse and I see what others suffer. We should appreciate what we have.

!BEER

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Hearing your episode made me want to stretch my hands to give them a bit of a workout. I've been working on a client podcast editing project and so my right hand has been wrapped around a mouse for a couple of days for hours. So this was a good reminder to take time to stretch.

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You have to wonder if years of using a computer contributed to my condition. At least I can still do the things I love to some extent.

!BEER

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I know in my case the reason my hip gets hurty is because I spend too much time at the computer and not enough time moving around. Of course this type of human work/body pain behavior isn't new. Think about monks back in the day spending every single day lavishly creating page by page by page of the Bible. I'll bet their fingers and back paid the cost of being hunched over a table for days, weeks, and years on end.

Thanks for the beer. I do !LUV me a cold beer. ;-)

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Oh man, seems like those PC Jobs take their toll. In the end playing guitar is kind of a workout too, if the circumstances allow to play. Maybe we should do some exchange on hand workouts ;) Stay safe and well, Mate!

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Cheers. I can't be sure if my job caused my condition, but you have to suspect a link. Some guitarists suffer from things like carpal tunnel. Many things we do are not natural for our bodies and may cause issues, but we can try to cope with them.

!BEER

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absolute. In the end it's the only way we can deal with all the things that aren't in our favour. talking PC, if you haven't already, check out vertical mouses, since i switched for them it made it a lil' bit better. Of course, nothing replaces workout. These are two exercises i found i do when things get rough:

finger walk.gif

This one i usually also do finger by finger.
finger stretch.gif
remember, to never go to deep into pain, and it's ok if the movement isn't wide. do them slow, really slow. watch out that the wrist is straight towards the fingers.

I hope it's of some benefit to you.

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Cheers. The finger walking one is hard as I do not have much sideways mobility in the fingers of that hand.

I sometimes use the mouse with my left hand to give the right a break. There is no pain, so I am not sure it does me that much harm anyway.

!BEER

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Yep, when i am on other PC's (meaning not mine), i usually go for the left hand on the mouse now. I do believe that. I remember my fingers started shaking as if they were lifting heavy stones when i started doing finger exercises (looked funny) :D It was even kind of demoralizing to me as the movement was initially extremely narrow. I even remember having muscle ache from a few exercises. Was some weird experience having that in the fingers :)
it might take some time till there's an perceivable improvement. Just don't overdo.

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Wow - thank you for sharing Steve - I think you've got a very healthy and positive attitude to your condition that it could be worse, That said, as others have said - it still sucks.

Thanks for reminding us to appreciate our bodies and that they can go wrong sometimes.

!PIZZA !BEER !ALIVE

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Dealing with hand related conditions and/or injuries is something we all as guitarists have to face in different stages ... it's not a natural movement at all . I do suffer from right hand tendinitis and my wrist is a bit compromised , my weird technique ( hand + pick ) and kind of planking my right hand over the strings was a bit of a ''way around'' that .

The last two years i switched to using a headless guitar for balance and ergonomics and I am afraid to say I don't see myself going back to a regular guitar anytime soon hahahaha the strain on my hand and shoulder has reduced considerably.

Also , stretching helps :)

Also , did you hear about Mike Stern's accident? he got some nerve damage on his right hand and found a way around that , it's quite inspiring.

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The doctors don't know what caused my issue, but it may not get better. I just have to find ways to cope with it and I do not intend to stop playing. I do try to exercise the hand. I've not glued the pick on, but the Snake Picks are okay for strumming. I can play with a regular pick for short periods.

Rock on!

!PIZZA

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