Wrist and Thumb pain !

[Cat]

Stone the Crow...well...my fingers are sixty. They can hurt from just nuthin'...like all hell. And that's got nothing to do with my playing style....which hasn't been "bad" since...what...1962. Besides, I've played extremely light for maybe thirty five years...

One day you'll see for yourself, matey!

Cat

[cnev]

Well I think you have to remember that wrist or thumb pain may not be caused by "bad" technique and could have an underlying medical condition origin that just gets aggravated by playing.

I think Cat has a valid point, using a light touch and using lighter strings surely won't make the situation worse.

[Cat]

Look...you've gotta go with it. My own hands are hurting me right now. The "use it or lose it" theme rings rather true with exercise. Lots of people think of "exercise" as whole-body. Well, it is...including your wrist and thumb! See the Quack...then, armed with the knowledge that you are pretty right...get on with it. Ya know, it's a "damn the torpedoes...full speed ahead!" sort of thing...

Well, that's what I tell myself, anyway!

Cat

[MatthiasYoung]

In the long run, poor technique is poor technique, so changing the gauge is only temporary relief. As a guitar instructor specializing in classical and metal, it always amazes me that acoustic guitars for beginners tend to be set up with 12 gauge strings as opposed to 10s. As many entry-level guitars are not well made to begin with, heavy strings just make it even more difficult!

[Crow]

In the long run, poor technique is poor technique, so changing the gauge is only temporary relief.

My point exactly, thank you very much.

As a guitar instructor specializing in classical and metal, it always amazes me that acoustic guitars for beginners tend to be set up with 12 gauge strings as opposed to 10s. As many entry-level guitars are not well made to begin with, heavy strings just make it even more difficult!

It does take some hand strength to manage .012s. We oldies who grew up playing cheap guitars with barbed-wire action perhaps have a slight advantage there. However poor today's entry-level acoustics might be, they are light years ahead of my old Five Star flat-top, and they don't need to be strung that way for beginners. Let students get calluses & fretting hand strength together first, then beef up the strings (or not) as they choose.

As all my yoga teachers have told me: This should not hurt!

[Ricochet]

Oddly enough (or not so odd) fish oil caps actually make a noticeable difference...especially to my breath. But...whaddya 'spect from a cat???

Cat

This is exactly why I take fish oil. Helps my creaky left thumb (which probably owes more to the hard clutch squeeze on my old Panhead Harley than to guitars), knees and ankles.

[lentini]

Hey - Sorry I haven't updated this post for a while (absorbed in practice) .. Well after all the messing about I feel a bit of a fool! Having never picked up a guitar before and this being my first,, it turns out the problem I was having with my wrist / arm / thumb was all down to the neck of my guitar !!! It's obviously not the case for everyone but the neck shape of my Tanglewood TW115 - AS is rather pointed (probably mid to hard V shaped) and it didn't suit me - digging in and causing my thumb to bend oddly when playing Barres ... I wasn't aware that you could get different shaped necks but practicing on a standard "c" shaped neck causes me no problems what so ever! So I’m now at a stage where I'm still crap - but at least I can play consistently (crap) for as long as I want without pain!
I have to thank my teacher for picking up on this as I was getting to the point of giving up! I do feel a bit of a plonker so go easy on me please!!!!!!

[Cat]

Humourous post...still..."hurt is hurt" and aside from what you get from practicing, anything else needs a doc's view. My kid (18 now/14 then) complained and complained and COMPLAINED how his pointing finger hurt. Geez, turned out he had a splinter!

Oh, well...

Cat