i have carpal tunnel syndrome in both my wrists. had it since november last year. gonna go to a physical therapist tomorrow, so im just interested to hear your experience about this. is it hard to get rid off without surgery?

According to my doctor I had a close call with it 2 years ago, Apparently playing guitar wrong (So i had to change the way i play), But he said it is difficult, but also very feasible, to get over it without surgery i believe, So if you follow the therapists advice, and be careful, Im sure you will recover in no time

Thanks, i hope so. i have been very careful, i stopped the first day i felt something in my arm. during these ~6 months it have never gotten to the point where i actually feel pain. i suppose thats a good thing. ive heard that surgery is only needed if you really feel alot of pain, idk. hope physical therapy is enough.

Steve Morse has had alot of problems with the carpal tunnel syndrome.
I read a few articles online that he wrote with tips for guitarplayers some time ago, but i cant seem to find them right now..
Google isnt being much help today.

Hope it all goes well Robin

Hi Robin, I know the thread is old, but you never did get back with the outcome of you're visit to the therapists, I would be very interested to hear. I have suffered an injury myself lately and so havent been on here in a while. I am suspected to have had an injury to my radial nerve. It causes loss of feeling to my hand/fingers/forearm. My condition has improved hugely, but then I play only in such small doses nowadays. Carpal Tunnel syndrome was a suspected possibility with me also.. And still hasnt been ruled out entirely. I hope you are recovering quickly and wish you all the best. Please let us know how you are getting on.

oh sorry for not replying

well its a good therapist. so far ive been through 3(painful ) air pressure treatment things, not sure what its called. i think theres 2 more left, i do one every week. he says he have had several other patients with carpal tunnel syndrome, and all of them recovered and said that since i was so young i would recover even easier. he also lets me play 2 times 20 minutes a day, but he says that i should only do that if it feels ok for me.
yesterday i asked him how long time it would be till i was completely recovered, and he said he had to guess ofc, two more of this air pressure treatment and then 3-4 months of gradual training. so when im recovered, i have been almost a year without proper practice sucks, but aslong as ill be fine i dont care if it takes time.

thanks and good luck to you too man. try to find the best doctors and physical therapists you can get. there are bad ones that you should stay away from.

This post has been edited by Robin: Apr 22 2008, 08:13 AM

Theats good news Robin - I hope you make a complete recovery soon!

now what did he say, you did that might have contributed to this? the way you hold your guitar?

although, I have the impression that some people are just vulnerable to this, and others just never have a problem. I would type programming for endless hours, so much, and just never had a problem. I got a good expensive ergonomic chair, but that was for my back. I have a niece who was a new reporter out of college, but had to quit, could not type after she got this.

the reason for my injury is very clear. ALOt of 12 string guitar, tight tuning on my electric with alot of bends, even 3 string bends, aaand i lifted very heavy weights when i hadnt touched it for 6 months. the day after all this, bam! all this without breaks or warmup.
i have no problem with playing all day long, but this time everything just went to heck because i tried stuff that i hadnt tried in a long time etc.

atleast i learned a valuable lesson.

too bad about your niece. a good chair and proper positioning is very very important when typing alot.

This post has been edited by Robin: Apr 22 2008, 03:06 PM

I hope you get better soon!

thanks everyone.