Hey guys!

So I don't know if you remember me talking about it before but I suffer from wrist pain due to tendinitis - specifically in the top part of my wrist, where the face of a watch would sit - on my picking hand.

I wear a small wrist strap everyday that helps add a little bit of stability to my wrist but I've run into a problem:

As it is adjustable, there is Velcro that wraps around the whole strap, and when playing certain things like sweep picking, the Velcro tends to snag and get caught on the bridge and prevents me from moving any further - quite annoying.

So I was wondering if you guys know of any wrist supports geared specifically towards to guitar playing that won't give me this issue?

Thanks guys!

I don't know anything about wrist supports really, apart from when I've strained my wrist from falling a few times.

However I'm wondering if you're doing stretches, massaging and so on to help with the tendonitis? I'm not sure if there's anything you can do when it's already there, but I remember seeing some links online.

Thanks Cael - I do stretch and massage the tendons but the pain is always present, just to different degrees.

These are what I use now:

https://www.amazon.com/NewGrip-Wrist-Suppor...m/dp/B00JG6AHO8

But the Velcro gets caught. If I had insurance I could get cortisone shots or surgery but that's not an option at the moment

Never seen those before actually. I'm not sure I have any suggestions really.

I suppose you have already talked to your doctor about it? What did he/she say?

Wanted to follow up about talking to your doctor. Getting medical advice from folks who are not medical professionals on a guitar site is dubious at best IMHO. We can share our experiences, but we are not qualified to make any sort of medical determination. You mentioned not having insurance, Obamacare was cheap enough for me to get insurance even working as a freelancer so I'd suggest looking in to it. They even subsidize it if you have certain income.

Now to do the very think I said was a bad idea. Give advice without being a doctor. Until you see a doctor, you need to support your wrist, so getting something that will work and keep you from just chucking the wrist support is important. Take all medical advice from guitar players with a grain of salt. Having said that.

Perhaps try this. It's a once piece brace with "copper" which is all the big rage now. Who knows if it really helps with injuries but copper infused products are everywhere. Not suggesting it becuase of that, but because it looks like it won't get in the way of your playing

https://www.amazon.com/Copper-Compression-G...l+tunnel+sports

Remember I.C.E. (learned that from my doc in therapy for your type of injury) ICE, COMPRESS, ELEVATE (above your heart). Use a frozen gel pack. This one has a velcro wrist wrap so after playing you can use it and will only work for 15 minutes (which is how long you are supposed to use an ice pack per session) as the gel warms up and you put it in the freeze again. The velcro keeps it from falling off while you are doing other things.

https://www.amazon.com/Flexible-Pack-Wrap-C...mfort+cold+pack

If you are playing for 30 minutes, then icing for 15, and doing your stretches. You are headed the right way Now please get some cheap insurance and go see a doctor? If you wreck your hands, you are sorta stuck. You can't get an extra pair and surgery is NOT cheap or fun.

Todd

Thanks Todd - unfortunately I don't have a doctor with no insurance just Urgent Care; whose advice to me was literally "get a job with benefits".

I'm thinking of going with this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00KW0F8XW/r...;th=1&psc=1

Something to add some support. My tendinitis is manageable at this point with a wrist wrap it was just the Velcro was getting in the way I was wondering if anyone had any experience with any type of wrist wraps.

Thanks

Sorry to hear about the insurance The wrist wraps are worth a try Also, always warm up with light stretches like we talked about and and cool down after playing with some light stretches. Start with the fingers/hand/wrist. Full motion movements.

Here is a vid I made about stretching before and after practice





Todd




This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Aug 5 2016, 12:02 AM

I would look at it from a different angle, things like forearm massage (I'm not a physio but go to one regularly to see their approach) your forearm muscles are probably tight from the picking motion and pulling on the tendons in your wrist and elbow. Also look at supplements that are anti-inflammatory like Vit C and a good omega 3/6/9 supplement to help lubricate.

Again I'm no doctor but there wouldn't be any negatives doing the above.