I absolutely agree. In fact, you have some excellent advice here: warming up,
building endurance, economy of energy.

One of the biggest causes of chronic pain from injury is bad habits when
learning to play. "Playing through the pain" has got to be one of the worst.
Pain is the body's way of telling us that something is wrong, and it's foolhardy
to ignore its signals. Regardless of eagerness or inspiration, if you're
practicing and you feel pain, you stop and rest. The bass isn't going anywhere.

Again, soup, excellent advice.

-----Original Message-----
>From: souperbass <souperbass@...>
>Sent: May 30, 2008 9:35 PM
>To: bassplace@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [Bass Place] Re: Hand Cramps
>
>Although I agree that arthritis and carpal tunnel can arise and cause
>problems, I still hold my ground back from when this thread first
>started. Of course there are thousands of people who really do have
>an illness of sorts which can prevent them from playing, especially
>when they get older. I do not doubt or counter this fact. However, I
>believe that many people are very willing to blame their problems on a
>medical condition and don't consider that they might be doing
>something wrong. Being a hypochondriac is an easy way out.
>What helped me was to do light movement in my hands, elbows and
>shoulders prior to playing. I play upright bass mainly which is a
>much more physically challenging instrument (in my opinion), but I
>also have a full time electric gig. I have to play for many hours
>straight every day and I sometimes have pain, but only when I haven't
>done my warm ups. Do 10 reps of a few different exercises i.e.,
>making a fist and opening your hand, bending your elbow, rolling your
>neck, shoulder circles. These warm ups are NOT stretches and you
>shouldn't exert yourself when doing them. They are a means of easing
>your muscles into more vigorous movement.
>Again, try to think about what you could be doing wrong rather than
>paying money to seek medical attention. Of course, if you suspect
>that there is a real problem, see a doctor (obviously).
>
>
>--- In bassplace@yahoogroups.com, Robert Smith <r_a_smith3530@...> wrote:
>>
>> Yes, as someone who's had CTS in both hands, and CTR done to both
>hands, I can attest to what you say. Add in some beginning signs of
>arthritis, and it makes for some interesting (not fun) times. +54 ;-)
>>
>> Rob Smith
>>
>>
>> Thunder <lagnaf982032000@...> wrote:
>> Hand cramps are usually caused by using excessive force to
>press your strings. Try to relax. Look at sting heigh you may need to
>lower action that is what i did. Now it takes less effort to press
>strings. Search for hand exercise to keep fingers flexable. Playing
>until the pain goes away isnt a good idea. Pain means your doing
>damage, you may have increased your threshold for pain. But eventually
>corpul tunnel will be a bigger problem. Age 53 :)
>>
>> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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>
>
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