How To Avoid RSI, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and Other Guitar Related Injuries

[@owenclayton9705]

Excellent video and advise dude. Exactly where I was at Uni too, also studying guitar. Have come back to guitar after a few years little to no practice at an older age. RAPID ONSET OF CARPEL TUNNEL. Highly recommended this video. Excellent info.

[@michaelgumleyguitar]

Thanks for taking the time to view this and share your comments :)

[@scottwa11ace]

Great video... I think I have early stage CTS... strange feeling in my wrist... like I'm wearing an invisible wristband. This stuff should be discussed more openly especially by the pros we all look up to. I'm 50 years old and since a year I am playing regularly in a band for the first time. I'm taking 4 week break now and have a wrist brace to wear in bed. Hope this helps. Thanks for the informative video.

[@michaelgumleyguitar]

Hey Scott, wishing you a speedy recovery. Fortunately/Unfortunately it's not a consistent thing and many professional and well known players have never had the injury themselves and don't know anything about it. Best you can do is rest immediately and hope it calms down, but sounds like you're already ontop of it

[@bluemawks]

During this past year, while back to learning to play... I've had to deal with tennis elbo in both arms. Great video about taking care of youself!

[@michaelgumleyguitar]

I'm sorry to hear it, it's an absolute nightmare to have and difficult to manage. I hope what you've learned today is helpful

[@scottenglert4083]

This is a great topic, Michael (and one that's probably not covered nearly enough). I think a really important thing that you mentioned that can be *so* difficult to do when you're feeling good and having fun is to take programmed breaks - a day or two off can really help stop the cycle. I know the conventional wisdom is to play / pick up your guitar *every* day but I think a purposeful break every 5, 7, 10 days helps you recover mentally as much as physically...

[@michaelgumleyguitar]

That's a great idea Scott. I remember my classroom music teacher telling me that it's good to take one day a week off from practising and I used to think she was crazy. She said she doesn't practice Sundays, I used to do 6 hours on Sunday because I had so much free time. Somewhere along the line I got a little too caught up in practicing and I forgot to have fun and make music. I still play guitar 7 days a week, but one of those days is just about having fun playing instead of any structured practice.

[@scottenglert4083]

@@michaelgumleyguitar that sounds like a good plan...as long as you can at least keep things loose a day or two, that's probably key... I certainly am not great at practicing what I preach - I play most every day too...but prob another important thing is - if you feel a twinge of pain beyond just normal fatigue, don't just try to power thru it...do something else...I'll switch from barre chord heavy stuff to more melodic lead riffs etc. so my hand isn't just getting pummeled relentlessly by the same thing all the time... Other thing you mentioned that's great is how it is the non-guitar stuff that adds up too ! I spend a ton of time on my phone and laptop for work and I *know* it magnifies my guitar related posture issues. I've been consciously making a point of practicing guitar without looking at fret board bc my issue is tension in my neck / shoulders... It's really a constant battle (which can cruelly lead to more tension too if you aren't mindful about relaxing)

[@michaelgumleyguitar]

Most definitely. "no pain no gain" doesn't exist when we're learning guitar

[@waynemorrison5792]

Great video on a very important topic! A good reminder that I appreciate! Carpal Tunnel, is not fun! Looking forward to part two!

[@CattonArthur]

Hey man, thanks for talking about this stuff! Were you able to keep lifting weights? Did you make any accommodations with your weightlifting to better enable guitar playing?

[@michaelgumleyguitar]

Hello Catton. I was able to get right back into weights training, and lift heavier than I ever did pre surgery. Having said that these days I'm using something called an X3 Bar which uses variable resistance bands. It's much better on my joints and I havn't had any injuries in the 18 months since switching from weights to bands