A bit of advice needed

[JoeTomW]

Hi guys,
I have been playing for about 7 years now but have hit 'the wall' in a way.
I have a neurological condition which affects mainly the left side of my body both tone and strength wise.
Despite this, I would still say I can play bass to an okay level (gospel, rock, blues etc.). The problem here is that I have began to develop a dull, aching stiffness in my left wrist. This means that I can play the songs normally up until about 30 seconds continuous (especially on the high strings) and then this stiffness comes.
I do have small-ish hands and my fingers don't naturally stretch that much but it has never been a problem before.

I was wondering if anyone has any advice on how to combat such a thing and delay, if not stop such a pain.
This is even more important as I am meant to be buying a new bass (american special) very soon and this issue is downright discouraging me!

Other points: I use a long-scale Ibanez GSR with 45's. I have seen posts about people using a short-scale for similar problems but I have no clue in a first hand way.
Thanks

[41.2Hz]

Do you have regular or periodic medical consultations in connection with your condition - with a consultant or a physiotherapist?

If yes have you sought their advice?

In the absence of any professional advice it would seem worthwhile trying a short-scale bass and/or using lighter gauge strings

[HowieBass]

I agree with Mike regarding checking up on your condition - you'll also certainly help yourself with lighter gauge, lower tension strings and your bass set up with a properly cut nut and a low action.

[Geek99]

consider a short scale, but first get medical advice.I got this stiffness when I had carpal tunnel syndrome and simple injection cured it.

[SubsonicSimpleton]

If you haven't done so already, it might be worth going for a lesson with a good bass teacher who should be able to identify if there is anything about your technique that could be contributing to this issue. Well worth IMHO considering changing to a lighter gauge of strings 35-95 would considerably reduce the amount of physical effort required to play, and should help your hand to be more relaxed while playing - strings direct do [url="http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/strings-c1/bass-guitar-strings-sets-c34/legacy-legacy-4-string-nickel-roundwound-bass-guitar-strings-40-100-long-scale-p971"]a 40-100 set which costs less than a tenner[/url] (legacy are rebadged rotosound nickels), I moved from 45-105 to rotosound RB35 35-95 (£15) set when I was experiencing a lot of discomfort in my left hand and all the aches and pains stopped, so I would recommend that it is a very cheap and simple change that might help.

[Number6]

I can empathise as i have a neurological medical problem too. It is definitely worth trying to get an appointment with the Consultant Neurologist and probably the Physio too. The Consultant can suggest changes to medication that may greatly assist with this. From experience doctors tend to evaluate medications over a period of time so its best that you tell them. They can prescribe allsorts that may assist including muscle relaxents and beta blockers etc.

Best Wishes and hope this helps.

Edited December 4, 2014 by Number6

[JoeTomW]

Thanks a lot for the help people.
The condition makes phases of symptoms rather sporadic and hard pin down to one specific thing. I have neurological tests and they all came back inconclusive (they took my blood 39 times!) and so they said it would be hard to properly know what to do. I will definitely look into the short-scale stuff and the string gauge is a quick fix thing. I didn't even think about the action to be honest and it is rather high at the moment so that is another thing. To the physio's it is!
Cheers

[Number6]

[quote name='JoeTomW' timestamp='1417711947' post='2623376']
Thanks a lot for the help people.
The condition makes phases of symptoms rather sporadic and hard pin down to one specific thing. I have neurological tests and they all came back inconclusive (they took my blood 39 times!) and so they said it would be hard to properly know what to do. I will definitely look into the short-scale stuff and the string gauge is a quick fix thing. I didn't even think about the action to be honest and it is rather high at the moment so that is another thing. To the physio's it is!
Cheers
[/quote]

Again (and this doesn't help) but the exact same for me. Tons of blood tests Brain and Cervical Spine MRI's and a CT Scan.....NOWT! 😐

Anyway physio and beta blockers were given to me as the way to a cure.....lol we will see.

Btw short scale basses are cool!

Good luck

[3below]

I also had wrist problems,to the point that I could not play for more than 30 mins then wrist just swelled up - tendonitis and general inflammation. This was after some 20 years playing frequently. I sort of gave up for 10 years then restarted. No problems now and still using same bass now and then. No idea what caused and why it went away.

Short scale can really help, recent purchase of Gibson SG on here has shown me that (small hands as well.) Also the angle the Gibson body (and neck) tilt away results in significantly lbetter wrist angle. The ease of playing that bass is really noticeable.

Neck profile can also make a vast difference - despite small hands I find chunky deep profile necks much easier than thin profile.

Try some basses to see if you find a more comfortable one.

[Twincam]

I think also that people forget that if something is hurting don't carry on playing. Let your body heal. This is a painful fact i have learnt from various sports and also bass playing. Joint problems, tendon problems, ligament problems heal at a much much slower rate than say a flesh wound or a muscle injury.
It may take a couple of months or longer of total Non! playing for your injuries to heal.

Light stretching is a good idea. As said low tension strings low gauge or even tapewounds are low tension. Short scale and narrow neck would also help. And a good action, low as possible.

Take a week or two totally off playing dont even pick up the bass if possible.

[stingrayPete1977]

Whenever I've seen a band using a Mustang bass it has sounded great to me I started on upright bass after an injury as it meant I did not need to fold my wrist around, the eub has really low tension to play too.

[Drax]

Definitely worth trying a move away from the long scale.

Don't know the dimensions of GSR, but it's easy to overlook that body designs (with the [b]same[/b] scale length) impact on reach. It's the distance between the top strap fixing and the nut (or how far into the body the fingerboard is set, often related to number of frets)

My Warwick needs me to stretch almost 2 inches further than my Jazz, both are 34 inch scale.