Warning to the wise

[Jezyorkshire]

 Sold my double bass a while back, been playing electric for about 35 years, just recently sold my fender jazz, thought I would never play double again due to wear and tear over the years, had a frozen shoulder, flipped my left arm up over playing the double, had 18 months of sports massage therapy to try to get back to playing, hasn’t worked, recently had to go see a physio over right arm n shoulder pain, it’s proper knotted up, said that the issues I have had in the past haven’t been resolved and it’s all the years of playing, good thing is that the physio thinks I can get in good enough condition if I follow advice, been going two weeks and can feel the difference, it’s painful but getting better.

 Im saying this as a warning to any one who might be aware that they aren’t in the best condition or are having pains, get checked out by a physio, and I don’t mean the NHS, it’s a waste of time, I ignored for a long time symptoms that should have been a warning to me and it stopped me playing to the point were I thought I would never play again and I sold most of my gear, I won’t play electric again as I can’t stand the weight round my shoulder but am hoping to get fit enough to have a go at double again, prevention is the best thing, get those muscles that we need to play in the right condition or you may end up where I was, regards , Jez

[petebassist]

Good advice. I find it much easier to play upright for long periods if I've put in a bit of gym time, or even just a few push-ups (I'm making a mental note to start doing this again...). @Jezyorkshire I hope you get your arm & shoulder back in working order mate. 

[Jezyorkshire]

19 minutes ago, petebassist said:

Good advice. I find it much easier to play upright for long periods if I've put in a bit of gym time, or even just a few push-ups (I'm making a mental note to start doing this again...). @Jezyorkshire I hope you get your arm & shoulder back in working order mate. 

Thanks man, my back muscles are really weak so physio got me doing exercises to build up using 2kg weights for now, I have to warm the top of arm/shoulder with hot water bottle then stretch arm holding a long broom handle up and to side then doing exercises

[shamrock198804]

13 hours ago, Jezyorkshire said:

I ignored for a long time symptoms that should have been a warning to me

What would those symptoms be, if you don't mind?

Edited January 26, 2018 by shamrock198804

[TPJ]

Hi Jez, sorry to hear all the playing trouble. When we last spoke it sounded like you were on the mend. Is this afftecting the sax playing too? I hope you get it sorted. Couldn't imagine life without playing music.

[Jezyorkshire]

5 hours ago, shamrock198804 said:

What would those symptoms be, if you don't mind?

 The symptoms started with what seems like carpel tunnel but actually originates in the neck area, pains in my wrist when arm extended such as playing bottom F area for more than an a minute or so, tension in arm and shoulder, this creeps up on you and to some degree you normalise it until it becomes really bad, trouble is before that point the tension etc goes away over the next few days when you stop playing , I was doing Corporate functions on electric and the tension in my arm/shoulder and upper body and neck was ridiculous and made me feel unwell but it went away couple of days later.

Other symptoms I had later when I played double bass was that I started having trouble playing bottom G with my little finger, I couldn’t keep the note down and as it got worse i eventually couldn’t get the note out at all, I was Probably using the wrong muscles to compensate,

I did nothing to address my fitness, no exercise or stretching those muscles that are needed to play the instrument, just carrying the weight of my Fender Jazz made me feel unwell over the course of a gig but it’s something I just accepted.

 When I started physio a couple of weeks ago on my right arm as I have been having trouble with pains in my shoulder it was found that my right upper arm muscle severely knotted, the physio put it down to years of use playing instruments, I am also starting to develope rounded shoulders like you see old people get as my back muscles are in shocking condition

 

[Jezyorkshire]

3 hours ago, TPJ said:

Hi Jez, sorry to hear all the playing trouble. When we last spoke it sounded like you were on the mend. Is this afftecting the sax playing too? I hope you get it sorted. Couldn't imagine life without playing music.

Hi mate, when we spoke I was having physio on my left arm, shoulder and neck, I did think it would sort it but I also found I had golfers elbow in both arms! That was a while ago, I’m now having physio on the right due to pain as described in post above and it looks promising that I may play double again if I diligently do what the physio recommends, I am seeing improvement just after two weeks and the physio is taking into consideration getting me into physical shape to play double again.

I am still playing sax, have just started playing with a big band to get out playing but it’s probably only short term as I may be moving, I’m in Todmorden at the minute but we are looking to move somewhere less wet and cold!

Hope you are well mate, hope the Duke is working out well for you, yes it’s not good not being able to play music, hence why I started this post to highlight what can happen.

[shamrock198804]

That sounds terrible, I'm really sorry to read it.

I'm only starting playing the DB, but am growing increasingly conscious of all the risks, I actually got my bass after a musician who was quiting because of medical reasons as well...

Well, I hope you'll get better and as a novice I promise to watch for any suspicious symptoms! Thanks for the warning.

[Jezyorkshire]

9 minutes ago, shamrock198804 said:

That sounds terrible, I'm really sorry to read it.

I'm only starting playing the DB, but am growing increasingly conscious of all the risks, I actually got my bass after a musician who was quiting because of medical reasons as well...

Well, I hope you'll get better and as a novice I promise to watch for any suspicious symptoms! Thanks for the warning.

Thanks mate, prevention is easy , just do a bit of working out to avoid injury, get some advice on which muscles in particular you need to keep in good shape for playing and stretches as well

[Rabbie]

At the start It’s really tricky because of the neck & shoulder tension generated by fighting the great beast...strive for a correct-ish posture pays off in the long run.

DAILY practice, even after years and years is a must, not only to approximate intonation but also to ease the above tension and become pally with the big yin...(contentiously, I find it a kinda monogamous affair; when I switched instrument a bit more and spent a shortish period on guitar, the double bass took the grump and made me a bit sore on returning to it....)

And then healthy living, which will allow you to play for longer on account of being still alive. But that of course is even trickier...

I guess there are more detailed accounts out there that wax lyrical on the subject, but this has worked for me so far, fingers and toes crossed... all the very best!

[knicknack]

I hear you... I've been having regular Physio for 9 months now at great cost, partly due to an accident but also dealing with a shoulder that doesn't like playing bass or lifting cases anymore... at 29! It's been a particularly bad week...

[Jezyorkshire]

18 hours ago, knicknack said:

I hear you... I've been having regular Physio for 9 months now at great cost, partly due to an accident but also dealing with a shoulder that doesn't like playing bass or lifting cases anymore... at 29! It's been a particularly bad week...

That’s shite mate, hope things improve man, Jez