Seizing up!!

[mangotango]

Of late, I have had an issue a couple of times, when I have been playing a lot, with the fingers on my left hand - principally my index finger - cramping up and refusing to work for a short while.

It happened most recently on Saturday at an outdoor gig - where, thanks to European Windstorm Hannah, it was very cold, very windy (gusting up to 42mph, according to MetCheck) and damp (according to me, who was getting somewhat wet). The gig was by the Southend Jazz Co-operative, a workshop band, at the Priory Park Bandstand in Southend On Sea, Essex. I'm at the back right of the picture, visible just behind the singer and one of the saxophonists, and in some seriously dodgy headgear, though clearly I'm not alone in that, at least. You can see that everybody is wrapped up against the cold.

 

We'd already done a normal Saturday morning session (10am to 1pm) which I thought would exempt me from further warm-up, though I did use the old Jim Hall trick of going to the bathroom just before the gig and running my hand under the hot water tap so my hands wouldn't be too cold.  Didn't help much. Anyway, the gig was due to start at 3pm; 2 x 45 minute sets. Two-thirds of the way into the first set, my left index finger seized up totally, followed shortly by my second finger (which was clearly complaining about the extra workload). I finished "Watermelon Man" with only two working fingers - two fingers roughly summing up my mood at the time. 

Managed to shake it out before the next tune and took great care after that; hands in pockets between tunes, rubbing fingers together immediately before playing. The gig was called after the first set (which included the first number of the second set) and I was able to retire hurt - my pride more than anything else.

SO.…..has anyone else had experience of this kind of cramping up of digits? I've had it once before, but that lasted only a few moments - it was at an indoor gig and caused no real issue.

If you HAVE had this, what do you do to a) cure it at the time?  b) prevent it recurring? Do you do any specific warm-up exercises or routines to stave off this kind of thing? And could this have been mostly down to the weather, or might there be some other underlying issue?

 

Appreciate your thoughts, people.

[irvined]

Hi,

 

My left hand seizes up after 45 minutes when playing a gig. I can do a 4 hour rehearsal - no problem. Get on stage and I have 45 minutes.

The only way I have found to do two 1 hour sets is to wear a cotton glove on my left hand. Looks stupid but works for me.

I drink two bottles of tonic water (at a gig) to try and ease the symptoms but doesn't seem to do a lot.

Been happening to me for the past 20 years.

 

If you find a solution - let me know!

 

Regards,

 

Doug

[jrixn1]

Yes, a couple of times, hopefully isolated; the common factors seemed to be when it's been cold, playing for an extended period, dehydrated, or low potassium level (eat bananas).

Also, get fingerless thermal gloves.

Edited April 29, 2019 by jrixn1

[Krysbass]

Unless its abput 18C+, if I'm not walking or running, my hands (and feet) have a habit of going cold and numb and my hands start to lose coordination and cramp up in temperatures that many people would call mild.

I now carry a pair of thermal fingerless gloves with my gear to all gigs and although these attract the inevitable clever comments, they do generally improve the situation without overly impeding my playing. 

I played a 1 hour outdoor festival gig a few years ago at the end of May in Cheshire and in view of the time of year, thought I was safe to leave the gloves at home.  Wrong - it was cold and windy and my hands started refusing to cooperate, so I didn't play well and didn't enjoy the gig. Lesson learned. 

[la bam]

Make a conscious effort to take deep breaths and breathe properly.

Sometimes during gigs it's like a 100m sprint where adrenalin puts you in panic mode and you forget to breathe normally. When you feel your cramping or struggling, make sure to deep breathe and get some oxygen to those muscles.

[Monkey Steve]

Happened to me on Easter Sunday - first practice I'd had for three months, and after a couple of hours of pretty constant playing I got cramp in my right hand's index and middle fingers as soon as we started "one last run through of the whole set"

I've had it a few times before, almost always the picking hand, and always after a few hours of hard playing in a sweaty studio, usually having been drinking beer.  So for me it's almost certainly dehydration, for which there is no immediate cure.  Fortunately, because it is usually my picking hand I can manage it by switching to playing with a pick rather than finger style.  I do have a wider issue with cramp, and am reliably told that bananas and water would make a much better diet to deal with that than what I usually eat.

Lesson learned is to manage rehearsals so that I'm not actually playing for more than a couple of hours, and to try and be as hydrated as possible (that's usually a fail!) and it's never a problem at gigs as I won't actually be playing for more than a couple of hours on the day

[Bigwan]

Jazz bass necks for an extended period does it to me...

[Stub Mandrel]

Try hothands hand warmers. Little pouches of salt and iron filings(!) that give out a good amount of heat. I use them to keep condensation of my telescope at night.

My problem is the arthritis in the base of my left thumb shouting at me.