Doc says I have to stop playing guitar.

equalsql

For at least a month.. wtf

I've been getting a lot of pain on the top of my right shoulder-joint to the point where I struggle to take any load on my right arm..like puttng a guitar back on to its wall-hanger. I figured it's arthritis as I've got that shit starting on my right hip and the base of my spine.

So I duly makes (last week) an appointment with my surgery figuring that they'll probably send me for an x-ray to check it out.. but no.. the doc checks my other arm for movement(?) whilst I'm telling him that it feels looking I've got toothache in my right shoulder. Then without further adue pronounces he knows exactly what the problem is, an inflammed tendon, and prescribes me Naproxen for the next month.. oh and instructs me not to use my right arm for that period including no guitar playing.

A week later, the pain's still there, I can't sleep because of it and I need to play as I'm going stir crazy...

What's one to do?...

hassleham

Practise legato?

darthed1981

I'd suggest following doctors advice, but maybe a month is over cautious?

Perhaps slowly build up again once you feel improvement, get into your normal playing regime after six weeks or so?

Last thing you want is to aggravate the injury so you can't play for months...?

axisus

Didn't affect guitar playing but I've had problems before with tennis elbow, foot trouble with plantar fascitis (3 times) and some long term injuries that took me away from running for incredibly long periods. Very frustrating. Some stuff takes a long time to get over, you just have to suck it up. 

equalsql

hassleham said:

Practise legato?

That's actually not a bad idea 

hassleham

equalsql said:

hassleham said:

Practise legato?

That's actually not a bad idea 

You could make it your goal to be able to play Power Cosmic at full speed by the time your right arm is better. Although you may injure your left arm in the process  

quarky

Air guitar. 

I started doing 40 press-ups a day and after a few months got really bad pain in my left shoulder. I stopped the press-ups completely (for more than a month so far, will give it a bit longer), but not the guitar (although I am only playing about three hours a week anyway at the moment).

Can you play sitting down or something?

Phil_aka_Pip

Rest and naproxen will help, but also see a physio and get some exercises for it (assuming he's right about it being an inflamed tendon).

Hattigol

equalsql said:

What's one to do?...

Get a new Doctor??

octatonic

I had to take 3 months off, which I did and it is now sorted.

chillidoggy

Guitar Hero, but sitting down?

Fretwired

Second opinion? He came to a conclusion quite quickly. My wife suffers with shoulder and back pain. The local quack couldn't help - didn't know what was wrong. She went to a specialist who found the problem and helped her (bad seating position and posture at work).

Guitar_Slinger

"I said to the doctor, 'It hurts when I do this' [raises arm]. He said, 'Well, don't do it.'"   Tommy Cooper was ahead of his time. In the field of RSI.  

If in the OP's position, I'd work out how to move around the minor pentatonic shapes using hammer-ons, slides and pull-offs.

jellyroll

I had shoulder problems - couldn't sleep, etc. After fannying around with physio which had no impact, I eventually saw a shoulder specialist who organised for me to have a cortisone shot. Worked like a miracle.

poopot

Had the same diagnosis as you from my doc last year... “inflamed tendon”. Was also prescribed naproxen along with co codomol... the pain didn’t go away so I went back... had an MRI and it was actually a burst disk in my neck!....

Tge docs are all to quick to say “sprain”, “rsi” or “inflamed tendon”... all they are seeing at the moment is injury through folks modern day lifestyle, hunched over computers, hunched over mobile phones, bad mattresses etc etc.

If the naproxen and rest has not done its job after a couple of weeks, go back, could very well be a disk or similar...

In the meantime, go to a physio and see what they say... In the end my problem was solved with acupuncture!!!!!

guitarfishbay

You could get a second opinion from a physiotherapist, there's probably a private physio clinic within a reasonable distance who will see you pretty quickly... worth a try as they'll see this kind of thing probably every day

ESBlonde

Practice you score reading skills, once you get back on the fingerboard it will benefit you in several ways.

midlifecrisis

doctor told me to stop masturbating, i said why? he said because im trying to examine you...

57Deluxe

sittie-down slide

munckee

Learning theory and get a 'special glove' for the other hand.

Phil_aka_Pip

poopot said:

In the meantime, go to a physio and see what they say... In the end my problem was solved with acupuncture!!!!!

I saw a physio who was very good, except that she wanted to try acupuncture. I let her, for a very short while, then I told her she was the first person I'd come across who thought that you could cure something that hurts by sticking a pin in where it hurts.