Anybody here with arthritis?

pintspiller

I've got a touch of psoriatic arthritis. My fingers aren't deformed but the joint at the tips can swell occasionally on a few fingers and I would have had an odd case of Dactylitis prior to being prescribed Methotrexate.

Now and then it feels like some fingers will explode from behind the nail and that the thumb on my left hand has been pushed into the socket too hard.

Despite ThIs, my playing has not really been affected.I have never been much of a technical player as I mostly play powerchords and limited lead playing. I mostly play bass anyway.

I was just wondered if any others have issues with their hands.

rossyamaha

Yep. Had massive problems a few years ago to the extent that I started selling my gear off. Thought I wasn't going to play guitar anymore. Something as simple as ibuprofen got me through it and things started to calm down. Still get a lot of pain especially when it's cold. 

Roland

Yes. Partly arthritis, partly age. My index finger no longer curls tightly enough to play open C and Fmay7 cleanly, so I tend to use other voicings further up the neck

My hands, like the rest of my body, don't recover as quickly as they used to do. So I have to treat them with more care. There are pallets of bricks and stones in the barn that I need to move out so that I can convert it to a workshop. With a gig on Saturday that's not going to happen this week.

Watching my grand daughter become more dextrous I realised that it's just part of a life long process of learning and adapting.

p90fool

Same here, I need painkillers before gigs sometimes because of my right thumb, my string bending strength has gone, and my hands generally take a good few hours to get going each day. I can't even write neatly until around lunchtime. 

I can still carry heavy objects but can't grip a pencil in my fist with any strength. I can't pull a bathroom string-type light switch on with one hand any more. 

You do adapt, and I can still mostly play what I need to, but stuff like a busy 16-bar rock guitar solo is impossible for me now, my hands just don't have the stamina. 

For acoustic gigs I use 9-42 electric strings, I can't even play an F major chord on anyone elses acoustic guitar. 

Neil

Yes it's a bloody nuisance.

I'm playing a lot of very abbreviated chords as barres are practically impossible.

Got some spinal arthritis too so sitting playing the guitar for more than an hour becomes very uncomfortable.

merlin

Around 15 years ago I came down with systemic arthritis, meaning that all my joints were affected, particularly my knees, hips, back and shoulders. 

I went for numerous checkups, and ended up in the hospital in Brighton seeing one of the country's leading arthritis consultants. He felt the rhythm of every joint in my body, took about 45 minutes and extracted 10ml of synovial fluid from behind my left knee-cap. The liquid was cloudy (which it shouldn't be) and it gave me some relief, he suspected psoriatic arthritis and offered me some anti-inflammatory drugs and pain killers. I said I wanted to get rid of it, not just treat the symptoms and he said that the drugs were all he could offer. I then let him know that the drugs he was offering cause me to have anaphylaxis (strong allergy) and that I couldn't take them. He then said he has others he could offer but they might have powerful side-effects. I said no to that too, and his response was "Come back when you can't walk". 

So I sought alternative therapy, after having been in a fair amount of pain and being somewhat scared to cross the road and having to play sitting down for almost 9 months. I went to a kinesiologist who after a 90 minute session was able to work out that I had a chronic and systemic parasite infection, Echinostoma Trivolvis, which was lurking and breeding my liver, pancreas, kidneys and muscle tissue. 

The parasite had entered my system via eggs from (most likely, it's surprisingly common) eating sashimi. The problem being that I had developed irritable bowel which makes the gut lining swell up and allow the eggs through into the body, plus of course unpleasant digestive fluids and digested food. This in turn caused my immune system to start collapse, which resulted in psoriasis on my joints, amongst other things. 

So, after severely limiting my diet and filling me with herbs and natural supplements that boosted my immune system and killed the parasites, I retuned to health. It was along haul. 

It is much better to find the cause and treat that, rather than just dealing with treatment of symptoms. Sadly the doctors are in cahoots with the pharmaceutical companies and won't help with genuine cures.  

 Think diet and lifestyle. There are so many common foods that really, really screw us up. Also try reading (and following) Patrick Holford's book, "Say No To Arthritis". It requires some discipline but really pays off. 

Blueingreen

I have arthritis, so far only obviously affecting the top joint of one finger, but it's the most important one for a right handed guitarist (index finger on left hand).  On the plus side I've had for it a few years and it hasn't yet spread to other joints.  I thought I might be in for quick deterioration to the full Keef.

I can still play full barre chords but half or part barres are a problem.  Moving between "cowboy chords" is stiffer and slower and I need to practice some parts more than I used to before I can feel confident I can play them.  Vibrato or bending with my index finger can be painful/difficult and apart from a moderate vibrato I tend to avoid these for fear of making the situation worse.

I have poor hands for a guitarist, neither strong nor flexible, and I have never been totally comfortable with the "rolling" technique for playing the same fret on an adjacent string.  Now I'm also suspicious that years of forcing it caused the damage.  Some well known teachers (eg Andrew Green and Peter Sprague) warn against this and advocate using different fingerings to avoid "rolling".  I've been trying to incorporate those into my playing.  These feel pretty unnatural and awkward at times, but I do feel they are putting less stress on my finger joints and might prolong my playing life.

TheMarlin

I've got it in my hips, back, and knees. I rarely take anything for it, but do take paracetamol and ibruprofen when my back gets seriously bad.  I don't lift heavy amps any more, so I'm mostly ok. Getting up from kneeling is desperately painful though. 

I find a low carb high fat (lchf/Banting) diet help alleviate most of the symptoms, but it's hard to sustain. 

I work in sales, and have to take customers out for drinks. I do like beer, which makes avoiding carbs very difficult. 

I find that most of the pain and stiffness fades after a month of fastidiously LCHF eating.  I've managed six month on zero carb diet, was the best I've ever felt (since my 30's). 

Trade shows are my worst problem. It's a week of wining and dining major customer.  My body practically seizes up after a week of boozing, everything gets inflamed and painful. 

So, low carb high fat for the win.  Seriously, try it. Bonus is, you lose weight too!

Marlin

Gassage

Me too- hips back hands and shoulder.

TheBlueWolf

In my ankles is worst but my hips, lower back and left shoulder ache from old injuries too.

Paracetamol and ibuprofen hit the spot but I take a cod liver oil supplement and have a decent all over stretch before playing. I've never been a technical player, so overall my playing hasn't suffered much. I take regular breaks while practicing.

ESBlonde

I'm not looking forward to the cold damp weather, I know they tell you it makes no difference but a week near the Med in Feb/Mar makes so much difference for a few days. Back, Hips, hands and shoulders. Fortunatly I still have my looks!
Daily dose of diclafenac sodium does make a lot of difference.

Jalapeno

Yes, fretting hand thumb joint from poor technique, so avoid barre chords (they sound crap anyway especially if 2 guitarists are playing them).

Also in top knuckle of index fingers - Iprobrufen gel helps a lot.

Biggest ouch is my right big toe joint - permanent pain, eased by IB gel, but I can't take IB tablets because of asthma. 

ESBlonde

Following on from @merlin and his comments about diet, I keep seeing yootoob videos of quacks, doctors, former sufferers, health food freaks etc. all having a 'cure' for whatever ailment you might have. There is a lot of good in getting a healthy diet, the results don't come as instantly as popping a pill but can be much more dramatic and long lasting once you discover what it is that helps you. Me and anyone down wind used to suffer from IBS but diet makes so much difference and I've been all but clear these 20 years.

Blaendulais

merlin said:

 Sadly the doctors are in cahoots with the pharmaceutical companies and won't help. with genuine cures.  

 

Have a LOL as this is crap of the highest order my friend. 

hywelg

Does anyone find cutting out all belladonna related foodstuffs helps? My wife has arthritis (rheumatoid?) and has cut out all potatoes, peppers, aubergines and tomatoes as they're all related. She reckons it helps but I think it its coincidental most of the time related to other factors.

TheBlueWolf

I forgot to mention exercise, in my case lots of walking.

I'm pretty slow but once my joints have got moving I'm pretty fluid. I rest too but a few times I've pretty much gone stiff all over ( fnar fnar ) if I get too comfy.

merlin

hywelg said:

Does anyone find cutting out all belladonna related foodstuffs helps? My wife has arthritis (rheumatoid?) and has cut out all potatoes, peppers, aubergines and tomatoes as they're all related. She reckons it helps but I think it its coincidental most of the time related to other factors.

When I started my diet directed by the kinesiologist, I had to cut out all nightshades you mentioned AND chillies, which are of the same family. Also all gluten, eggs, dairy, coffee, tea, chocolate, meat and fish! 

lloyd

Blaendulais said:

merlin said:

 Sadly the doctors are in cahoots with the pharmaceutical companies and won't help. with genuine cures.  

 

Have a LOL as this is crap of the highest order my friend. 

No, the pharmaceutical companies have the cure for cancer but they want to keep it as they make money from it.

Forgetting of course that having the cure for cancer and being pharmaceutical companies would put them in a very nice position to make much much more money than they do now....

Oh and smoking weed/cannabis oil cures everything.

strumjoughlamps

I am struggling with my hands at the minute, holding a box and brush all day is causing some after pain.. think its osteoarthritis as they hurt really bad and hard to move after resting and in the morning but 30 to 60 mins after they are better.

will give it another week and seek GP advice if still struggling

axisus

I am fortunate in that thus far I have not had problems with arthritis etc, however, I have had a lifelong problem with my left hand thumb. The lower joint flexes too far backwards, this means that I am limited in the amount of pressure I can put on with it. For most of life it doesn't affect me at all, but with acoustic guitar I can't play songs that are full of barre chords, it gets painful very quickly to the point where I can no longer hold them. It's a bit of a bummer, but there are much worse things in life so I can't complain.

pintspiller

Glad to see its not just me