Guitar related pain

TheBlueWolf

I'm currently having a lay off as my left shoulder is aching like hell. I'm 99% sure it's posture related as I tense up and hunch over my guitar when I'm learning new stuff.

Besides sorting my posture out and relaxing a bit more while playing what else should I be doing to avoid aches  and pains?

Ta

mike_l

Put any sheet music/tab on a stand directly in front of you.

Get you guitar set at a comfortable height, supported by the strap.

Sit on a proper chair, not a sofa or bed.

Put everything you need (eg. CD players) within easy reach.

Make sure the neck of the guitar is raised, I like mine so the headstock is almost level with my shoulder, and the guitar resting on my left leg (I'm right handed), it gives better access to the whole neck.

Stop playing before you get pain. 4x 15 minutes, or 2x 30 minutes without pain is better than 1 hour with pain.

Flink_Poyd

I don't use a strap at home so I bought an adjustable foot rest, about £8. I've switched to playing in the "classical" position so the body is on the left rather than the right leg which was making me contort into some weird position making my back ache. Seat height is going to affect your posture 

mike_l

Flink_Poyd said:

I don't use a strap at home so I bought an adjustable foot rest, about £8. I've switched to playing in the "classical" position so the body is on the left rather than the right leg which was making me contort into some weird position making my back ache. Seat height is going to affect your posture 

Using a strap when seated allows you to set the height where it's comfortable, so when you stand the guitar is in the same position as when seated.

TheBlueWolf

I've adjusted my strap to the point where it's at the same height seated or standing but I really should invest in a musical stand. I've usually got whatever I'm learning on the table in front of me, which probably explains why I'm hunched over. In fact I'll see if my local guitar shop has decently priced ones.

Taking more frequent breaks is a good idea. I tend to lose track of time when I practice so perhaps a timer might help too.

Grunfeld

TheBlueWolf said:

Taking more frequent breaks is a good idea.

If you're in pain and you think it's caused by sustained posture then yes, break of course.
Left shoulder pain:  front of it, back of it?   Or different?

TheBlueWolf

@Grunfeld back, the shoulder blade area.

EDIT

It seems to get worse the more tense I get, which is why I'm currently thinking a combination of a music stand and more frequent breaks may help

Grunfeld

TheBlueWolf said:

...I'm currently thinking a combination of a music stand and more frequent breaks may help

I'm currently thinking that your neck posture could be referring pain into your shoulder blade area.
Check your neck movements (rotation L & R; side flexion L & R; flexion; extension; retraction) and see if there's an obvious culprit or two when it comes to movement. 
Beyond that, get it seen if it's a problem but basically that area is often a "neck problem" that's felt there.  And another bit of the spine as it happens (upper thoracic if you feel like googling it).  But the fix is so often the same:
movement, common sense, avoiding sustained posture if it's problematic

TheBlueWolf

Grunfeld said:

TheBlueWolf said:

...I'm currently thinking a combination of a music stand and more frequent breaks may help

I'm currently thinking that your neck posture could be referring pain into your shoulder blade area.
Check your neck movements (rotation L & R; side flexion L & R; flexion; extension; retraction) and see if there's an obvious culprit or two when it comes to movement. 
Beyond that, get it seen if it's a problem but basically that area is often a "neck problem" that's felt there.  And another bit of the spine as it happens (upper thoracic if you feel like googling it).  But the fix is so often the same:
movement, common sense, avoiding sustained posture if it's problematic

Many thanks for that, I'll bear all that in mind once I feel well enough  to start playing again

Alnico

Print this out and stare it at whenever you're idle.
When you go back to it you'll remember more of it than you may think.

http://i.imgur.com/FOGBGao.jpg

Doesn't help with the pain but it will make good use of the time spent away from the strings.
Good luck man.

sev112

Stretch stretch stretch 
even 10 mins a day can really help
look for neck exercises on Google, and try a few out, make sure you breathe deeply and slowly while you do them

notanon

"Put any sheet music/tab on a stand directly in front of you." 

I can confirm that - I find just 15 minutes of I'll just have a quick practice whilst at the table with a sheet on the table and me looking down is sufficient to make me ache and cause incredible tension in the neck/shoulder. I suppose like sitting on your legs for 15 minutes then all of a sudden you realise you have pins & needles then can't move.

Hootsmon

Yup....Hooters punched me on face when I brought my latest les paul  home

TheBlueWolf

@Alnico thanks dude, I'll make good use  of that

@sev112 I'll ask  Google for stretching exercises

skunkwerx

Same for me in my strumming hand shoulder, but more to the front! I often do the 'windmill' routine throughout playing which seems to alleviate it slightly.

57Deluxe

Alnico said:

Print this out and stare it at whenever you're idle.
When you go back to it you'll remember more of it than you may think.

http://i.imgur.com/FOGBGao.jpg

Doesn't help with the pain but it will make good use of the time spent away from the strings.
Good luck man.

http://i63.tinypic.com/20u4gba.jpg

TheBlueWolf

I'm booked in to see my GP tomorrow as rest and Ibuprofen don't seem too have helped much. It might be a sprain or something similar but it won't ( pun intended ) hurt to have my doctor give my shoulder a look at.

crunchman

TheBlueWolf said:

I'm booked in to see my GP tomorrow as rest and Ibuprofen don't seem too have helped much. It might be a sprain or something similar but it won't ( pun intended ) hurt to have my doctor give my shoulder a look at.

Physio or Osteopath would probably be better for something like that.

If you don't do regular exercise then start.  My shoulder/arm/wrist got a lot better when I joined a gym.  It wasn't for body building and I didn't do heavy weights - just several repetitions with light weights.  If you don't fancy a gym then do Pilates or go swimming regularly.  Any of them will help a lot.  Prevention is a lot better than cure.

If it has reached a certain point then you may need some kind of intervention first from someone like a physio but long term you need to exercise it and get the muscles around it stronger.

TheBlueWolf

I'd got about a fortnight into a total beginners home workout which I stopped a couple of days before giving the guitar playing a rest. I don't much fancy going to the gym so, depending on what my GP thinks, I'll consider swimming or Pilates. Right now I'd rather not do anything that might further aggravate whatever is wrong.

Thanks for the advice dude

TheBlueWolf

@crunchman I've given you a wiz for being spot on regarding exercise, which was my doctors advice too! He even suggested gentle swimming

He gave me some anti inflammatory gel to help with the pain as well as advice on keeping my shoulder moving so it doesn't totally freeze up, which would be a nightmare.

So I'm slightly grumpy about giving the guitar playing a longer rest than I'd like but I've got  some other music projects that I can get into so overall it's cool

crunchman

@TheBlueWolf - unfortunately I've learned some of that through experience!