Help! Anybody with any RSI experience?

[Random Hero]

I started my GIT course on Oct 6 and they warned us about it. Anyway, last 72-96 hours, I've had some mild discomfort in the inner forearm of my left arm. I hadn't experienced any of the "tightness" that seems to be one of the symptoms until Thursday, but it's definitely a weird and somewhat worrying feeling.

A couple of my tutors didn't seem to think it was RSI based on the small tests they made me do. I rested from Tuesday to Thursday, played some in class and when it felt a bit uncomfortable, stopped, and then rested from then until today. Played quite a bit today and it didn't feel uncomfortable until late this evening. My hand feels a little more sluggish than usual but that could be attributed to having not played properly for five days. I guess the best remedy is just rest until any discomfort is fully gone, but that's kinda tough when in school.

I didn't play all day Friday, but played again Saturday. Again, the sensation is lessening further, and it's feeling healed most of the time, except when I play there's a hint of burning. I guess the best thing is to just put it down for a couple of days to a week and start up again. I guess that'll get rid of it.

As a point of interest, the room I felt it in was freezing cold, so I dunno if it's related to my muscles/tendons being really cold and that causing me to slightly pull something?

I've never experienced this and I've been playing demanding stuff for years now.

 

[GHWelles]

Rest, warm up before playing, stretching, ice massage after playing and careful use of anti-inflammatory may be something you want to look at.
You may want to consult a physician

 

[Stoo]

I had problems with this back in 1991. Because I didn't give it time to really heal well, things deteriorated to the point where I had to quit playing for close to 2 years.

That being said, the first time I noticed a problem was while playing bass in a college marching band at a football game (outdoors in the stands, November, cold...) Right in the middle of a song, my hands and arms just felt like they turned to rubber and just started slowing down. So, since this is in the middle of the song, I forced myself to eventually catch up to tempo and finish the song out.

Everything seemed normal, until the next morning when I woke up and both arms just burned like fire. I told my music instructors and took a week's break from playing.

Now this is while I'm in college, so my diet consisted primarily of Hot dogs, Pop-Tarts and Beer (not necessarily in that order.) I also had a side job working in a video rental store where I was opening and closing video tape boxes, etc for 6-8 hours at a time, along with homework, not much sleep and various etc.

I never warmed up or stretched gently before playing--just started at 100mph usually, and played with a lot more physical effort than I really needed to to get the sounds (I had also started playing Double Bass in the Orchestra that sememster, which was a big change, also.)

So even with the week's rest, I didn't change enough of the other factors to keep it from recurring, so it got worse over time. It took a lot of rest, good hydration (ie: drink more water: not just Beer/ Dr. Pepper) and some decent nutrition--coupled with gentle stretching and warm ups before really intense playing, to really get past the problems.

I'm no Doctor, so definitely check with your own about your situation. There's a lot more focus on these kinds of injuries now then back then. Right now it sounds like you're taking care of it in plenty of time to avoid big problems. So much of playing is muscle memory--especially on the really fast stuff, so just a little change in a riff can throw you for a loop at 180bpm. Spend lots of time playing new stuff slowly just to teach your fingers where to go. the speed will come later.

Hope it helps and good luck! Feel invited to PM if you have any other questions. Just check with your Droctor as you're going through this.

 

[Dmanlamius]

Yes, unfortunately I have had R.S.I.

Some great advice above, by the way.

In addition to that, I made a video about R.S.I, and some simple hand stretches to do some time back. These exercises really helped me and my playing.

Here is the vid:

[ame=http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=UVd9XemSAOA]YouTube - Bass tips-Hand and tendon excercises[/ame]

Hope it helps.

Kris.

 

[Random Hero]

I think what I'm gonna do is just rest my arm until Friday at the earliest. I tried to play a little today and the sensation in my arm is definitely lessening with each time I play, but it's still there slightly. I've a feeling after a good 3 or 4 day rest, I should be able to start up playing again.

Thing is, probably each time I've played I've taken half a step back in the recovery process. Obviously I would like to give it as much rest as possible but I have stuff to study and as I say I'm pretty sure it's healing.

Kris, thanks for the video, I'll get right on those asap.

By the way, typing one handed is kinda sucky.

 

[Dmanlamius]

Yes my friend, rest is definatly the key. I tried to play "through" mine, and remember being in all sorts of trouble at a gig.

I was in a band that was doing quite intricate stuff, so I couldn't just sit back and play roots. That would have helped. First came the numbness and then loss of sensation, and then came the shooting pains. I just made it worse for myself.

I hadn't cancelled a gig in over ten years, but had to cancel two weeks worth after that.

Rest, and then gently incorperate those exercises.