Hi all, I just wanted to ask about pain from possibly playing too much? My thumb/wrist had pains but now its just my thumb. It usually only hurts if i'm trying to pick up something and I was just wondering if this was normal? I also read somewhere that I should keep using my hand lightly so it doesn't stiffen up? Your advice would be greatly appreciated!
I'm guessing (hoping) a certain amount of discomfort is to be expected when learning any new discipline. I'm currently wrestling with wrist pain, so i know what of you speak. It's frustrating to have to ease up on play and practice when all you want to do is play and practice, but i think it's necessary to give the body some healing time.
Just take it easy. Don't try to condition your hands too fast. This is just like any other excericise program, you have to let your body get used to it slowly.
My fingrers and wrist and hands hurt for a while, and I take frequent breaks. After over a year of gradual pracitice, I can play for up to two hours at a time now. Be patient with your hands, you'll need them for a long time!
(Psst... I'm a nurse)
Happy pickin'!
Pain is a sign that tells you something is wrong or that you are overdoing it. It can be easy to go overboard with practicing when you're new and completely psyched about it.
Otherwise, plain old fingertip soreness is completely normal while you build up calluses. It's something all string players go thru.
Rest is important, but stretching and conditioning are useful as well.
The hand exercises shown here are adapted from Scott Sonnon's programs, found on the RMAX International site. The fellow demonstrating them here is not doing some of them to full extension - for example, on the "ice cream cone" exerise, you should open your fingers up completely on each rep. I have found these to be very helpful with soreness and stiffness related to uke, guitar, and drumming.
Thanks for all the of the replies! I agree I am probably over doing it, I tend to do that even during sports haha I'm starting to ease up on the playing, stopping as soon as I feel any signs of fatigue. Also going to start with those hand stretches, thanks His Sinfulness!
muscle pain and sore fingertips are really common with beginners. Sore fingertips won't do you any long term damage, and only by playing more will they go. Sore muscles, joints etc is your body giving you a warning sign! If you play on and make it worse, that will only work against you in your practice and start to put you off the uke. Take it easy.
If it's just sore fingertip pads from fretting the strings, that's one thing. If there is pain at the base of the thumb that is something to be careful about. It could be a ligament. You may want to rest that hand and ice it, and then later experiment with different angles of approach that are less stressful. It shouldn't be painful. Not being able to stretch over a few frets is different, that takes flexibility and coordination, which comes with practice. Again, it might be awkward but should not cause pain. If it does try a different position.
I am currently dealing with repetitive strain injury (RSI) from overwork at my last job on keyboard and mouse plus additionally having to work in a bad ergonomic environment and also with no breaks to move and stretch. I would go to the bathroom and take a minute to run cold water on my sore fingers. And half the time get yelled at when I returned. It was one on one all day with the boss, who was the entire company. I wanted to quit but could not find other work. We needed my income to pay the rent and subsidize the kid in college.
It has seriously impacted my ability to continue working with a computer, which is currently required for my most marketable skills. If I had it to do over again knowing what I know now, I would have quit when I first started having the pain.
Musicians commonly have issues with this, especially drummers and those who play stringed instruments. So warm up stretches are a good habit, as is proper form. After a year and a half of chronic and worsening pain, I am finally getting a little bit of recovery, and I am also able to spend an hour or so a few times a week with my ukes. However I find my right hand (mouse hand) is so stiff from injury sustained that I can't play a soprano anymore. I have trouble bending those fingers and that hand has about half the strength it had when I was well. There was a long stretch where I was afraid I would have to give up and sell my ukes, because I could barely even form a simple chord, and it hurt to look at them and know that trying to play would just be frustrating and painful.
Thanks for your concerns you guys! The pain was at the base of my thumb, but I've been taking it very easy lately so the pain is thankfully starting to go away. I'm sorry to hear of your struggles teek, I had a similiar experience in high school with dancing and a chronic knee injury. It is always difficult when a passion becomes a source of frustrations, but I'm glad to hear that you are starting to feel better and I hope that you're recovery will become even quicker
Very useful and informative thread. Thank you, all.
And Teek, your words are all the more resonant knowing you may well have been typing them with some measure of discomfort. I hope your recovery continues to the point where you're entirely pain free.
Just another suggestion.. Using ice on the hand for 5 seconds at a time can speed tendon healing. An easy way to do that is to keep one of those flexible cold packs in the freezer and take it out and wrap it around your hand for 5 seconds, several or more times throughout the day.
Have you been doing barre chords or chords that require you to "pinch" your ukulele's neck? I just started doing those (UUU 101, Lesson 6) and my thump/wrist gets tired. Just take it easy. Split your playing time down to short but frequent sessions and that will help while your wrist and thumb build strength.
Hi all, I just wanted to ask about pain from possibly playing too much? My thumb/wrist had pains but now its just my thumb. It usually only hurts if i'm trying to pick up something and I was just wondering if this was normal? I also read somewhere that I should keep using my hand lightly so it doesn't stiffen up? Your advice would be greatly appreciated!
Sometimes playing badly set-up ukes can be a bit painful: the action can be too high or the stock strings too tense, and you find yourself pressing the strings very hard to fret. You really shouldn't have to. I had that problem when I first started, but after I got the uke's action lowered and strings replaced then fretting became really easy: almost no pressure needed and definitely no pain at all. For the wrist, could it be your strumming technique? Do you mostly strum using your wrist or does your hand rotate around the axis of your arm too? (not sure how to better describe this). Too much wrist movement puts a lot of straining on it, try to reduce it as much as possible in that case.
Thanks for the suggestion karen110! I'll be doing that for sure
BeardedGent- I think you may be right. I learned A LOT of chords in a little under a month after I got my uke and was playing a couple hours every night when I had nothing to do. Playing chords like E, Bb, B7, etc. over and over practicing songs was really hurting my hand. I've been taking it super easy, lately most due to being busy with school, and I would say my thumb is feeling pretty good but my wrist is still a little sore when I work out. Thanks for the tip!
Lalou- Hmmm well my ukes both have aquila strings and I believe the action on both are at a reasonable to nice and low level, but I'll be sure to have someone look at them in the future because I may be totally wrong haha! For clarification i'm having pains with my fretting hand/wrist, my strumming hand is fine I've realized that it was my bad technique (weird axis of arm like you said) from playing late at night when I was tired that put extra strain on my wrist. I would slouch down in my chair and strum away with my uke in my lap almost facing the ceiling. I was completely unaware of this until my wrist/thumb started hurting. Also figured out that I may have been pushing down a bit too much on barre chords and normal chords as well because I wanted to avoid the buzzing sound that is associated with not fretting correctly. Thanks for the advice!
Pain in the fingertips is one thing. Thumb is another, usually from squeezing with the thumb too strongly. As others have said, build up slowly, and make sure your action is not too high.
One way to avoid using too much pressure when doing barre chords is to position your finger slightly higher up and use your finger's joints to press the strings instead of the fleshy parts. That way the strings are pressed closer to the fretboard without using too much pressure, and it even makes fretting the dreaded Bm chord easier!
Make sure not to bend your left wrist when you fret, that can cause pain in the long run as well.
Hope it helps!
