Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

[luve2fli]

  ....... I think I've got it

Over the course of my bass-playing career, I've periodically had my left hand "clamp up" on me. No biggie, really only happened about once a year over the last 20 years or so and only when really digging in for extended periods of time or during weeks of back-to-back gigs. Now I'm playing upright regularly and it's happening on almost every gig to one degree or another. Last night's show was no exception - after a particularly grueling first set (very physical, lots of sweating, juggling back-up vocals with some pretty intricate bass-lines, lots of Rockabilly slap), my hand literally stopped working early on in the 2nd set. Clamped tight like a vise around the neck and I couldn't free my fingers up for any dexterity at all. I managed to just slide my hand up and down the neck to hit the notes I needed and finished up the song. Between songs, I gave my left-hand fingers a good stretch backwards and felt the pressure release a bit. Eased up on my attack and kept on playing. It was still there but at least I had some dexterity back. About three songs later - back with a vengeance!

This sucks so huge, you have no idea. I've been having the time of my (bassplaying) life on upright, invested hours and mucho $$$ and now it looks like I'm going to have to take a break for therapy of some sort.

It seems to be localized strictly in the left hand index, middle and ring fingers, numbness in the deep tissue of my inner fore-arm, feels like someone's stretching the ligaments. I've read a little about the condition and I'm not one to self-diagnose but this looks eerily familiar.

Anyone been through this ..... any suggestions?

[Hornisse]

Are you certain it is Carpal Tunnel?  I've had episodes of my left hand clamping on the neck of my EBG and I've attributed it to dehydration.  I sweat a bunch during the course of a gig and now I always drink a lot of liquids before I go on.  Last night my right hand started acting up right before the end of the second set.(a lot of slapping)  I hustled across the street to the 24 hour store and ate a banana, some sea salt and vinegar chips and some new electrolyte type drink that I cannot recall the name of.  After our break the 3rd set went smoothly, even with some fast passages.  I hope this is the problem in your case.  Definitely see the Doc!

[sniper]

Number one is go see a Doctor!!!!

Carpal tunnel is basically the body over protecting itself. As the nerve that lays in the “tunnel” gets compressed over a life time (some times) or a few years of repetitive work, the body tries to protect the nerve by surrounding it with fat (or sometimes making a benign “neuroma” or nerve growth (to make it bigger and harder to damage). Most generally it is situation one that is the most prevalent.

Both cases suck. The surgery used to be rather involved (think bigger incision) to remove the fat. As time has past and procedures have changed, now the optimum way is to simply make a small incision and suck out the fat. This has had two good effects: 1) smaller incisions and 2) reduced therapy time speeding the recovery of both percentage of usage and healing time by less trauma during the procedure.

Keeping in mind there are always varying recovery results and a small chance of complications as is present with all surgeries, it is after all an invasive procedure as is all surgeries and the body always heals some amount of “scar” tissue after being cut. The last of this type of surgery I witnessed the recovery went amazingly well and the patient recovered what I would grade as 100%.

I am not a Doctor but a trained surgery tech (instrument nurse) who is retired and at one time could have grandfathered as a PA had I chose to do so.

Good luck with your treatment.

[Lightyear]

Yep, see the Doc soon!  And I suggest a specialist if possible as a general doc will give you some meds, anti-imflamation, and tell you to cut back on what caused the problem.

I had a similar problem several years back and my family doc screwed around with meds and rest and after two months sent me for an electrical test that checks for nerve damage and constriction.  By the time I got the test my problem had cleared up.  That doc told me that carpal tunnel generally manifested in the thumb and first two fingers.  My problem was the last two fingers and he told me that those two fingers were elbow, shoulder and neck related - turns out mine was related to a bad shoulder.

One thing you can do right now is to pick up a carpal tunnel brace from the drug store and sleep in it and wear it as much as possible when you don't need the hand.  Ibuprofen and rest help as well.  My brohter, mother and wife have had this to varying degress and my mom and brother have had surgery to boot.

I think it's important to see a specialist because you may just have ergonomic issues that are causing the condition you have - a good doc will spot this and correct the problem before it requires surgery.

[chromium]

Ditto to all the stuff above.... and definitely go see a doctor of orthopedic medicine.  If nothing else, you want to start documenting the problem (depending on your medical insurance - craptastic HMO for me.  EDIT:  just realized you're in Canada- so you should be in good shape here), getting the tests that Lightyear described, and trying the non-surgical solutions first (braces, cortisone shots, naproxin, anti-inflamitories, etc...).

I had carpal tunnel release surgery in both hands a few years ago.  I went through all that other stuff, but it just didn't help.  They can make the incisions very small now (if you find the right doctor) - like 1.5" long on your hand only, and along one of the lines in your hands.  I can barely see the scars.  They can also do it with an endoscopic approach, but after researching I opted for the open release surgery.  They did one hand at a time, and it took about 4-6 weeks on each to heal.

Good news is I ended up with a nice complement of short scales along the way  .  But I'm back gigging the Thunderbirds now!  Back then during the peak of it, long scales in general killed me.

[Rhythm N. Bliss]

Personally I have little experience besides rubbing some Tiger Balm into the sore wrist & hand & up into the upper arm & shoulder when I play a lot.
I can tell you that using a mouse on your computer should be minimized tooo
I ain't no expert--not even sure how tendonitis & carpal tunnel are different. ??

A guitarplayer bud of mine says he got over tendonitis by drinking jello mixed into drinks.
Probly the gelatin in it. Gelatin comes from the hooves of animals, so being a vegetarian I wouldn't try that remedy myself or shark cartilage either.

Deep tissue massage & acupuncture are very helpful!!

May be a good time to play basslines on a keyboard.
Listen to Stevie Wonder.

Might help to go back to electric bass for awhile, or at least go back an' forth from that to your upright.

Good luck!

[TBird1958]

Are you certain it is Carpal Tunnel?  I've had episodes of my left hand clamping on the neck of my EBG and I've attributed it to dehydration.  I sweat a bunch during the course of a gig and now I always drink a lot of liquids before I go on.  Last night my right hand started acting up right before the end of the second set.(a lot of slapping)  I hustled across the street to the 24 hour store and ate a banana, some sea salt and vinegar chips and some new electrolyte type drink that I cannot recall the name of.  After our break the 3rd set went smoothly, even with some fast passages.  I hope this is the problem in your case.  Definitely see the Doc!

 This is more my experience too. My preshow ritual for long shows is: a banana, 2 Aleve tabs and 1/2 gallon of Gatorade to drink during the evening.
Underneath all that hair, with the crazy costumes I sweat way too much, and it leads to cramping, proper hydration is a must. I've found the 'nana helps keep the cramps away in the first place, Aleve is
a good pain med for your hands, Gatorade really helps me - I make myself finish the bottles so I regain what I lost. And definately no booze, esp. beer until the show is done.
 Our guitarist had a very similar incident to yours at a recent show, we had no choice but to stop while she took a break to recover, like you she needs to see a doctor about it.
Please do keep us informed and best wishes to good health.

[Big_Stu]

It seems to be localized strictly in the left hand index, middle and ring fingers, numbness in the deep tissue of my inner fore-arm, feels like someone's stretching the ligaments. I've read a little about the condition and I'm not one to self-diagnose but this looks eerily familiar.

Anyone been through this ..... any suggestions?

I've had very similar, but with ring & little finger & it was permanent not occasional. I was told carpal, anti-inflammatory drugs, cortizone injections, blah, blah by a doc, but thought I'd check with a physio (I'd seen before for something unrelated) - before committing to what a doc said.

Glad I did, with my fingers it was a trapped nerve in my neck!!!! Click, click, pop, twist & I had a tingle in my fingers in seconds & was back to normal within hours.
With my arm it was two tendons in my forearm that were fusing thru RSI from playing, they did deep manipulation to the tendons & showed me exercises to do at home that fixed it inside two weeks.

I would never, ever trust what a doc said without going to a damn good physio first!!!

[Lightyear]

Mr. Bliss made a very good point - might be time to play electric for a while.  The Docs or therapist will tell to change or reduce the activity that is causing the problem.  It might be something about the ergonomics of the URB that are giving you fits.  A nice fretless Pbass with some tapewounds might do the trick.

[exiledarchangel]

Hey, a banana is always handy!

[Highlander]

Get to see a specialist quickly but doesn't sound CTS from what I know; Jackie's had the op and I know of others...

Robert's comments re dehydration rings bells with me...

[Lightyear]

Remember when you were young and you could abuse your body and your body would recover quickly?  A minor construction project for me now involves several days of recovery time with ice packs, hot pads, linament and ibuprofen   As young man I could work like a mule in the sun all day long and just take a couple of aspirin the next morning.

[godofthunder]

I have had my hand crap up from time to time, I never thought much of it, playing lighter and not strangling the neck seemed to help. As stated above see a Doctor. My problem now is arthuritus in my index finger knuckles, I have had to change the way I play and I am not happy about it. I hope things work out for you.

[patman]

 I have arthritis in my left index finger...only hurts pretty much when playing basses that require hand strength to play...a well set up electric is usually o-k.  This will probably take me out of the business some day, but for now I'm o-k.

[Freuds_Cat]

Our guitarist in the Crocs is a chippie and suffers from diagnosed Carpal Tunnel. Sometimes quite bad. To such a degree that he loses feeling in his fingers and cant feel his pick or the strings with some fingers. The best thing according to him is either an op and/or wearing a wrist brace to bed. My Wife suffered from it post natel. She did the same.

Regardless see a Doc.