8,720
edits
Changes
m
no edit summary
== Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) ==
{{crumbs|blue|3
|Injury#Guidelines to Avoid and Recover from Injuries|Guidelines
|Injury#Repetitive Stress Disorder (RSD) or Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)|RSI
|Injury#Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)|CTS
|Injury#Tendinitis and Tendinosis|Tendinitis
|Injury#Strained/Pulled Muscles|Strain
|Injury#Saturday Night Wrist (Radial Nerve Compression)|Sat. Night Wrist
|Injury#Bulging/Herniated Disks|Bulging Disk}}
'''Carpal Tunnel Syndrome''' is caused by compression of the median nerve in the wrist. There are numerous ways this can happen, but it is commonly associated with repetitive, low impact movements of the wrist and fingers, such as working on computers or playing guitar.
== Tendinitis and Tendinosis ==
{{crumbs|blue|4
|Injury#Guidelines to Avoid and Recover from Injuries|Guidelines
|Injury#Repetitive Stress Disorder (RSD) or Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)|RSI
|Injury#Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)|CTS
|Injury#Tendinitis and Tendinosis|Tendinitis
|Injury#Strained/Pulled Muscles|Strain
|Injury#Saturday Night Wrist (Radial Nerve Compression)|Sat. Night Wrist
|Injury#Bulging/Herniated Disks|Bulging Disk}}
'''Tendinitis''' is the inflammation of tendons, causing pain and joint stiffness. It is often caused by harsh exercise of the connected muscles, such as prolonged activities without rest. For guitarists, the main risk is playing for long periods without taking breaks, using poor technique which forces more stress on certain muscles, over-straining the hands/wrists/elbows rather than using as relaxed grip/movement as possible, and holding the guitar in a position that makes playing more difficult (like slinging the guitar too low).
== Strained/Pulled Muscles ==
{{crumbs|blue|5
|Injury#Guidelines to Avoid and Recover from Injuries|Guidelines
|Injury#Repetitive Stress Disorder (RSD) or Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)|RSI
|Injury#Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)|CTS
|Injury#Tendinitis and Tendinosis|Tendinitis
|Injury#Strained/Pulled Muscles|Strain
|Injury#Saturday Night Wrist (Radial Nerve Compression)|Sat. Night Wrist
|Injury#Bulging/Herniated Disks|Bulging Disk}}
A muscular '''strain''' (often called a '''pulled muscle''') is a tear in the muscle tissue due to overstretching or extreme overuse. It is a relatively rare condition for guitar players; however, it can happen. If playing for long periods of time, doing technically-difficult types of playing, like large stretches, holding exotic chord shapes or large barre chords, playing long fast passages, and extreme picking. As always, you should work your way up to performing technically-difficult techniques or passages. Trying to jump right into things can over-exert your hands and injure them, especially if you fail to [[Warm-Up Exercises|warm-up]]. Cardio to get blood flow to the muscles and stretching will reduce the likelihood that a difficult movement will result in a strain.
== Saturday Night Wrist (Radial Nerve Compression) ==
{{crumbs|blue|6
|Injury#Guidelines to Avoid and Recover from Injuries|Guidelines
|Injury#Repetitive Stress Disorder (RSD) or Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)|RSI
|Injury#Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)|CTS
|Injury#Tendinitis and Tendinosis|Tendinitis
|Injury#Strained/Pulled Muscles|Strain
|Injury#Saturday Night Wrist (Radial Nerve Compression)|Sat. Night Wrist
|Injury#Bulging/Herniated Disks|Bulging Disk}}
Dave Mustaine suffered this injury and basically had to relearn how to play guitar for several weeks before regaining his former technical ability. It is caused by a nerve compression in the armpit/inner upper arm, which basically causes paralysis of the wrist and finger muscles. The "Saturday Night" portion of the name is due to it being associated with getting drunk/wasted and passing out in a chair, with one's arm draped over the backrest.
== Bulging/Herniated Disks ==
{{crumbs|blue|7
|Injury#Guidelines to Avoid and Recover from Injuries|Guidelines
|Injury#Repetitive Stress Disorder (RSD) or Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)|RSI
|Injury#Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)|CTS
|Injury#Tendinitis and Tendinosis|Tendinitis
|Injury#Strained/Pulled Muscles|Strain
|Injury#Saturday Night Wrist (Radial Nerve Compression)|Sat. Night Wrist
|Injury#Bulging/Herniated Disks|Bulging Disk}}
A '''bulging or herniated disk''' is a condition where the lining that surrounds a spinal disk (ring of cartilage that keeps the vertebrae from touching each other) is torn, allowing some of the disk's internal tissue to press against the spinal cord, causing debilitating pain. Often a severe injury cannot heal and requires surgery.