Hey guys, I have been practicing intensely 3 hrs a day 5 days a week, and more on the weekend. Unfortunately I wasn’t warming up nor taking breaks and now have developed a repetitive motion injury. For those of you that have had this before, do I have to lay completely off the guitar for a month or so, or would I be able to scale back for just about 20 min a day as long as I warm up, do my physical therapy daily, and take breaks? The injury is only minor at this point with mild numbness and tingling in the pinky/ ring finger. Im just seeking your opinions/ experience on this issue and understand that no one here nor the site is offering official medical advise. Thanks guys
I didn’t get checked by a doctor, but I had symptoms like these a couple years ago. I attributed a lot of it to my job (lots of typing). I did scale the guitar playing back a lot but didn’t quit it altogether. I looked up some exercises online for cubital tunnel syndrome which helped. I also altered my desk to help keep my wrists more comfortable. I don’t have these issues any longer, so I consider myself cured haha
Is this both of your hands that you have the problem? My issue was just in my fretting hand so I adjusted my playing to work more on picking. You could do the inverse if it’s your picking hand. Somewhere there is a video of Steve Vai playing left hand stuff only while his right hand injury is healing up 
Get creative!
Definitely worth getting a doctor’s opinion, though I realize my hypocrisy in that suggestion:-) If I had better medical insurance, maybe I’d be more inclined to see a professional for stuff that seemed like it would clear itself up with time and TLC lol!
But in general I’d say practicing that long probably isn’t necessary anyway. Definitely you need to rest after 30 - 45 minutes to stay on the safe side (when you’re back to your full playing schedule).
Thank you for your feedback on this issue, it really helps me alot. Yes, it is just my fretting hand. Seems to be a common problem with guitar players. Again thanks, your info helps me formulate a strategy
Cool! Also, some things that may be helpful to you are reading threads from @Tom_Gilroy, about fretting principles
It’s all too easy to put extra stress on our poor wrists!
Again thanks for your feedback. This actually helps, Im currently transitioning from over 20 yrs of playing the caged system to 3 notes per string scales and their wide stretches that I’m having to get used to… So this will most definitely help
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I have this, was diagnosed with an ulnar nerve entrapment maybe 15 years ago. It’s pain I have to manage more or less daily.
I would definitely defer to what your physical therapist or occupational therapist says about returning to the guitar.
I definitely made my situation worse at first by not resting enough.
Lots here at www.JakeEstner.com/pain
‘Fun’ thing about ulnar issues - keep in mind if you’re playing guitar but not using your left hand pinky for what you’re doing, you’re less likely to aggravate the condition.
If you’re using neither your pinky nor ring, even less.
Things I’ve ‘practiced’ when stuff is acting up:
- ear training
- anything involving rhythm
- right hand
- fingerpicking/fingerstyle technique
- composition
- soloing more sparsely with single notes
- open tunings
- slide guitar
and would do all the above w minimal pinky or minimal pinky + minimal ring
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Thanks for the info, I’m schedules to see a specialist this coming Monday. Hopefully I can get back to the guitar soon. The link you shared doesn’t work. It takes me to your page but says the following
" We couldn’t find the page you were looking for. This is either because:
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Again thanks for your feedback
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Damn case sensitivity! These snowflakes and their case sensitivity:
(fixed the original too)