Practicing Too Much?

[TSJMajesty]

I think my body is telling me, Yes.

A couple weeks ago I noticed a small bump on the dorsal side of my fretting wrist. I figured it was some inflammation from too many wide stretches playing Harmonic Minor runs. Or Police songs. Doesn't hurt, and massaging it reduced it's size, but the next day it would be back.

Turns out it's a Ganglion Cyst (just a non-cancerous, fluid-filled sac.) They're not sure exactly what causes them, but repetitive use and lack of Vitamin D are cited as likely causes. And yep, I haven't been getting hardly any sunlight, staying inside and playing guitar quite a bit. So reluctantly, I gotta cut back and see if this thing goes away (apparently most do.) Gonna add some extra fruits and veggies to the shopping cart later today too, as I'm sure I can do better in that regard as well.

Gotta take care of the body, cuz I don't want anything to ever prevent me from being able to play my guitar!!

 

[mbenigni]

I have one just behind the first joint of the index finger on my fretting hand. Seems like a bad place for a guitarist to have a cyst, but it's never actually caused me any trouble*. I had it looked at years ago, just to be sure it was nothing to be seriously concerned about. Surgery was optional, so I've been more or less ignoring it since that time.

*Practicing too little is what causes me trouble LOL.

 

[Eagle]

I work on doing difficult things with my hand relaxed. Often wide or difficult stretches cause tension and cramping but if you can't teach yourself to do it with a relaxed hand it's never going to work live. Eventually if you manage to do this with a particular piece it starts to sound more fluid and you can phrase it better and often play it faster too. Hand cramps is always poor technique .