Hi, I'm playing the guitar for 4 years and lately I've been feeling pain in my wrists while playing, even when I play for only few minutes. While I'm not playing, my wrists are tensed up and I really can't think of any reasons why it's happening:

1. My technique is fine, my guitar teacher told me that I'm doing nothing wrong.
2. When I'm playing I'm relaxed and I use as least effort as I can without hurting my playing.
3. I do warm-ups and strechs to my hands before, while and after playing the guitar.
4. Every few minutes I stop playing and let my hands rest.

I will greatly appreciate it if you guys can give me advices from your personal experience or from your friends', guitar teachers', doctors' etc (Be aware that I can't quite practicing the guitar for a long period of time because I'll enter the recording studio soon...).

Thank you.

I'm no medical expert, but that sounds like repetitive strain injury or carpal tunnel syndrome

Also a college friend of mine once told me the fingers of his left hand used to twitch uncontrollably as a result of hours of practice.

I also get stiff fingers if i play for 15-16 minutes non stop, but if you say you take breaks then i dunno.. ask a doctor, maybe he knows what to do.

Seek medical attention man...the best way to find out what is happening is to go to doctor and ask him...i know only that that is not normal thing for sure...

Seeing a doctor is one option, but I find it hard to believe that I'm the only one who encountered this problem in his guitar playing. You really can't think of anything else than seen a doctor?

Playing guitar should not be painful. You need to treat your hands, fingers, and arms they way you would treat your body before, during, and after exercise. RSI's are a serious matter, and can end your guitar playing FOR LIFE! Always make sure you've warmed up and cooled down. Don't start into in fast parts until you've gotten your fingers warm. Just like any kind of exercise, stretch, stay loose, and stay hydrated. Without seeing how you play, I can't comment on your technique and I only throw out this advice as a general statement, no an indictment of your practice habits. Everything part of your body is connected, make sure you're sitting up and your wrists are relatively straight. Everyone here is saying go see a doctor because it is a serious matter and it's better to safe than sorry, and in the worst case scenario, you will be very very sorry. I hope it's nothing. Just remember, everyone is different, just because other people play the same thing and don't suffer from any pain or injury, doesn't mean you won't. Take it from someone who has suffered tendinitis brought on from guitar playing. If you feel this isn't normal, see a doctor soon. I sincerely hope it's nothing, and I really can't comment further without seeing you play. Search the net and read up on this stuff. Good luck.

Written by Panterica on 10.06.2011 at 20:54

Hi, I'm playing the guitar for 4 years and lately I've been feeling pain in my wrists while playing, even when I play for only few minutes. While I'm not playing, my wrists are tensed up and I really can't think of any reasons why it's happening:

1. My technique is fine, my guitar teacher told me that I'm doing nothing wrong.
2. When I'm playing I'm relaxed and I use as least effort as I can without hurting my playing.
3. I do warm-ups and strechs to my hands before, while and after playing the guitar.
4. Every few minutes I stop playing and let my hands rest.

I will greatly appreciate it if you guys can give me advices from your personal experience or from your friends', guitar teachers', doctors' etc (Be aware that I can't quite practicing the guitar for a long period of time because I'll enter the recording studio soon...).

Thank you.

I used to have pains in my wrists when I was playing guitar, especially here:


The reason was my bodybuilding workout !
My workout was not wrong; but the muscles was too damn exhausted to be used, especially for fast riffs including muted/sliding chords.

I changed my workout style and chose a new way of building the muscles there (I changed the whole forearm exercises with completely different methods)
And now I can practice and play my guitar calmly with no pain.

Take a look at your bodybuilding workout program (or any sports you do), maybe this will solve your problem too.

Written by SSM on 29.06.2011 at 13:07

Written by Panterica on 10.06.2011 at 20:54

Hi, I'm playing the guitar for 4 years and lately I've been feeling pain in my wrists while playing, even when I play for only few minutes. While I'm not playing, my wrists are tensed up and I really can't think of any reasons why it's happening:

1. My technique is fine, my guitar teacher told me that I'm doing nothing wrong.
2. When I'm playing I'm relaxed and I use as least effort as I can without hurting my playing.
3. I do warm-ups and strechs to my hands before, while and after playing the guitar.
4. Every few minutes I stop playing and let my hands rest.

I will greatly appreciate it if you guys can give me advices from your personal experience or from your friends', guitar teachers', doctors' etc (Be aware that I can't quite practicing the guitar for a long period of time because I'll enter the recording studio soon...).

Thank you.

I used to have pains in my wrists when I was playing guitar, especially here:


The reason was my bodybuilding workout !
My workout was not wrong; but the muscles was too damn exhausted to be used, especially for fast riffs including muted/sliding chords.

I changed my workout style and chose a new way of building the muscles there (I changed the whole forearm exercises with completely different methods)
And now I can practice and play my guitar calmly with no pain.

Take a look at your bodybuilding workout program (or any sports you do), maybe this will solve your problem too.

Some people told me they think that my pain is caused the specific and repetitive movments that playing this instrument involves and suggested me to exercise in order to strengthen my hands. Could it be that the lack of strength in certain muscles are the reason for the pain?

Written by Panterica on 05.07.2011 at 19:28

Written by SSM on 29.06.2011 at 13:07

Written by Panterica on 10.06.2011 at 20:54

Hi, I'm playing the guitar for 4 years and lately I've been feeling pain in my wrists while playing, even when I play for only few minutes. While I'm not playing, my wrists are tensed up and I really can't think of any reasons why it's happening:

1. My technique is fine, my guitar teacher told me that I'm doing nothing wrong.
2. When I'm playing I'm relaxed and I use as least effort as I can without hurting my playing.
3. I do warm-ups and strechs to my hands before, while and after playing the guitar.
4. Every few minutes I stop playing and let my hands rest.

I will greatly appreciate it if you guys can give me advices from your personal experience or from your friends', guitar teachers', doctors' etc (Be aware that I can't quite practicing the guitar for a long period of time because I'll enter the recording studio soon...).

Thank you.

I used to have pains in my wrists when I was playing guitar, especially here:


The reason was my bodybuilding workout !
My workout was not wrong; but the muscles was too damn exhausted to be used, especially for fast riffs including muted/sliding chords.

I changed my workout style and chose a new way of building the muscles there (I changed the whole forearm exercises with completely different methods)
And now I can practice and play my guitar calmly with no pain.

Take a look at your bodybuilding workout program (or any sports you do), maybe this will solve your problem too.

Some people told me they think that my pain is caused the specific and repetitive movements that playing this instrument involves and suggested me to exercise in order to strengthen my hands. Could it be that the lack of strength in certain muscles are the reason for the pain?

Probably. There are several rope-like muscles in your lower arm as you can see in the following pictures:





when you play guitar they involved in your playing movement.
I myself do strengthen them in the gym but you can do some simple exercises anywhere else, watch the following videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8C1a0l4q5HU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg9WZ8rZPNA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMJ4zIZzZxY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCjrLiXyiv8&feature=relmfu

As you can see, they all said "don't do it with heavy weights to avoid injury" and as the man said "watch the tendons as you do it very slowly".

Problem solved

Hey! I hope you're feeling better. I had pain in my wrist while playing a few years ago, and it took a long time to figure it out. Doctor's never helped me. It shouldn't take a lot of strength to press a string to a fret, so exercise was just silly. I had good playing technique, but poor all-around posture. There was nothing wrong at all with my hands, even though that's where I felt the pain. I've got what is known to many guitarists as the "Hendrix hump" from slumping over a guitar for hours on end. I saw a physio who showed me how my neck was to blame, gave me some stretches for it, and now I make sure my neck and shoulders are loose and balanced. A chiropractor would probably understand this problem too. I've since met other musician's who had the same problem, and all of us were better after we figured it out. This happened just before some important shows when I was tense and practicing like crazy, and I was focused totally on my playing, forgetting about everything else. Good luck!

Been playing for about two years now, and I've never had any kind of pain really, mostly just arm tiredness from trying to play Vengeance Rising and such shit. I wouldn't be surprised if I felt some pain eventually though..

If i play for a long time, i get wrist pain, i think its just the akward positioning for a lengthy period of time. Especially reaching down the neck of my bass.

Written by Boxcar Willy on 08.01.2012 at 18:46

If i play for a long time, i get wrist pain, i think its just the akward positioning for a lengthy period of time. Especially reaching down the neck of my bass.

I saw you played bass, me to, and I guess you talk about your right hand (giving you are righthanded). You should keep your arm and wrist in the same direction, dont rest your arm on the bass. In the beginning this techique will hurt a little bit in your shoulder if you play long but eventually it wont hurt anymore, this way you will not injure your wrist.

Written by NLthrasher on 08.01.2012 at 23:05

Written by Boxcar Willy on 08.01.2012 at 18:46

If i play for a long time, i get wrist pain, i think its just the akward positioning for a lengthy period of time. Especially reaching down the neck of my bass.

I saw you played bass, me to, and I guess you talk about your right hand (giving you are righthanded). You should keep your arm and wrist in the same direction, dont rest your arm on the bass. In the beginning this techique will hurt a little bit in your shoulder if you play long but eventually it wont hurt anymore, this way you will not injure your wrist.

Thanks, Ill see if that will help