What can I do for joint pain? I used to be able to play through it. But, lately it's been difficult playing some of the open chords I used to be able to play. My first finger of the left hand is the worst. I can work around it I guess by using other forms of the chords. But sometimes I like the way open chords sound.

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"...The final truth is, there is no truth..." - (from "Nice n' Neat" by the Boomtown Rats)

how old are you?

Stretching excercises for your fingers, elbow and shoulder can help alot. Your doctor can set you in the right direction. In my case, I'm 55, arthritis and tendonitis are beginning to take a bit of a toll. My doctor prescribed a medication called etodolac. This has helped greatly. Switching to lighter gauge strings was a plus also.

I would check with a doctor and a sports therapist or a chiropractor that understands guitar.

there may be help for you that way, but I'd check if they understand musicians/musical instruments in general/guitars specifically.

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It wasn't Willy-Nilly, it was at crows.

I'm 56 now. I've had a lot of things happen last year. I had my left shoulder sort of lock up on me. I couldn't hold my arm straight up. It was really difficult to put on shirts or a jacket. I can do it now, but it still aches when I do.

Right before that, I lost my voice for eight weeks...

I'm working on a recording project that I'd like to complete before I'm too worn out.

I do finger exercises already as well as practice 2 hours a day at least. The first 20 minutes or so are the hardest.

It makes me wonder what guys like Clapton and Townshend do...

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"...The final truth is, there is no truth..." - (from "Nice n' Neat" by the Boomtown Rats)

george lynch guitar player for dokken advocates martial arts as a way to keep fit , +1 , at least for the warm ups and stretching ((including hands))/breathing also moderate weight lifting on a regular schedule eliminates aging from a muscular/skeletal aspect pretty much.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

I just turned 61 and have been re-learing how to play after an absence of about 40 years.
My issues appear to be less debilitating than yours, but these have helped me have less pain and have more enjoyment.

I use Aspercreme, rubbed into the finger joints of my fret hand - doing it twice a day. After about a week there was some improvement, especially during the first 15 to 20 minutes of playing.

A short scale neck, like on a Jaguar is much easier for me than a Strat or Tele. Even the in-between length of a Gibson LP makes a huge difference, to me.

A larger board radius helps quite a bit, as well. A 12" is much easier on my fingers.

As the problem with my fingers seems to be more in flexibility than in strength, I have been trying different neck shapes. A thinner neck does not seem to be the solution, especially when doing a simple F or C chord - that can actually lock up my first finger. A super thick neck - like the Warmoth "boat" profile works great for the first 20 to 30 minutes then hand fatigue begins to set in. So I'm currently working on getting the boat shape profiled more into a "shifted V" shape with the "V" being offset towards the high E srting rather than being more centered on the neck.

As the "boomer" generation gets back into guitars, I hope the manufacturers see the need for some helpful changes.

I think that Clapton and professional players from that time period have kept up their playing to the point that their muscle memorization is so far superior something simple like Tylenol can be used - if they even need anything at all.. Face it, those guys can play entire sets and hardly ever look at the neck for finger position. And you can't rule out genetics. They are and were good players for a reason.

I have occasional bouts of arthritis in the fingers and have found that a couple of OTC products work pretty good :

Icy Hot
Jointritis (one application, you can feel the effects)

Good luck!

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

I'm 54. I have a dull pain in my left shoulder most of the time now which frequently radiates down to my 3rd and 4th fingers in my left hand, causing sporadic numbness. Sometimes my left wrist tightens up too. Whether these are related or not, who knows? I take Excedrin and that usually works well. If not, I just put the guitar down and come back either a few hours later or the next day. I merely chalk these maladies up to advancing age. I've resolved myself to the fact that they will probably worsen as time goes on and they are just things that I simply have to deal with. Isn't being a senior citizen grand?

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You dig?

dBrodie. I would love to be in your shoes so dont freak out just yet. I am 47 and have been playing most of my life but I have not been able to play for 17 months due to the fact I need surgery on the inside joint of my thumb which developed a neuroma which is a ball of nerve endings which makes it impossible for me to wrap my thumb around the neck of a guitar because it feels like the shock you get when you bang your funny bone but only it is in my thumb. The first 2 months took a mental toll on me but I am more optimistic after consulting a surgeon that has finaly given me hope of playing again. The best advice I can give is before you play stretch and massage your hands good and run them under warm water for a few minuetes as this gets the blood circulating.Make sure you take a good 10-15 minuete break for every hour and a half of playing and take some over the counter anti inflamatory pills every 2 days and you should be alright.This was my regimen when I just had carpal tunnel and it worked great and whenever you feel pain coming on STOP PLAYING and take a break unlike working out no pain no gain does not apply hear.I have been able to sneak in an hour a day playing with the fleshy part of my thumb right behind the neck so I can play some 3 note per string runs and some sweeping and stringskipping which were never a major part of my style but if everything goes well will be because they are great techniques. What I would not give to be able to bend a string and put on a wicked vibrato, but at least I keep my mind busy as my chops are down to nothing but I got to keep the faith.I was in car service one time with this old timer who told me he played in the pits on Broadway for over 40 years and to many records to remember and I said why you driving car service and he showed me his hands and it looked like someone broke every joint with a hammer thats how bad his arthritis was and he said he could not even make a chord no more. Well now I know how he felt. Best of luck to you and try some of the things I said and you should be alright. KEEP ON ROCKIN.

Try the Aspircreme and icy hot stuff. If that doesn't work, there is a product called Glucosemine/Condrointin (Spelling might not be right) that is supossed to be good for joints as well. You should be able to get it at your local pharmacy over the counter.

Hope this helps a little.

RK

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

I'm 58 now and I've lost some feeling in the little finger of my left hand, so I play my guitar everyday for an hour or so, it keeps it moving and sensitive enough to feel the string underneath it. If I leave it too long without excersise I have problems getting it to move.
I also get pains at the base of my spine if I stand holding a heavy guitar for long periods. I also blew my ears back in the eighties, I definitely need a tuner at my feet, after a while loud noises make a bubbling sound in my eardrums so I certainly have to shove plugs in them. Should have done that from the start.
Apart from that I'm fine.

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Thanks for all the suggestions... I don't think my diabetes medication does me any favors either. I know that there are some out there who are worse off than I am. I guess all I can do is go through my old books and figure out some work arounds.

The funny thing is, I don't have any issues playing bass. I suppose it's because the fingers on the left hand are held differently than on the guitar... (or it's because I'm not much of a bass player...)

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"...The final truth is, there is no truth..." - (from "Nice n' Neat" by the Boomtown Rats)

I've lifted weights all my life, and as a result I have shoulder pain from doing bench presses. It got to the point that I was in a lot of pain when doing bench presses. I was told about something that helps the joints and relieves pain. It's known to lubricate joints. Glucosamine. I take it daily. It is an over the counter medication and can be bought at most grocery stores, as well as pharmacies.

It takes six weeks before any beneficial effects are noticed. After six weeks, the pain went away, and I can now do heavy bench presses with no pain. I ran all this past my doctor before starting to use it. My doctor told me that it was no problem, and told me to continue taking it. It works for me.

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"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."-John Wayne

I'm 55 and because of some health issues I often have numbness in the fingers of both hands which makes it hard to play for anything over about 5 minutes on some days. On a good day I can play for about an hour.

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Chet Feathers

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.