I recently changed to 11's on my strat. I've played with them for a week now and it feels nice. Also i have my action set a little high cause i like the fact that the strings can vibrate a 100%. I've played with my band for 3 hours straight 1 day this week and practiced 1 hour each day. Yesterday i was playing for 3-4 hours practicing pink floyd solos. As you all know they involve a lot of bends some rather difficult. Suddenly a felt a little ache in my left hand (my neck hand) in the palm. If i hold my hand completely straight and tries to bend my thumb a little backwards it aches a little. but only in my left hand ofc.
Should i just take a break for a couple of days until it goes away? I really like 11's so i don't feel like changing back. Is this only a matter of getting used to 11's and high action?

Maybe that's your hand sending you a signal, if you catch my drift.

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I think i get it

Hi Jonathan, well Martian has a point here. You could also, go back to 10s, tune down half a step or a hole step, don't practice for extended periods of time without any rest. Unlike strings, you can't change your hands so go easy on them. I have had two surgeries in my left hand so far and I don't really want any more of them. Good luck.
Claude.

When it hurts STOP. I would deffinetly take a two day break from any lead playing that requires bending but then again I am going under the knife this year.

You probably just strained a muscle or a ligament as you are playing with a heavy gauge of strings. When I first got Cubital tunnel syndrome which comes from a nerve in your elbow and makes your pinkie and ring finger go numb, where as carpel affects your index and middle I would have to stop playing for a week and sleep with a splint that kept my arm straight.

I learned to live with that and it is not the reason I cant play today but I finally learned the hard way after reading so many guys say it. For every 90 minutes you play take a 10 minute break and stretch your hand out. I will admit when I started doing this it really helped out .

Like the old joke says...........

Patient-Doctor, it hurts when I do "This".

Doctor-Then don't do "that".

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I have .11's on my guitar, with relatively high action and I've never had any pain like that despite playing about the same amount of time. Maybe I've gotten used to it. One thing you might want to try is taking a ten-fifteen minute break for every hour you practice. Or just take a break every time your hand starts hurting. Especially when you're practicing bends.

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I acknowledge why players want the heavy gauge strings and the higher action. However, when they are forced to take breaks from their playing due to noticeable and most likely, chronic discomfort while continuing to suffer collateral aches and pains when not playing as a direct result, the hand is clearly sending signals that whatever they are working with is inappropriate for them. Playing the guitar (or bass for that matter), especially to an experienced player should not be a, "no pain, no gain" scenario. Granted, such an exercise will strengthen muscles but right along with it, it will serve to tighten them up all the more which to me, is counter intuitive unless of course, there is a clinical medical situation which warrants it. And then, there is the outright overdone dilemma where the muscles and/or tendons are pulled which opens up a whole other bunch of problems where excessive (to them) string gauge and height will now only and forevermore exacerbate this, exposing them to the risk of possible permanent damage.

From that Olivia Newton-John tune: "Listen to your body talk..".

Like I've said several times in the past, if someone is striving for a specific tonality and sustain which heavier gauges and action present, the same can be achieved with lighter gauge strings and a tweak of the amp. Sure, if one can handle the heavier gauges and higher action, that's all well and good and more power to them. Yet, in the real world, most can't and predominantly pursue it because someone else had or has personal success with it.

I for one, have never equated, "machismo" with fingerboard PSI tolerances. On an abstract, I'm sure the 'babes' don't and could care less if it was ever explained to them. Lastly, as an experienced player, it surely doesn't score any points with me. Rather, as expounded upon above, it tends to have the exact opposite effect.

As always, this is merely IMO where YMMV.

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Nailed it Martian!!

Ditto! I am also curious as to whether or not the OP has suffered any changes in his vision.

+1 on what Martian said.


Years ago I changed all the strings on my guitars to 13's with an average string height. Soon after I started having problems with my hands. I would like to think that I have string hands, but those strings were just tearing them up. I changed my strings to 9's or 10's and have not had an issue with my hands since.

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

From what comes this macho madness with respect to heavy strings.

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Frankly, I think it was born out of discovering SRV's personal choice and upon further research by the same ilk, that Hendrix used 12s. It's a more subtle and subconscious, next generation take on the old fantasy: Buy a Strat and a 100W Marshall stack and you'll play and sound just like Hendrix.

Again, merely IMO; YMMV.

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For me it was just experimentation. Since 2000 I have been doing a lot of that. I'm surprised I haven't starting building my own guitars, fx, and amps.

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

That's what I was thinking Martian. SRV Syndrome!!