Stretches and Bones

Hey guys i need some help. Sometimes when i go to play guitar i can really just get on and shred. Other times I get on and im just terrible. I was wondering if anyone had advice on stretches for your hands or warmups that can optimize playing everytime, even if its just a little thing u like to do.

Anyways awhile back i jammed one of my fingers real bad, it was my left pointer finger, so basically the most important for fretting haha. It started to hurt at the middle joint whenevr i played so i got it x rayed. It was fine. No broken bones and yet it continues to hurt to this very day. I have a feeling its just loose or somethin b/c i can move it into place sometimes and it feels fine. What do you think i should do about it????? I definately dont want it to affect my playing later on.

Thanks- Joshua

Rest it man, rest it.

To your shredding stuff, do you do warmups?

maybe you should ice your finger down after you play for a bit. it might be the tendon or something getting irritated and inflamed from too much work/movement.

I looked at your profile and it says you're 14? If you are at that age or around it, you are growing a lot! I used to have problems with my knees and fingers at that age and my orthopedic doctor said it was because I was growing fast. It went away when I was in my late teens early 20's.

Shake your hands out before you play like you are trying to get boogers of em. HA! Ice them after you play to get swelling down. If it happens everytime you play, you may have to give yourself a month or so off so the tendons can grow and heal. Make sure you have enough protein in your diet too.

If you keep pushing yourself when playing it'll only make it worse. You've hurt it so you need to chill and let it rest. This may sound stupid - but do finger exercises... like hold your hand still, point your finger up in the air, bunch it back into your hand and then point it out infront of you (a 90 degrees difference) So you're basically exercising your finger in an L shape... keep doing this!

Then follow everything Mac & Kanga just said :)

Thanks fer all the advice guys, but i forgot to mention that the problem has been going on for over a year now. I've tried icing it and not playin' for a few weeks but it doesn't seem to change anything. Finger exercises sometimes tend to lessen the pain but it continues to hurt. I don't know if it's just an age thing but I'm 16 now, I thought it would stop!! lol. However i do have pain in other joints occasionally, mabye that would have something to do with it?? I would love to be able to stop for a month or so but I'm deeply involved with music at my church and school and I feel as though Im needed to play.
Any more advice?

-Joshua

Joint pain in teen males is usually associated with growth but I would see a doctor about it to rule out any other problems. Sucks though either way. Good luck to ya man.

I used to have pain in my knees bad. The doctor said it was Osgood Schlater's (spelling?) disease/syndrome. It's gone away now. I agree with Mac, it's probably just growing pains. A good way to stretch before playing is to twist your fingers, kind of like giving them an indian-rub. Do that to all of them, then shake your hand about wildly. It sounds dumb, but it really gets your blood flowing into your fingers.

mmm...

You're probably playing the guitar too low. Where do you usually play it? By your hips, or closer to your chest?

We're all bound to get arthritus at some point in our lives, but hopefully you havn't got that just yet!!