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up vote 15 down vote favorite

I have been playing guitar for 12 years now and I'm 28.
I am under treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis (R.A.) and was wondering if anyone who has R.A., or other pain in their hands, has any approaches they have used to reduced their pain when playing?
Do you recommend a particular brand/gauge of strings, warm-ups or anything else that has helped you?

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cant think of other than painkillers/beer – Anonymous Jan 13 '11 at 21:46
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I knew a Jazz guy who's Arthritis got so bad that he had to periodically go into the bathroom during gigs to run his hands under warm water to stop them seizing up. It seemed to work for him at the time, he would go back and carry on playing, i saw him do this at literally tens of gigs, when i was a wee chappie. – DRL Mar 2 '11 at 23:09
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I just got arthritis a year ago in hands. I liked to play fast and hard licks. Now my days of this are going to be gone. I really must admit it feels hopeless some days. I am more of a lead guitarist and this will make me more chord oriented. The warm water technique seems to work. For the short term. Nothing like being pain free though... – user2573 Jul 3 '12 at 6:27
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Also, make sure that your doctor is aware that you need to be able to play and that you know your options for treatment. Talking to a few specialists in this case is not a bad idea at all. – Babu Jul 3 '12 at 16:45
I've talked to my instructor about this because my dad is a guitar player with arthritis. His advice, which seems sound is to play almost every day. It will help keep your joints moving. But also, don't over do it on any given day. Practice often but easy. Also Motrin/Ibuprofen reduces swelling in addition to pain relief. Good luck! – cadmium Apr 24 at 19:28

3 Answers

up vote 8 down vote

Sorry to hear that your playing is impacted. I don't have R.A., but I have a number of wrist, shoulder, and arm problems. Here are some things that I have found useful for my situation - I hope they can help you with yours:

  • Electric guitars. Electrics in general have lower string tension than acoustics.
  • Light strings. The lighter the string, the less effort it takes to play. I personally like Ernie Ball Super Slinkys MF, but those are .009s. There are .008s available, too.
  • Relaxed posture. Tension in other parts of your body will create pain in your wrists, arms, shoulders, and hands.
  • Respect your pain. Pain is a message from your body telling you to change something, not a challenge to be conquered through might. I will never forget the time I decided to "play through" an aching little finger joint and ended up not being able to play for a week afterwards.
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up vote 4 down vote

have a look at Jamie Andreas's Guitar Principles. This is a way of fundamentally changing the way you approach the guitar which results in reduced stress and tension when you play. Also don't be scared to use lighter gauges - Richard Thompson uses 8's on his strat and I haven't heard anyone complain about his tone. Finally, take heart from people like django reinhardt who have made world changing music despite their disability.

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up vote 2 down vote

Other than alcohol?

I would suggest you pick up a slide. On an electric guitar, the stress to your fingers shouldn't be too bad and you can still play some pretty cool sounding stuff.

Here's an example.

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The slide is actually a really good idea; if the arthritis gets so bad that you cant fret notes, a slide will still allow you to play guitar and be creative. – DRL Mar 2 '11 at 23:15

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