How to reduce wrist pain after practicing?

[The Trash God]

So whenever I practice, regardless if it is standing up, or or sitting down, I always end up with terrible wrist pain in my fretting hand after practice sessions, so much so to the point where I can barely move it afterwards without being in pain. So I was just wondering/curious if there was any way to help reduce this, or help it while playing. Thank you in advance for any help!

 

[Dominik Gräber]

That doesn't sound good dude! Maybe you should get that looked after?
You should definetly not feel pain when playing. Only Tip I can give is listen to your Body. If it Hurts Stop, If your Hand get very tired, stiff at least take a break or play licks that are easier on your Hand.

 

[Shade]

So whenever I practice, regardless if it is standing up, or or sitting down, I always end up with terrible wrist pain in my fretting hand after practice sessions, so much so to the point where I can barely move it afterwards without being in pain. So I was just wondering/curious if there was any way to help reduce this, or help it while playing. Thank you in advance for any help!

How long have you been playing? I started playing 3 months ago and had the same problem with wrist pain. I played for about an hour and once it started hurting I would stop and do things easy on my wrist the rest of the day. Sometimes I would apply a warm towel on the wrist and it would ease the pain. The pain does go away eventually, it took about a month for it to stop for me. The biggest thing is not to push yourself too hard. If the pain gets worse or doesn’t stop for a while, I would see the doctor.

 

[The Trash God]

How long have you been playing? I started playing 3 months ago and had the same problem with wrist pain. I played for about an hour and once it started hurting I would stop and do things easy on my wrist the rest of the day. Sometimes I would apply a warm towel on the wrist and it would ease the pain. The pain does go away eventually, it took about a month for it to stop for me. The biggest thing is not to push yourself too hard. If the pain gets worse or doesn’t stop for a while, I would see the doctor.

I have been playing for almost a year. But I play everyday. I haven't missed a practice session since I started. Even if it is only for about 30 minutes I make sure to only somethings. Normally the pain goes away the next day, but it is always a pain in the ass to deal with afterwards haha.

 

[The Trash God]

That doesn't sound good dude! Maybe you should get that looked after?
You should definetly not feel pain when playing. Only Tip I can give is listen to your Body. If it Hurts Stop, If your Hand get very tired, stiff at least take a break or play licks that are easier on your Hand.

Yeah I guess taking it easy would be my only option as I live in an environment that won't let me go anywhere to get atuff looked at due to the pandemic. So I'll try taking a break and see if that helps improve things

 

[ari.mac]

That shouldn't happen my friend, I would check the posture as well and see if I have to change something. In the very first lessons PG talks about the right posture to use...see if that can help you a bit. And, as Dominik said, listen to your body, and don't overwork yourself ☺

 

[Damian Garcia]

If you notice the pain when playing certain specific chords or licks, all that might be needed is a slight posture readjustment. In that case, you just need to find that sweet spot where your hand isn’t tensing up anymore.

If your hand is hurting after every practice/playing session, you might want to get that checked out with a professional when you can!

I am also a huge advocate of taking a rest day whenever necessary, just like with working out. I know how fun it is playing guitar all the time, but the muscles in our hands do need a break every once in a while for the sake of our long-term health to keep on shredding.

 

[redlipsofdeceit]

I was having the same issue, and @ari.mac gave me this advice about the posture. When I corrected that, the pain got away. Also, take breaks. Don't push too hard, it will cause damage to your muscles.

 

[Alicia Willis]

Everyone has left awesome advice. Also, keep in mind that if you’re learning a new lick or something that is using muscles you’re not quite used to a bit of soreness can be normal. Until you can get it looked at though (if postural changes don’t help), slap an ice pack on when you’re finished playing to help with inflammation. But if you’re having ALOT of pain and not just discomfort id be super careful.

 

[Muz Malek]

Rest is also part of practice Be patient during that recovery phase.

Just like how there's a rest notation in music, we need to know when to put the guitar down for a bit to take a breather.

Cheers!

 

[William B.]

Maybe if your not doing it already play some chords for a few minutes to warm up then try stretches and again after your done, maybe once more during. If the pain is sharp in the wrist you got to try to fix the approach cause you'll get damage over time. Pressing too hard and barre chords for too long still give me some grief but the pain isn't sharp so I think it's okay

 

[Chris Johnston]

I'd definitely get that checked by a doctor as that's an unusual thing that shouldn't really be happening when playing. However it's also worth checking some wrist posture videos to make sure you're not over-stretching in any way

 

[Daniboi]

So whenever I practice, regardless if it is standing up, or or sitting down, I always end up with terrible wrist pain in my fretting hand after practice sessions, so much so to the point where I can barely move it afterwards without being in pain. So I was just wondering/curious if there was any way to help reduce this, or help it while playing. Thank you in advance for any help!

Do you warm up your muscles before playing? If not i would recommend the John Petrucci rutine before grabbing the guitar, it is explained in the first minutes of Rock Discipline, here is the link for the YouTube video;

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[JimmyS]

You might have a pinched nerve in your wrist, I used to have it but I've changed my positioning of my guitar when I play and that solved my issue.

 

[William B.]

wow cool the whole video

 

[Sayonil Mitra]

This seems to be a medical thing more than wrong way of practising. yes, pain happens but not to the extent that you mentioned. I suggest you get it checked just to be sure something weird is not happening in your wrist, before going back to full practice mode. Take Care.