[RenMan]

I've had some thumb joint problems that are scaring me lately, making me question whether or not I'll be able to continue to play sax.
For most of my adult life, my thumb joint will lock up on occasion. No big deal- I just flex it inwards and the joint will click (making a noise kind of like snapping your fingers). No pain and really nothing more that a nuisance.

However, a month or so ago my right thumb joint swelled up and was extremely painful. Rather alarming as I hadn't done anything to injure it in any way. The ER doc took an x-ray and said he didn't know what it was but that there was fluid on the joint. His soultion was to splint and wrap my hand to immobilize it.
The next day I happened to mention it to my massotherapist. She said her mother-in-law's knee joints swelled in the same fashion when her doctor put her on Crestor for colesterol. Coincedently (perhaps) I had been taking Crestor for several weeks before my flare up. I immediately stopped taking the Crestor. A few weeks later the swelling and pain had all but completely gone away and I was able to resume playing sax.
For the past several weeks it's back to hurting, but no swelling and not enough pain to prevent me from playing... until this week. There's no visible swelling but it's painful enough to be a major distraction and I'm afraid I'll make it worse by playing through the pain.
Any other players out there with a similar experience?

 

[saxxsymbol]

i used to have pain in my joints constantly. the pain would migrate from one area to the next.Hands. fingers, knees elbows, feet. after a year or so of trial and error i determined the cause was partly due to food allergy (sugar) and nutritional deficiencies. i used to take gobs of ibuprofen to combat the pain and swelling. i started taking sea-vegg daily ( a seaweed blend ) and the pain and swelling has disappeared. i rarely ever need any pain medication anymore. i double dosed the first month and now i take the normal daily dose.costs less than ibuprofen with none of the dangerous side affects.

 

[RenMan]

saxxsymbol,
Interesting. I have a lot of joint pain and stiffness- knees, back, elbows, wrists etc. I always attributed it to hard physical labor (27 years in the plumbing, heating, air conditioning and boiler trades) and figured I'd just have to accept it and live with it. Whenever I'd mention it to a doctor they just wanted to treat the symptoms. Finally I simply just stopped saying anything about it. Remember the old Saturday Night Live line "Got a problem- take a pill!"? It would be funny if it wasnt so true. So, did you stop using sugar all together? Is sea-vegg daily a brand name?
Thanks for responding to my thread.
Christopher

 

[Saxplayer67]

My thumb does exactly the same, with the locking up, flexing and clicking. When I first started learning sax twelve years ago, I had too much weight on my right thumb, I didn't have the sling taking all the weight and I whole hand was painful and inflexible and I couldn't use it very well for a couple days.

Now on occasion, the thumb thing happens. If I lay off sax for an extended periods, say two weeks whilst on holiday, then my thumb locks also.

My right shoulder is clicking more and more of late and also my right knee. I did damage the knee about twenty-five years ago. I think the right hand and shoulder is down to playing saxophone.

 

[garypierce]

I had the same problem in the past but now i'm fine

 

[meshuggeneh]

I've had problems with my thumb locking when playing tenor. My solution? I wrap it with athletic tape. Seriously.

 

[jazzbluescat]

I've had problems with my thumb locking when playing tenor. My solution? I wrap it with athletic tape. Seriously.

The tenor?